What is a "Classic" Novel?

[Raven]

Take a journey back through the mists of time, and there was a point in my reading history (around 30 years ago) when it was easy to say what a classic novel was - it was a book with a black spine, published by Penguin.  It was a book that was written by Austin, Dickens, Homer, Cervantes or Hardy (amongst others) and the one thing the authors had in common were that they were dead (and had usually been so for a very long time).

 

And then Penguin started throwing curve balls.

 

H.G. Wells novels were all released under the Penguin Classics banner and he died, well, less than a century ago (he'd barely gone cold, when compared to Plato!)

 

Then there is Penguin's Modern Classics range, featuring authors as diverse as Orwell, Capote and Joyce.

 

Then there was the list I posted a link to the other week (Penguin Readers 100 Must-Read Classic Books - General Book Discussions - Book Club Forum) which included authors such as Jonathan Coe and Tolkien.

 

So just what is a classic novel? 

 

Is it a traditional novel that has been appraised over time and earnt a certain status? Is it something considered to be of literary merit no matter when it was written? Is it just a label to help people classify a book? (is it all three?)

 

What makes a classic novel for you?

 

[lunababymoonchild]

I've been thinking about this which is why it's taken so long to reply! 

 

I think that, to me, a Classic book is the book that is the first of it's kind but as time goes on remains the best and defining book of the genre.  So The Godfather, for example, was the first one to come up with the now classic 'it's nothing personal,it's business' and the kissing of the ring and the godfather as man in charge when it comes to mafia novels and now that there are lots to choose from Mario Puzo's version seems to be the most convincing.

 

Similarly there were plenty of stories/ books about vampires before Bram Stoker wrote Dracula but his version seems to be the accepted description of a vampire.  Anne Rice came along with a different, equally successful, definition but Stoker's is the accepted norm.

 

Then there's the fact that no matter how many times you read a Classic book it's still good.

[Brian.]

To me a classic is a book that has stood the test of the time. There are books that are classics in their own individual genres that won't appear as a Penguin Classic for example.

[Hux]

"He made it a rule never to touch a book by any author who had not been dead at least 30 years.

"That's the only kind of book I can trust", he said.

"It's not that I don't believe in contemporary literature," he added, "but I don't want to waste valuable time reading any book that has not had the baptism of time. Life is too short."

 

Nagasawa - Norwegian Wood

[muggle not]

4 hours ago, Brian. said:

To me a classic is a book that has stood the test of the time. There are books that are classics in their own individual genres that won't appear as a Penguin Classic for example.

Yeah, I agree with that.

[Chongshipei]

To me, a classics is book that is written a long time ago and still appreciated by the people of today. It is generally the kind used for studies in literature course.