Ceinwenn Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Thanks Bethany! That means a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I guess I've decided that there is no real definitive definition (or at least none that I could find) of what makes a book a classic & I'm not going to worry about whether what I read is considered by other people to be a Classic, Vacuous, Fluff or whatever. Agreed with that. Like Bethany I've been reluctant to come into this thread as well, but I also agree with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charm Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Depending on which list or definition you go by, then I have read lots of classics, but I guess I've decided that there is no real definitive definition (or at least none that I could find) of what makes a book a classic & I'm not going to worry about whether what I read is considered by other people to be a Classic, Vacuous, Fluff or whatever. :she:Well said. I guess then that I have read more classics than I thought, depending on who you ask, and by that rational, (according to the other thread about what makes you a true reader), this would make me a well read reader too! I had no doubt of that though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysalis_stage Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 In my opinion i would think of a classic to be of considerable age which has stayed popular and respected over the years. I have been told of books that are not that old but thought of as a potential classic so i guess to be a classic time must pass, just like classic rock is called so because of its older age but it is still very much loved now as it was originally. I wouldn't cancel out calling a book a classic which isn't as old as the cut off time as people have mentioned, but is a book which i see people of varying ages, cultures and sex reading and enjoying. I look forward to seeing which books published now will be classed as classics when im older. (sorry if i doesn't make sense, insecure mood) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Made perfect sense, and I agree wholeheartedly - but then again, I'm also in an insecure mood so maybe that's why!! ps adore your really beautifully creepy avatar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'm sure my earlier definition (pre-WW1, part of the canon, widely read and respected) is over-prescriptive for some. But you need to have a workable definition for something like the classics reading circle, and generally stuff which is more modern but is classic literature - Kafka or Nabokov, say - is called modern classics. Partly because they are specifically informed by modernism and modernist writing styles. I think for something like the classics reading circle you need something like a cut-off date (although clearly some things will slip through one way or the other) or - as mentioned elsewhere - you could effectively include almost anything as peoples' definitions are so varied. But, to my mind, A Classic isn't the same as classic literature, and I think it's basically an unchanging group. Of course, some friends of mine would thoroughly object to anything that wasn't written in Latin or Greek, and anything written post the move of the capital to Byzantium, as being called Classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysalis_stage Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 haha thanks chrissy good to know im not that deluded and someone agrees even if both under the influence of low self confidence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
book Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I don't think it's got anything to do with time - a classic is simply a book that everyone including the milkman recommend to you, and when you finally read it, despite any inhibitions about it before, you love it! Catch 22, Dracula, and Frankenstein are just three of such books I've read in recent months that fit the bill... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDR124 Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 It is true that time may not be a variable in the definition of the term, while the universal acceptance could: but nevertheless it helps. I mean, a classic speak to the very heart of the reader, no matter the historical period it has been written into, it will always find a way to the reader's soul because ther's a constant you will always find in a classic: the human being. this is out of time. so the passing of the latter may just be a sieve through which non-classic books get caught, and not an element of the definition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busy91 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I never knew what the line was. WWI sounds like a good place. I read a fair amount of classics, but they are usually known classics with no question. Now I know where to draw the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally_80 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 it's got to be timeless, each reading brings a new understanding, some sort of deep underlying message, intriguing characters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binary_Digit Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I've always approached the question of "what makes a classic" from the perspective of a car afficianado. According to the Classic Car Club of America classic cars are defined as: "...fine or unusual motor cars which were built between and including the years 1925 to 1948. All of these are very special cars which are distinguished by their respective fine design, high engineering standards and superior workmanship." While I don't think that the date range makes the transition from cars to books, I feel that the spirit of the definition is spot on. A classic work of literature must be enduring and distinguished by fine design and superior workmanship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genevieve Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 Bravo, I agree very much with this explanation. It is that something, that almost magical something in taste and perfection, in color and beauty of words and the pictures and feelings they produce, oui, a classic like your cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'd say a classic is a book (or film, or song) that succeeds in the two-fold mission of encapsulating a generation/era/moment in time and having something worthwhile to say to other generations/eras/moments in time. In the song department for example, you could say "All You Need is Love" is a classic song because it captures the feeling of hope of the budding hippiedom of the late '60s, and yet still rings true and important to anyone wishing for peace and understanding in today's world. In the same way, "Les Miserabl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binary_Digit Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Still, I believe it is possible to discern what books have the makings of a classic, even though we will not be around long enough to see if they do attain the stature they deserve among future generations/eras/moments in time. Well said BookJumper. In truth, I feel that not only can we discern which books have the makings of a classic, but it is our love of those books (and how we share that love with others) that will ultimately propel those works to the apex of the literary world. As we pass our love of certain works on to future generations, we play a part in the making of a classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 As we pass our love of certain works on to future generations, we play a part in the making of a classic. I like your way of thinking, Binary_Digit: enough book lovers handing their love for worthy tomes down to their children (or where unavailable, other people's children) have, together, the power to ensure that those tomes will in time come to be regarded as the classics they always were. Very true and hopeful message there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 As we pass our love of certain works on to future generations, we play a part in the making of a classic. Aw, that's lovely! What a wonderful thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Aw, that's lovely! What a wonderful thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genevieve Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Bravo all of you. Oui I agree. In my home, we have hundreds of books, they are treasure to us. And as each little one comes along, besides the dance and classical music and perhaps now out of date things that were treasures in long ago times for children, we read read read even Tolstoy and Hans Christian Andersen, Dickens and first Winnie the Pooh, etc. We read them and talk about them and draw about them to enter their world, see what they saw and little things like that. When friends are over the little ones they have never heard of any of this, but they know every role playing game on the computer and all the popular shows. And this is fine. But we do not watch the television, we all agreed and so our little ones do not even know it. And when at play the visiting little ones end up putting away their usual conceptions and listen with fascination to Three Muskateers and playing with very old toys and dolls and using their imagination and voila , now the classics are beginning to matter to them also, non? And so we have privelege of sharing with others and when they are older maybe they will remember and try to read more of them. It is almost like being a missionary of literature in these times I am thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I think it's lovely that you're encouraging other children in such a way, Genevieve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kala_way Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 I read somewhere that a classic is a jailer. It captures the perspective of a generation, the uniqueness of a style, the depth of a character, the feel of a time, and the minds and hearts of it's readers. It never really lets you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henryatkinson Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 yeah i'd probably describe a classic as a text that outlives the culture that creates it this follows because you wouldn't describe any text that you can truley relate to in an everyday way as a classic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahsilet Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 (edited) I think nothing should define a "classic." The book itself should do the talking, which none of the classics I have read has done. If you think about it, all the books that are labeled "classics" are by educated men (even women now as they have come into this profession/position) that sit at the top of educational boards and have told us certain books are "classics", and that we should accept their educated judgement (the students/readers who have have been told this information over such a long period of time that we have come to believe them). If we, the average readers, would re-do the list of "classics," many of these "classics" would not be on this great list. Being a literature major, I have only been taught books that have been considered "classics." Just because a book was wrote during a time it was considered controversial that led to it either being challanged or banned, it now has the right to be considered a "masterpiece" by Ph.D holders that set the education curriculum for us. The reader should be the one to determine this for themselves in their own personal list of "classics." But nope, that won't happen because schools are telling us what are "classics," which has us forever thinking a certain book is a "classic" due to this or that situation that inspired this or that writer. I find no book be a "classic." Yes, I have books that I'll carry with me for the rest of my life and will read a millions times over, and that I consider it my own little personal "classic," but it doesn't make the book a general "classic." Edited April 12, 2009 by Ahsilet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smay Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 What a philosophical question! I had to write an article about this at school, but I still find it very difficult to form an opinion. A classic for me, should be something that lives on, something that just can't be ignored. So new books can also be instant classics (Although I think people throw this term around way too much) But I am aware that most people don't like old books, or even books in general. So classics just become important to a small group of people that are interested. Which might show that all taste is personal and talking about it can feel pretty pointless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glowmay Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 (edited) When you look at a list of classic books, authors like William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Jane Austin, Mary Shelly, etc. usually show up. So when do you think the books of today (Terry Pratchette, Anthony Horowitz, Michael Morpurgo, etc.) become labeled as "classics"? Is it just when the language is replaced by new slang, or when the authors die, or...?? Quite a pointless question. Edited April 20, 2009 by Michelle merged with an existing thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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