Thread: The classics of literature

i was just reading the thread started by jimmy about books that need to be read and had a question for all the members.
we all hear about "THE CLASSICS" in literature. i have gotten several different responses to this question. what do you think are the "true classics of literature"?
please list your preferences and also the order that you think they should be read and why.

Woah! Difficult question. First of all, how do we define literature? Who decides what is literature and what is just widely read? Are best sellers automatically literature? (Stephen King considers Hannibal to be literature). Does the fact that a book has been around a long time make it literature? (That would have to include a lot of books that began as pulps). I've seen books in the Literature section of some bookstores and on the Fiction shelves in others. Thanks to 59caddy for starting the thread. I'm looking foreward to seeing how it develops.

Originally Posted by leadduck

Woah! Difficult question. First of all, how do we define literature? Who decides what is literature and what is just widely read? Are best sellers automatically literature? (Stephen King considers Hannibal to be literature). Does the fact that a book has been around a long time make it literature? (That would have to include a lot of books that began as pulps). I've seen books in the Literature section of some bookstores and on the Fiction shelves in others. Thanks to 59caddy for starting the thread. I'm looking foreward to seeing how it develops.

Good question...For me, I place literature in two broad categories--popular and classic. Popular literature is more contemporary or present day, while classic literature is writing that for whatever reason has stood the test of time and its message still resonates with the reader.

I also see literature as including both fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Much of what we call the classics were the popular literature of their day, ie. the Greek tragedies, Shakespeare's plays, Dickens' novels, Edgar Allen Poe's short stories, Jean Toomer's, Cane, etc. Perhaps some of the popular writings of our own time will one day be defined as "classics."

Of course, the downside to the designation of a piece of writing as a "classic" is that when it is defined as such, the broad public stops reading it and it becomes the sole preserve of a high school or college literature and/or poetry course.

I'm 61 years old now. When I was growing up there was little argument as to what were the classics of literature. Then the sixties came along to confuse everything and the colleges said that those books were written by 'dead white guys'. True enough maybe but I didn't go to college and they are classics nonetheless IMO. Too many to list and I haven't read a quarter of them ..... yet.

Here is a link to a Wiki article on Mortimer Adler's list of the 100 greatest books. Scroll down to the bottom for the list. Mortimer Adler was the author of "How To Read A Book" which is highly recommended.

Here is the Modern Library's list of the 100 best novels along with their 'reader's list'. Plenty of grist for the mill.

I'm stuck between saying the books we had to read for English classes at school and those books we've bought, put on the shelf and intend to read when we get the time.

Personally, I think a book becomes Classic if its not just relevant to one generation.

For example, Day of the Triffids is an old(ish) book, written in 1951, but the story is still relevant today. It has actually been released as a TV adaptation by the BBC just recently.

The stuff we read at school is more of an academic pursuit, studying the use of language, metaphor and so on. Much as it shames me to say it, the study I did at school actually put me off Shakespeare and Chaucer. I went into so much detail at A level and really worked the books that I have no particular interest in reading them again.

But a book doesnt have to be used for academia to be a classic. It just has to be timeless and still relevant. Its the same with classic films, they're not just for the academics but still have a relevant message today.

My choice is Day of the Triffids.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

I would say that if the book stands time for more than just one or two generations, then it is classic.

My favorite "classic" that we were forced to read in school was Golding's "Lord of the Flies". It's a great one.

Originally Posted by 59caddy

please list your preferences and also the order that you think they should be read and why.

If you haven't read much so-called 'classics' before, i would recommend to pass some brick-sized, difficult-to-reach books at least from the start, such as Joyce or Dostojevski. Start with something that are easy to get with; Steinbeck comes to my mind, but there are for sure others too.
Soon you will find that it is very easy, relaxing and rewarding to jump into world of those books.