classics

[Concetta Macchia <CMacchia@NEWROCHELLE.K12.NY.US>]

Thanks for your advice on classics.

Here are some ideas on the topic from fellow LM Netters:

 When I taught Classics of World Literature in college, I always first
quoted
Mark Twain, "A classic-something that everybody wants to have read and
nobody wants to read."  This always got a good laugh.  Then I talked
about
books that speak to everyone across the centuries and generations.
These
books  have characters you can relate to, even though they're 5000 years
old.  Something in the author's theme is still relevant to our lives
today.

I don't have a source for this; it's just what I've created from years
of
studying and teaching literature.

Hope this helps!

This is a bit harder than I would have assumed.  I think it's one of
those
things that we all know what it is but can't really put into words.
I've
searched the Internet for a clear definition but have found none.
Anyway,
to me, classic literature is something that has endured based on its
merits.  A novel that has kept the interest of students over the years
would be a classic.  Obviously works like Mark Twain and Dickens would
be
classics.  And then, there's classical literature like the Illiad.  I
personally don't call current works classics even though it may be
obvious
that they may someday be classics.

There you go.  Clear as mud.  My lists are a compilation of many
viewpoints
so there may be some disagreement as to classic nature of all the titles
on
the list.

Nancy (Keane)

A classic withstands the test of time. It does this by dealing with
universal themes of
truth and beauty  that transcend generations. It teaches us about life
and how life
should be lived. It inspires us to be better.
That is my definition.

I don't know that you could ever get a clear cut answer to that.  Time
is
one of the main considerations.  If it is a recent book, it might have
the
potential to become a classic but unless people are reading it and still
finding universal truths in it years from now, it is probably not.
Faulkner's Nobel Prize speech gives a pretty good definition although
that
is not what he was doing intentionally - I don't think.

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