How do you define a classic work or author?
To expand on the subject line, a classic is a book which, stylistically and/or in terms of the ideas or emotions it conveys, consistently has literary value to readers generation after generation. Its value endures. By definition, I think that this requires the work in question to be novel in one way or another, so derivative fiction cannot by definition become "classic". I also believe that truly valuable ideas often (but not necessarily always) require that the book not be easily accessible to everyone, so the reader is forced to work a bit to appreciate the book.
However, I also believe that some more contemporary works can be considered "modern classics" because their ideas are profound enough and common enough to humanity that we can impute to them an enduring value. As such, some of my favorites might be too recent to consider "classics" by virtue of their enduring value.
What are your favorite classic works?
The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Demons, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov
Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak
Fathers and Sons, by Ivan Turgenev
Dead Souls, by Nikolai Gogol
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
Tender is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert
The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri
The Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio
The Iliad and Odyssey, by Homer
The Aeneid, by Virgil
The Metamorphoses, by Ovid
The Golden Ass, by Apuleius
The Argonautica, by Apollonius Rhodius
The tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides
The comedies of Aristophanes
Beowulf
If you had to suggest just one, which would it be and why? (please not, "because it's good" )
I think which one I would suggest would depend on the person I was talking to. I think Brothers Karamazov is incredible, but I'm not sure how relevant it is to atheists, for example. I would guess I would recommend Doctor Zhivago as a more broadly appealing work.
What have you staunchly refused to read that might be considered a classic?
Moby Dick
Why don't you want to read it?
Almost everyone I know who has read it has not found any real value to it.
I considered myself relatively well read, until I started hanging out around here at least. I will answer the questions in the next post to get it started, despite what it might reveal about my literary experience (or lack thereof). Thanks!
Political correctness is the pettiest form of casuistry.
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
The Classics - general discussion / survey
30/09/2010 03:52:53 PM
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My own answers.
30/09/2010 04:38:33 PM
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Re: My own answers.
30/09/2010 09:02:08 PM
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Powdered Soup!
30/09/2010 09:23:51 PM
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Re: Powdered Soup!
30/09/2010 09:34:06 PM
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Re: Powdered Soup!
30/09/2010 10:07:20 PM
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Well, have you seen any of the Austen TV/movie adaptations, then?
30/09/2010 10:25:58 PM
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Oh yes. I even made the mistake of purchasing the new Pride and Prejudice for her.
01/10/2010 12:10:05 AM
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Cliff's notes
05/10/2010 08:05:56 PM
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A classic is really any book with enduring value.
30/09/2010 05:33:35 PM
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Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value.
30/09/2010 06:46:02 PM
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Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value.
30/09/2010 10:57:23 PM
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Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value.
30/09/2010 11:39:16 PM
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I really need to read Kundera. I've heard nothing but praise for Unbearable Lightness. *NM*
30/09/2010 08:46:18 PM
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I could post you over a copy to borrow.
30/09/2010 08:58:08 PM
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That is very kind, but I have far too much to do to read non-school books, unfortunately.
30/09/2010 10:53:23 PM
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Haven't read any other Kundera, but yes, that one is very enjoyable. *NM*
30/09/2010 09:50:30 PM
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I found his other books to be pale copies of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. *NM*
30/09/2010 10:51:55 PM
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I study them, apparently.
30/09/2010 08:44:40 PM
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I wish I could do that.
30/09/2010 09:49:57 PM
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Less fun than you'd think.
30/09/2010 10:52:10 PM
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More admiration of your discipline than assuming you were having fun with it.
01/10/2010 12:31:06 AM
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Re: The Classics - general discussion / survey .. edited.
30/09/2010 08:58:14 PM
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I knew you would have a rather lengthy list. I was worried until the edit came through.
01/10/2010 02:26:34 AM
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Good survey.
30/09/2010 10:23:18 PM
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Agreed. edited
30/09/2010 10:37:48 PM
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But but but Milton is beautiful
30/09/2010 10:46:06 PM
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Sometimes.
30/09/2010 10:47:28 PM
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I'm glad you approve on the whole.
30/09/2010 11:12:00 PM
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I generally do.
30/09/2010 11:19:05 PM
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Excellent. Might as well include a Hooft poem anyway, in case anyone's interested...
30/09/2010 11:40:24 PM
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Re: Excellent. Might as well include a Hooft poem anyway, in case anyone's interested...
30/09/2010 11:43:20 PM
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Ah Cliff, I bow to thee
30/09/2010 11:30:41 PM
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Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee
01/10/2010 03:18:58 AM
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Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee
01/10/2010 05:20:10 AM
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Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee
01/10/2010 02:05:35 PM
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I will not list 300+ books here, I promise
01/10/2010 12:36:17 AM
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O'Connor is wonderful. But I am not sure many can appreciate her.
01/10/2010 02:50:54 AM
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Criminy, I thought I was done with essay questions years ago.
01/10/2010 01:39:56 AM
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the bf and I are going to do a "Paradise Lost" book club...
02/10/2010 08:29:38 AM
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