> Books aren't fruit. Books may not be, but: “I have a theory that plays go off, like fruit,” Tom Stoppard https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/

> Books aren't fruit. Books may not be, but: “I have a theory that plays go off, like fruit,” Tom Stoppard https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/tom-stoppard-hermione-lee/617799/ https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/03/tom-sto... There's something to be said about fiction tapping into a zeitgeist, and how fleeting that is. Even if the fiction remains relevant and interesting, it can still lose the emotional resonance it had when it was first released. I share your skepticism about the "arrow of progress" however, so don't interpret this as an argument against what you're saying, just offering a counterpoint. Many classics have left me cold on reading them, even ones that I recognize are structurally excellent.