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So is it the 400 years of readers and literary critics who are wrong, or is it you who are wrong? Whether or not you were entertained by it is a matter of perso

by briga 5y ago

So is it the 400 years of readers and literary critics who are wrong, or is it you who are wrong? Whether or not you were entertained by it is a matter of personal taste, but declaring that it’s uninteresting suggests that you only gave it a cursory reading. I would also suggest that no one uses Don Quixote as a way to exaggerate their intelligence, it was deliberately written in a way so as to be accessible to the common man, which is part of the reason it has lasted for so long.

ordinaryradical 5y ago
“Am I so out of touch? No, it is the 400 years of readers who are wrong.” People may think your take is snarky but it’s very good actually. Classics become classic because they are beloved, not because “literature majors” demand it to be so. No novel has a readership outside of its own century that is not exceptional in some way. They must reach across time and into the universal heart of humanity to communicate so far beyond their own times. That’s why they’re still read. That’s why they’re classic.
- rualca 5y ago
  > Classics become classic because they are beloved, not because “literature majors” demand it to be so. Although I totally agree with you, there's also the meaning that the Classics is just a collection of books people claim to have read but never did.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
DantesKite 5y ago
I think it's popular because it was a remarkable book for its time, but like Uncle Tom's Cabin or The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, I wouldn't say it's a fun literary read. Strong cultural impact? Yes. Riveting novel? No. You know how academics rack up citation circles to "boost the impact of their publications"? Literature is a bit like that where you have a small group of people dictating the tastes of others, until it eventually collapses in on itself like a black hole and you're staring at an empty canvas, a banana peel, and an empty can of deodorant and calling it art.
- _blu 5y ago
  do you have some examples of books considered classics that "collapses in on itself..."?

by briga 5y ago

ordinaryradical 5y ago

“Am I so out of touch? No, it is the 400 years of readers who are wrong.” People may think your take is snarky but it’s very good actually. Classics become classic because they are beloved, not because “literature majors” demand it to be so. No novel has a readership outside of its own century that is not exceptional in some way. They must reach across time and into the universal heart of humanity to communicate so far beyond their own times. That’s why they’re still read. That’s why they’re classic.

rualca 5y ago
> Classics become classic because they are beloved, not because “literature majors” demand it to be so. Although I totally agree with you, there's also the meaning that the Classics is just a collection of books people claim to have read but never did.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

DantesKite 5y ago

I think it's popular because it was a remarkable book for its time, but like Uncle Tom's Cabin or The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, I wouldn't say it's a fun literary read. Strong cultural impact? Yes. Riveting novel? No. You know how academics rack up citation circles to "boost the impact of their publications"? Literature is a bit like that where you have a small group of people dictating the tastes of others, until it eventually collapses in on itself like a black hole and you're staring at an empty canvas, a banana peel, and an empty can of deodorant and calling it art.

_blu 5y ago
do you have some examples of books considered classics that "collapses in on itself..."?