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I would have to agree with many of the posted definitions. I think in addition to it standing the test of time, a classic is also a book with the ability to really touch, really move a great many people and to far exceed the authors expectation or societies exceptions for the book. Harry Potter has been mentioned, and this is a good example. It was originally intended for the young adult genre, but now and for many years has been read by the young and old, all over the world, different classes, etc. That is something that makes it a classic to me.
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For me, classics have more to do with literary value than entertainment value. Those books which are deemed classics have either introduced or made exceptional use of literary techniques which can further enhance not only reading value but writing as well.
Words exist because of meaning. Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him? ~Chuang Tzu
funny! this question was part of my post graduation. eheh.
a classic must have three things - sapience, meaning and success. it's very hard to define what a classic is, however, most of the times you ask this to someone, they give an incomplete but acceptable answer.
to me, all the following writers are classic:
Luís de Camões, Sophia de Mello Breyner, Beatrix Potter, Conmtésse de Ségur, Jostein Gaarder, William and Jacob Grimm, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Hans Christian Andersen, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Charles Perrault, Shaun Tan, Tim Burton, J. K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien... and others.
As you see, you can find new and old classic writers in this list.
a classic must have three things - sapience, meaning and success. it's very hard to define what a classic is, however, most of the times you ask this to someone, they give an incomplete but acceptable answer.
to me, all the following writers are classic:
Luís de Camões, Sophia de Mello Breyner, Beatrix Potter, Conmtésse de Ségur, Jostein Gaarder, William and Jacob Grimm, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Hans Christian Andersen, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Charles Perrault, Shaun Tan, Tim Burton, J. K. Rowling, J. R. R. Tolkien... and others.
As you see, you can find new and old classic writers in this list.
I love classic literature/music etc
I feel that classic literature conveys a certain type of feeling or memory that is very heartfelt and warming.
I suppose that's how these sort of books have stood the test of time, they give the reader a good feeling and the reader can connect with the book.
I feel that classic literature conveys a certain type of feeling or memory that is very heartfelt and warming.
I suppose that's how these sort of books have stood the test of time, they give the reader a good feeling and the reader can connect with the book.
The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy are definitely classics for me.
I think there's different sets of classics as someone stated before. The 'old' classics that just don't seem to fade out of the light what with schools having them assigned to read, etc.. and more of a contemporary classic grouping.
The contemporaries, which I hate to admit, would be things like Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket, Twilight.. The newer crazes.. They have potential to become classics as they are apparently very well loved. But my own personal opinion keeps me from wanting to put them anywhere near Shakespeare, Tolkein, Harper Lee or Tolstoy, etc.
The contemporaries, which I hate to admit, would be things like Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket, Twilight.. The newer crazes.. They have potential to become classics as they are apparently very well loved. But my own personal opinion keeps me from wanting to put them anywhere near Shakespeare, Tolkein, Harper Lee or Tolstoy, etc.
A classic, to me, is a book that survives time and that can tell us something of the era it was written within. Not just things such as Moby-Dick or things by Edgar Allan Poe, but things like Lord of the Rings and Narnia can be classics because they are lasting stories that contribute something. Things like romance novels or Twilight I don't think will ever be classic, I do not think they are stories that will last forever and be discussed in classrooms. But, you never know, I could be wrong. They might be examples of literature in terms of our era.
When I think of classic Catcher In The Rye comes to mind.
I don't truly have any set definition for them.
I don't truly have any set definition for them.
A classic can be a myriad of things. The traditional, discount-at-Barnes-and-Noble-type classic is something that was immensely popular in its time, or things that pivotally changed society. For example, Uncle Tom's Cabin is not that well written. But it galvanized so much support for the Union cause–– for antislavery in general (in Europe as well) ––that it can only be looked back on now as a Classic. Dickens and Twain are notable Classics writers, also Steinbeck, Bernard Shaw, Wilde, Brontë, Austen, Harper Lee, and many others. I think that classics are measured by the impact they have on the world.
To me there are the classics that I love and the classics that are given the name by others. So personal and formal seem to cover it 
