What Makes a Book a Classic? (Part II)

When I went back and reread last night's post I realized it really just listed some definitions and not my thoughts about what makes a book a classic. In my defense, it was a loooong day.

Dear Daughter (DD) was bitten by her roommate's dog the night before, and her hand was swollen, red and painful. She went to the doctor who sent her to the ER. Now DD is an adult. She's 20 years old. But she's my oldest, and I know how much she detests doctors, shots and the whole gamut. So, I left work to meet her at the ER. Let me share an important bit of information I learned. Do not go to the ER the first day after a weekend or holiday. For whatever reason, the ER is inundated with everyone and every condition. We waited 3 1/2 hours then left to go to another hospital that had a shorter waiting time. It did. But the wait time once you got into an examination room was not one minute shorter. Another 4 hours, an x-ray, a tetanus shot, and 2 prescriptions later we were leaving. DD is doing better. She's on some serious antibiotics and painkillers, so we will know in a few days whether the infection is getting better.

When I got home last night I needed to just chill. So, I came here, to the computer. Books and reading are my relaxation, so I first went to www.goodreads.com. I checked out the updates to the groups of which I am a member, one of which is "The Perks of Being a Bookworm". One of the discussions began as a challenge to read and appraise the group of what "classics" respondents are reading for the months of August and September. I was going through the responses, and as I was doing so titles kept jumping out. Books by authors I've read, books whose movie adaptations I've seen, books in genres I've been partial to at various time, and more. And these titles piqued my curiosity and interest.

And then I started wondering, what does make a book a classic? How, for example, do books encompassing disparate genres such as horror and romance end up so highly regarded? So I googled the definition. And I think it was about then that exhaustion started overtaking me. I know myself. Once I start a thought process, I really want/need to complete that thought process. If I stop and come back several hours later, the flow is broken and I can't really capture what it was I was trying to convey before. I tried to flesh out my intentions but my eyelids won out. So here I am, picking up where I left off last night, and, amazingly, the flow is still there.

I think Italo Calvino captured the essence of defining a classic. In the July 6 newsletter of www.brainpickings.org, Maria Popova wrote about Italo Calvino's fourteen definitions. Yes, fourteen definitions. Because one size just does not fit all. And age does not matter. Briefly, here are Italo's definitions and my thoughts/examples on each of them.

1. The classics are those books about which you usually hear people saying: 'I'm rereading…', never 'I'm reading….'  How many times have I seen, heard or read of other people reading Jane Austen's books over and over and over? There are reading groups solely devoted to Jane Austen's books and I don't know how many movie adaptations. There are seven Jane Austen books yet many never tire of reading her books multiple times.
2. The Classics are those books which constitute a treasured experience for those who have read and loved them; but they remain just as rich an experience for those who reserve the chance to read them for when they are in the best condition to enjoy them. I'm going to go with The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Up to now I've not had any real desire to read this book though it is considered one of the best known classics. I picked it up a few months back and have been slowly reading it. And I am really enjoying it. It is like a piece of Swiss chocolate, I want to read it slowly to savor it and make it last a good bit....But not too long! 
3. The classics are books which exercise a particular influence, both when they imprint themselves on our imagination as unforgettable, and when they hide in the layers of memory disguised as the individual's or the collective unconscious. George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is an excellent example of one such classic. I read this book well before 1984, and many, many times this book has been referenced; both before and after said year. Most often we hear comparisons between what George Orwell imagined and what actually is, and those of us who read the books are continually amazed at the insight George Orwell had of the future.
4. A classic is a book which with each rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading. J.R.R. Tolkien has this one in the bag. At least for me. I don't know how many times I've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Each time I do, I learn something new, gain a new insight.
5. A classic is a book which even when we read it for the first time gives the sense of rereading something we have read before. Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery is one such book. What may seem a child's book is actually a celebration of youth. And regardless of the reader's age, it is a joy because we see a bit of ourselves in Anne and the other characters.
6. A classic is a book which has never exhausted all it has to say to its readers. I'm going with The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales on this one. Allegories, fables and such. A lesson learned in each tale.
7. The classics are those books which come to us bearing the aura of previous interpretations, and trailing behind them the traces they have left in the culture or cultures (or just in the languages and customs) through which they have passed. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. What can I say? I think no matter the era, this book is relevant.
8. A classic is a work which constantly generates a pulviscular cloud of critical discourse around it, but which always shakes the particles off. I had to look up the meaning of 'pulviscular' before considering this definition. Pulvsicular is defined as "dusty; resembling fine powder". Though I haven't read Salman Rushdie yet, one of his books in on the bucket list. I am thinking his books may be appropriate here. They are often controversial, talked about, argued. Yet, they stand on their own merits.
9. Classics are books which, the more we think we know them through hearsay, the more original, unexpected, and innovative we find them when we actually read them. On this one, I will have to agree with the many Jane Austen fans. I read my first Jane Austen book last month. Amazing, isn't it? And much as I've seen and heard about her subject matter, read the reviews, and listened to opinions, I enjoyed the book far more than I had anticipated. This prompted me to pick up another Jane Austen book, which I enjoyed more than the first.
10. A classic is the term given to any book which comes to represent the whole universe, a book on a par with ancient talismans. The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis are the epitome of this definition. Nuff said.
11. 'Your' classic is a book to which you cannot remain indifferent, and which helps you define yourself in relation or even in opposition to it. In other words, a classic is a book about which readers, through the ages, are passionate. Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dante are but a few of the authors whose works invoke a passion through the ages.
12. A classic is a work that comes before other classics; but those who have read other classics first immediately recognize its place in the genealogy of classic works. Again, Shakespeare, Chaucer and Dante. Shakespeare is indelible. His flair for word play; his characters, scandalous, tormented, playful. These mark the period of time in which they were written. They make this age come alive like nothing else. And once you've read one of Shakespeare's works, you can instantly recognize his artistry anywhere.
13. A classic is a work which relegates the noise of the present to a background hum, which at the same time the classics cannot exist without. Shakespeare and Jane Austen are again excellent examples. The stories, though they occur at a specific place and time, are ageless. They can be rewritten in any era and still be just as relevant as when they were first written.
14. A classic is a work which persists as a background noise even when a present that is totally incompatible with it holds sway. I think all books considered classics suffice. Once you have turned the last page and read the last line, the plot, the characters, their interactions still resonate in your mind and imagination. You mull them over for a time, thinking of the characters as real people.

I think it is these last two definitions that really epitomize a 'classic'. As you are reading it you are transported to this alternate world. And once finished, you float along in this alternate world for a time until your feet touch the ground.

That said, my examples were pretty limited. These were books that either I recently read or they made a significant impact on me. I think I will visit this list of definitions periodically to expand on the examples and my thoughts. I dislike repetition across the definitions, and I would be more satisfied to have unique examples across the definitions.

As for DD, let's keep her on the mend.