Essential
2021-04-21
Classics criteria considered
What books will still be read in hundreds of years?
Ben's definition of a classic: a transcendent work of genius
Criteria
Depth
- Cultural
- Thematic (the big questions of life)
- Literary (in conversation with other literature)
- Humanistic (what does it mean to be human)
- Moral
Poetry
- Great language, not necessarily verse
- Form
Timelessness
The ability to communicate across time and space
Eric Weiner says that genius is fostered by suffering and are not evenly distributed by geography or time.
Hurdles modern American culture faces to create a classic
Extraordinary Books That Won't Become Classics
Won't Age Well
- Cryptonomicon
- Mad Max: Fury Road
Elucidate instead of Participate with the Great Tradition
- Dan Simmons
Length
- A Song of Ice and Fire
- TV shows
No Transcendent Depth or Writing
- Isaac Asimov
- Robert Heinlein
What modern books will become classics?
- J. R. R. Tolkien
- Maybe Neil Gaiman
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