Do you really think that the classics are special?
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Anonymous
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Do you really think that classical (canonical) novels and books are--on average--better written and more profound that other books?
Or, do you think that it's mainly hype? I ask because there are tons of non-classical novels that affected me way more than several classical books combined. |
Anonymous
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Also, there are a few books that I don't think belong to the canon
--OP |
Anonymous
| Books in the canon are not just there because they have an impact on you OP. It's about what impact they had in the time and place they were first written. |
Anonymous
| What? You mean it isn't all about the Op? |
Anonymous
| WTF is the "canon"? |
Anonymous
Really, you've never heard of the literary canon? Are you college educated? Nothing wrong if you're not, but I'm surprised you've entered adulthood without even hearing the term. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_canon |
Anonymous
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See, this is why I don't give my opinion (or my own take) when asking certain questions.
When I give my opinion, people will often attack that opinion (as done above) instead of answering the question itself. |
Anonymous
Wow, you're insufferable! (FYI, some people major in engineering or mathematics and didn't have the scintillating educational exposure you did.) |
Anonymous
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The answerto your question is that you are asking the wrong question.
Most people don't read "the classics" and value them do so because they want to understand the impact those works had on history and on other works. If you haven't read the bible and a good anthology of greek myth, you won't be able to understand references to those two cultural touchstones that are included in every work of literature during hundreds of years or European history. You may or may not find The Illiad interesting, but it will enhance your ability to connect to many, many other works of literature. In more recent "classics," we look at how it influenced style (James Joyce) or politics (Marx) or various social movements (Zora Neale Hurston) and read it because we want to understand how the original work interacted with society and influenced readers and subsequent authors. So, if you want to read things that you, personally, connect to, then knock yourself out. But that has nothing to do with classic literature. |
Anonymous
| People "who" read the classics, not people "don't." |
Anonymous
Wow, you have a really low threshold for what's "insufferable." I didn't major in a STEM field, but I still has science and some math classes for core curriculum. You didn't have any lit courses? |
Anonymous
NP here. This covers it very well. I don't know if anyone would read Dante for the suspense or romance (although the Inferno is pretty funny in places). You read it for the insight it gives you into Dante's world, to admire his attempt to represent his own views on his religion, and to understand the references to "Abandon Hope" and the 9 circles. |
Anonymous
*HAD, not has, before you jump all over me. |
Anonymous
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The only "classic" that I have ever been able to read all the way through is "The Catcher in the Rye."
For some reason, that book is really good. |
Anonymous
And cannot google? |