How do books become classics?
Reader question of the day:
How do books become classics and why should I read them?
The Literate Hippie answers:
1. They stand the test of time, meaning that people still read them even though they’re old. There is still something of value in them, something beyond culture and time in which they were written. They lasted. People like them, hundreds of years later.
2. They tell a story or discuss an issue that matters.
3. They’re well-written, bigger than the author, and have (for many) a definite emotional and/or intellectual effect, often a life-changing one. Sometimes (often) they have historical effects, meaning that the ideas presented in them alter the course of cultures and civilizations.
Now, on to the second part of the question. Why should you read them?
Well, you shouldn’t, if you want to be a small-minded, uninformed, and culturally bound person when you grow up. Watch lots of television, go to movies, listen to music (only popular Western music, please, and read magazines. That should be just perfect. Communicate via text message and email and never learn how to actually compose a paragraph on paper. You’ll reach your goal.
If, however, you would prefer to be informed and filled with a vastness of perspective that will allow you to empathize with and understand people very different from yourself, read books. Read the classics. Immerse yourself in other cultures and times. Learn that your own world is not the first to succeed or the first to struggle. Learn that culture is a passing fancy. Learn that your assumptions may not be accurate. Learn that others have suffered, have rejoiced, have overcome, have failed, have lived and died in ways you never imagined.
Learn to spell.
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