"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Classics Club Question of the month, July 2016

What about modern classics? Pick a book published since 2000 and say why you think it will be considered as a “classic” in the future.


The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling.
(Published between 1997-2007)

Why? Of the 14 points that Italo Calvino uses to define a Classic, The Harry Potter series clearly meets nine of them, and maybe more:

  • People say they are rereading the series, rather than reading it.
  • Reading the Harry Potter books is a treasured experience.
  • The books (characters, settings, plot) are unforgettable.
  • Rereading the Harry Potter books offers as much discovery as reading them the first time.
  • The messages in the books of love, acceptance, friendship, fairness, fighting for the right are themes which will never become exhausted or outdated.
  • Trailing behind the Harry Potter craze is the aura left behind on our society.
  • The Harry Potter books are and were original, innovative, and unexpected.
  • It is impossible to stay neutral about the whole Harry Potter series. 
  • The Harry Potter series is a modern classic because already it has become background noise to our lives. Whether you have read the books or not you are aware of them and they influence culture with their quiet background hum.
  • Of the other five points, most of which have to do with the placement of this work next to the canon of classic lit, I am not clever enough to know.
Do you agree with me? Are the Harry Potter books modern classics? What books, published recently do you think are modern classics.  Please visit Italo Calvino's website for more information about the fourteen points which make up a Classic. 

Posted by at
Labels:

4 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 27, 2016 at 1:51 PM

    I definitely agree and I love how you've used Italo Calvino's 14 points that define a classic :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. LyzzyBeeJuly 28, 2016 at 1:35 AM

    I think perhaps they are - this is really interesting, as I was just discussing with my husband the other day what makes a classic, cf. my post on The Mill on the Floss. I think people are still talking about them, and that is the big thing - both critical writers and normal readers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FictionFanAugust 2, 2016 at 3:55 AM

    Yes, I think they will be. I haven't come across Italo Calvino's points before - intriguing! I'm wondering now how many books on my Classics Club list would qualify...

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownAugust 4, 2016 at 4:20 AM

    I definitely consider this a modern classic. When I think of a lot of the other books being published currently, I know they will lose their relevance with time. I can definitely believe that Harry Potter will be constantly republished decades into the future.

    ReplyDelete

I look forward to your comments and interactions! Join in the conversation.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)