We not only live in our own time, we live in our own geographies. In the part
of the world where I live, the classics include The Tale of Genji, “I am a Cat”
by Natsume Soseki, “In Praise of Shadows” and “The Makioka Sisters” by
Junichiro Tanizaki...this list could be much longer. In China, the four classic
novels are The Dream of the Red Chamber, Water Margin, The Romance of the Three
Kingdoms, and The Journey to the West....
Cheers,
John
On Feb 12, 2021 18:11 +0900, Torgeir Fjeld <t.fjeld1@xxxxxxxxx>, wrote:
The problem with your definition, Lawrence, is that we always live in our own
time, as the Greeks did, and not two thousand years into the future.
Take care.
-tor
On Fri, 12 Feb 2021, 05:08 Lawrence Helm, <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Consider this quote from Wikipedia's article on Joseph Heller:
Catch-22 caught the imaginations of many baby boomers, who identified
with the novel's anti-war sentiments.[18] The book went on to sell 10
million copies in the United States. The novel's title became a standard
term in English and other languages for a dilemma with no easy way out.
Now considered a classic, the book was listed at number 7 on Modern
Library's list of the top 100 novels of the century.[8] The United States
Air Force Academy uses the novel to "help prospective officers recognize
the dehumanizing aspects of bureaucracy.
What can the writer of this article mean by "classic" I wonder. I've
never read this novel and probably never will, but from the reviews I've
read it doesn't match my conception of a classic. Does someone disagree?
Lawrence
