My guess is that, as already mentioned, the definition (perhaps each of our
definitions) of "classic" differs. Is the Beatles music classic?? It's not
just the age of a work, but also its impact, its depth, its artistry. Why
has Shakespeare endured?? Why has Vermeer?? Why has Beethoven?? Why *not*
numerous others?? You may wish to consider (re)reading Edmund Burke's essay:*
"On the Sublime"*. Will Heller be worthwhile reading 200 years from now??
TC,
/Steve Cameron, NJ
On Thu, Feb 11, 2021 at 11:08 PM Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Consider this quote from Wikipedia's article on Joseph Heller:
*Catch-22* caught the imaginations of many baby boomers
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer>, who identified with the
novel's anti-war sentiments.[18]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Heller#cite_note-cnn-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 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Library>'s list
of the top 100 novels of the century.[8]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Heller#cite_note-cnnobit-8> The United
States Air Force Academy
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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