What Makes a Book a Classic?

Exploring Timeless Literature and Modern Novels Destined for Greatness

What makes a book into a “classic?” Are they all really life-changing reads or is there an element of luck and prestige in the matter?

What transforms a book into a classic? Out of the roughly 129,864,880 books published in human history, a select few hold the “classic” title.

If a reader had to name classic books, certain titles would crop up over others. Some readers might shout, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, others The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

The subject matter varies, but what’s evident is a classic’s quality can be generally agreed upon, meeting some common standard for appeal, longevity, and influence. But this begs a question. Is Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling the same kind of classic as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn? If yes, then why? If no, then why not?

Google searches define classic literature as “a book accepted as being exemplary or noteworthy, either through an imprimatur such as being listed in any of the Western canons or through a reader’s own personal opinion.”

Literature is art and art is subjective — that’s partially understood. How then can we create an objective demarkation of quality like the “classic”? The word classic injects into the craft the idea of an objective standard, communicating to those who consume and those who aim to contribute, there exists a bar of excellence defined by a merger between public consensus…