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I have always loved the classics. I have been trying lately to read more contemporary literature such as Cormac McCarthy, Jose Saramago, and Lawrence Durrell, to name a few. Maybe it is just me, but I can't help but notice a dramatic difference in the pacing and style of more modern writers, and I have to say that I have not found someone who really appeals to me. John Updike has caught my attention more than any other author so far.
I guess it stands to reason that contemporary readers would require an evolving format, in the same way that television images and content have in the past sixty years, and language has adjusted due to communication devices like texting. But I wanted to know if there are readers out there like me who prefer a familiar style with udated content versus books that ignore punctuation, or whose styles take many pages to understand?
Do you prefer classic or contemporary literature, and why?
I've really grown to prefer classic literature. To be honest, I thoroughly detest Cormac McCarthy as just an overrated fetishist of violence. His stuff borders on unreadable. What's more, when you go down the list of today's award-winning novels, you would be really hard-pressed to find many that come close to, say, the Modern Library's Top 100 novels.
Why? Because while I believe that prose styles today are remarkably polished, perhaps even more so than the canon of great writers, the substance is remarkably sparse. It is as if the novel has become a confection with absolutely nothing inside of it. You certainly couldn't say that about a Nabokov, a Thackeray, a Dickens, or a DeFoe.
No, it's because the top 100 lists of all-time span several hundred years, while the list of modern authors covers fifty years - if that. If you listed top novels by decade, or even by twenty years, you'd get results more on par.
I read both, and don't have an either/or preference.
No, it's because the top 100 lists of all-time span several hundred years, while the list of modern authors covers fifty years - if that. If you listed top novels by decade, or even by twenty years, you'd get results more on par.
I read both, and don't have an either/or preference.
Well, the Modern Library to which I refer really begins from the beginning of the 20th Century.
Most of my favorite books have been what I'd call "minor classics"--stuff like Out of Africa, Friendly Persuasion, and Zorba the Greek. I guess they're more modern, but I tend to not like too much of the very recent stuff--that stuff can be really trashy. I remember once I thought I'd try it again--the book looked pretty good, I don't remember what it was, but when I got to the line, "It was the F-ing storm of the century," I put it down and didn't pick it up again. It's not that my eyes are so tender; I just think throwing the F word around is cheap and tacky--this was the narrator talking, not a character.
Most of my favorite books have been what I'd call "minor classics"--stuff like Out of Africa, Friendly Persuasion, and Zorba the Greek. I guess they're more modern, but I tend to not like too much of the very recent stuff--that stuff can be really trashy. I remember once I thought I'd try it again--the book looked pretty good, I don't remember what it was, but when I got to the line, "It was the F-ing storm of the century," I put it down and didn't pick it up again. It's not that my eyes are so tender; I just think throwing the F word around is cheap and tacky--this was the narrator talking, not a character.
I think that is a major difference between Literary Fiction and Commercial Fiction, and I agree with you to some extent. It is jarring to see strong language used in literature because it was really not acceptable in the classics. I don't mind it so much in commercial literature because the storylines are much more contemporary. And I think that part of what defines commercial literature is the use of popular culture and the vernacular within a particular 'world' described in the story. Stephen King would be a good example of the use of popular culture. I have often wondered if The Stand will be considered classic literature someday. I personally think it should be, but hardly anything else he writes stands out like that story did for me.
It used to bother me when I was younger when a classic author used the convention 'one' when describing how someone referred to themselves. In common language most people use the term 'you' to describe first person experiences. For example, "When one finds themselves up against adversity, one has to dig deep to find where one's character dwells." Whereas if you were talking to a friend you would most likely hear or say, "When you find yourself up against adversity, you have to dig deep to find out where your character dwells." I don't think I have ever felt comfortable with this and do not use it in my own writing. I just don't see anything wrong with communicating in a way that most people understand.
But when it comes to the use of strong language, I think it is much easier to avoid it. After all, there have been some incredibly seedy characters and terrible situations portrayed in classic literature and nothing was ever lost by avoiding the use of harsh language.
I'll read both classics and modern lit.
I still enjoy Dickens quite a bit.
I love getting lost in big, epic, sprawling books, but I also like smaller, slice-of-life stuff.
Sometimes less is more; the slimmest novel might say the most with a worthy theme and a well-turned phrase.
I have to admit on the whole I am more of a "classics" person and tend to be mostly disappointed by contemporary books. There are of course some notable exceptions but I have read so many recent books which have left me distinctly underwhelmed that I am now really quite "worried" every time I pick up a new book.
Most of the contemporary books I really enjoy tend to be Historical novels/murder mysteries , some of them are truly great.
Recent books I remember truly enjoying are "Shantaram" "The Tenderness of Wolves", and "The Highest Tide". There have been others of course but these would be my top ones .
Modern non fiction is excellent as are biographies .
Mind you what do you call a classic ? To me Steinbeck and Hemingway are as much "classics" as Zola or Chekov.
Mind you what do you call a classic ? To me Steinbeck and Hemingway are as much "classics" as Zola or Chekov.
I'm not sure if there is an absolute definition for 'classic' but some of the qualities of them have to be that they are enduring stories of the human condition. I don't think topical subjects or trendy issues qualify. I would also have to say that classics will become part of educational canon, whether they can be geared toward younger audiences like Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies; secondary education audiences like Red Badge of Courage and Of Mice and Men, or even at the collegiate level like Ulysses or The Brothers Karamzov.
I have read a couple of different Noble lauriates in the past couple of years that I did not care for at all (Gabriel Garcia-Marquez and Jose Saramago), so I would have to say that great literature and what constitutes a classic is somewhat subjective. After all, one of my least favorite books of all time (tried to read it five times and have never made it past the halfway point) is Moby Dick, what many people consider to be the Great American Novel. No thank you very much.
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