What makes a classic book? Something that could be remembered for generations

What makes a classic book? Something that could be remembered for generations.

One that stands the test of time

what makes a book stand the test of time?

My first thought would be to have a book that steers clear of shit like iPhones, tablets, and pop culture references so that it can be enjoyed without having context in the future. It has to literally be made timeless.

This has to be just a small part of it though. Because plenty of books do this, but very few are remembered for very long

Classic is code-word for boring book written by a privileged old white cis man

>what makes a book stand the test of time?

You can't predict shit like this. Plenty of people throughout history have championed works that were ultimately forgotten.

1. one that captures the ethos of a period in time that
2. stands the test of time
inb4 autists try to refute this by citing some obscure book. this is what makes a 'classic' not a 'good book'

what would you say the ethos of today would be? Asking for a friend

I would say anxiety and depression honestly.

A book, or anything really for that matter, becomes a "classic" when it successfully takes the form of a platonic ideal.
The most common way for books and other media to generally do this is to define an archetype or accurately capture a zeitgeist

you need good words, and in the correct order

>My first thought would be to have a book that steers clear of shit like iPhones, tablets, and pop culture references so that it can be enjoyed without having context in the future. It has to literally be made timeless.
I think you're right in that it has to be enjoyable regardless of knowledge, but also that you're completely wrong about having to make it timeless. I mean look at The Divine Comedy and all its name-dropping of politicians.
I think timelessness has much more to do with addressing fundamentally human experiences and emotions, and pure aesthetics.

shitty bait

What comes to my mind is infinite jest and its TPs and cartridges. Do you think it will become a time honoured classic?

>name-dropping of politicians
would you respect a book that name dropped Trump and Obama or something? I don't respect when TV shows do this. It alienates audiences and fucks up the appeal. I agree with appealing with emotions and experiences though.

I have’t read IJ so I can’t tell, but contemporary technology is usually not something that puts me off. As long as the appeal doesn’t rely on me understanding or being able to relate to it, it’s fine.
So you don’t respect The Divine Comedy?

>So you don’t respect The Divine Comedy?
completely different thing in the age of social media and quick and easy documentation

Vague, meaningless definition. You could pick almost any book and say that it captures the ethos of a time because that time was what produced the book, the book necessarily has to bear its mark in some ways.

If you were born a hundred years later you wouldn't care wether a book referenced Trump or Obama, just like you today don't care about the politicians in Commedia.

The canon has blurry borders, because it is a construct, based on consensus, and changeable. Are shitty medieval romances classics? They are old and influential and used to be extremely popular, but they are shit.
The canon and status of a "classic" shouldn't be taken too seriously. There's just no standard procedure to determine wether a book belongs to the canon or not. That's why Bloom was against the inclusion of the list in his "Western Canon".

As Calvino said, a Classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.

>My first thought would be to have a book that steers clear of shit like iPhones, tablets, and pop culture references so that it can be enjoyed without having context in the future. It has to literally be made timeless.

Lord of the Rings?

yes

bump

I don’t get it, why is it different?

I would say yes but not too many people are like this. It's more like the few depressed and anxious people and their relation to the rest of the world.
Who knows, maybe in few decades philosophers of Voltaire-tier and similar writers will unironically use the term r9k.
Niggers were disparaged by society once just like r9k are now. The sad thing is that r9k are too desperate and dejected to make a rebellion or defend themselves and stand up for their rights...

there will never be another classic.

Literature is dead