A few weeks ago my husband and I took a quiz to see how many of the Great Classics of Literature we had each read. I think it was from the BBC, I'm not sure. Anyway, he had read about 30 percent, and I had read just under 60 percent.
This got me thinking about "Classic Literature". What books are considered classics? Who chooses them, and why? And what does the average person who isn't a professor of literature think of these "classics"?
There are so freaking many lists of "classics" out there. I found at least 30, no joke. In order to have a relatively inclusive list with a finite ending, I had to make some rules about what would be included:
I must have not already read it.
It must be a novel (fiction, not non-fiction).
It must appear on at least two of the lists I found.
People must generally consider it a "classic".
I've always been a big reader so I'd already read many of the so-called "classics". I've read all of Jane Austen's work, and the Bronte's. I've read most of Dickens and Twain, and a lot of Stephen King's. (Yes, some of his stuff is considered classic literature!) This gave me 177 novels. Due to the lists I found, the novels tended to be Anglo-centric and from the mid to late 1900s.
You can find the Lengthy Literary List on "The List" tab. Books that are in bold have been completed. If you have a suggestion that you don't see on the list, please use the Contact Me buttons and shoot me an email!
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