Okay so I've always wondered...?

Question

what makes a "classic" a "classic"

and why are teachers and people always like... "if you don't appreciate the classics then you either are not a mature enough reader or simply do not understand." I mean why does EVERYBODY have to like the classics?

Answer 1

Well, "like" is different from "appreciate".  I agree - you need to understand the classics to know what good literature is... what it can be and what other books could be capable of if they were written a little better.  It doesn't mean you have to like the story, or even the way it was written, but to understand it makes you a better reader and maybe even a better writer if you want to be.  It's the standard against which all books are measured.  

Answer 2

I think of a classic as a really old book. I don't think that you have to like them. I think that some of them are boring and hard to understand.

Answer 3

When teachers use the phrase "appreciate the classics" they don't mean the same thing as "like the classics". The reason they make us read them in school is so we learn the writing style. Like "Wuthering Heights". It's beautifully written, but it is the most boring book ever written.

Answer 4

Not everybody has to!? Art is in the eye of the beholder. On the other hand not everybody has to like over-marketed over-hyped poorly written contemporary fiction about vampires either.

Typically classic have had a large impact on society and may have changed the way literature is written or the way literature is perceived in the world.

Answer 5

It is up to the person to decide whether they like the book or not. I think what makes a classic a classic is that it's original and that it does actually have some sort of lesson you can achieve from reading it.

It's ridiculous that someone would force upon another person that one book is great. Just because one person out of a majority doesn't like a book doesn't mean they should be put down for it.

Answer 6

nobody has to like the classics its just a way to make you pay attention

Answer 7

I think that a lot of young readers do not like the classics, but they are classics because they have been around for many many years and have a lot of deeper meaning in them.

Many times it is that once a reader actually does understand deeply what the story is trying to say, Shakespeare and others are actually quite interesting.

Sometimes, it's better for you to relate the stories in present times. This way, its "less boring."

Answer 8

You don't have to like them- you do have to read them.  A lot of them, at least from my standpoint, are really good.  The reason they are "classics" is because they have changed the way we look at literature or the way we perceive the world, or at least have the power to do so.  Others become classics because of the way they commented on the world at the time they were written, such as To Kill A Mockingbird.