The Classics: A Keen and Lasting Pleasure

Why does the great and universal fame of classical authors continue? The answer is that the fame of classical authors is entirely independent of the majority. Do you suppose that if the fame of Shakespeare depended on the man in the street it would survive a fortnight? The fame of classical authors is originally made, and it is maintained, by a passionate few. Even when a first-class author has enjoyed immense success during his lifetime, the majority have never appreciated him so sincerely as they have appreciated second-rate men. He has always been reinforced by the ardour of the passionate few. And in the case of an author who has emerged into glory after his death the happy sequel has been due solely to the obstinate perseverance of the few. They could not leave him alone; they would not. They kept on savouring him, and talking about him, and buying him, and they generally behaved with such eager zeal, and they were so authoritative and sure of themselves, that at last the majority grew accustomed to the sound of his name and placidly agreed to the proposition that he was a genius; the majority really did not care very much either way. And it is by the passionate few that the renown of genius is kept alive from one generation to another….

The passionate few only have their way by reason of the fact that they are genuinely interested in literature, that literature matters to them. They conquer by their obstinacy alone, by their eternal repetition of the same statements. Do you suppose they could prove to the man in the street that Shakespeare was a great artist? The said man would not even understand the terms they employed. But when he is told ten thousand times, and generation after generation, that Shakespeare was a great artist, the said man believes—not by reason, but by faith. And he too repeats that Shakespeare was a great artist, and he buys the complete works of Shakespeare and puts them on his shelves, and he goes to see the marvellous stage-effects which accompany King Lear or Hamlet, and comes back religiously convinced that Shakespeare was a great artist. All because the passionate few could not keep their admiration of Shakespeare to themselves. This is not cynicism; but truth. And it is important that those who wish to form their literary taste should grasp it. What causes the passionate few to make such a fuss about literature? There can be only one reply. They find a keen and lasting pleasure in literature.

—Arnold Bennett, Literary Taste: How to Form It

via Surviving Transition

Something is Stirring in the Literary Graveyard…

Just as Homer and Dante and Shakespeare and the lot were getting pretty peaceful in their final resting places, Rebecca of Rebecca Reads is trying to teleport them into the blogosphere. She started with a guest post at the Book Bloggers Appreciation Week site, in which she encouraged book bloggers to read and review the classics. There is some excellent advice in that post, such as blogging about long works in sections, and just using your own style to blog about the classics. But she has really stirred things up with her proposed “Dead Authors Blog Tour.”

I’m not entirely sure what a blog tour is, but I gather it’s something like the web rings of yore, and in this case would involve linking blog posts related to a specific classic book, or perhaps a group of related works or themes in classic literature. It’s all pretty much up in the air right now, including the title. I’ve proposed it be called the “Undead Authors Blog Tour”–classic authors may have shuffled off their mortal coils long ago but they are living among us still!

Do check out Rebecca Reads and join the lively discussion. If nothing else it will convince you that the classics are by no means dead.