Actually the classics became that because enough people enjoyed them that the publishers(who wanted to make $$) kept them in print. Those books that didn't make much money went out of print. And in the past a lot of writers would publish their books in parts in the newspaper before they actually were printed up as a whole book. Charles Dickens was one such writer. And Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories were 1st printed in the Strand Magazine before they were collected into books. Many classics have become part of the language as well. If we tell someone that so and so is a real Scrooge for example or that someone we know is a real Sherlock Holmes most people know what the person means without being told.
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Originally Posted by Mrgauth
I believe most of the "classics" are that simply because there were so few decent books available up until the last 100 years. Prior to that few had A book, well enough lots of books. I truly believe if many of those so-called classics were released today for the first time they would amount to nothing. But that's just me as I find most of the classics to be drivel.
As for prices of books, I could care less what they want to price them. I simply know what I will pay and if it is more than that, forgettaboutit. My biggest disappointment is the fact that ebooks are not much, and in some cases not at all, cheaper than physical paper books. That I just don't get.
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