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Classics (IMO) are books that have been enjoyed by numerous generations and haven't faded into obscurity. The approval of the masses is a given since people of authority only come to realize that book x by author y is a classic after a given amount of time (such as 100 yrs) has passed. Authority figures teach classes on Charles Dicken's works for example, but I have yet to hear of Tom Clancy's books being taught as part of a college course. They haven't been around long enough to be considered classics as yet. That said I agree that a diet of only classic books could get pretty stale after a while and mixing in some new books can't hurt. And of course not everyone is grabbed by a given classic book just as not everyone likes a given book by a contemporary author, and there is no rule that you have to finish a given book (classic or modern) if you find it isn't for you. Everyone is different in what they like or dislike. It may be that a given book is written in a style that you don't care for or that you just aren't ready for that book at the present time. What matters most whether a book is considered a classic or is a modern book is that the reader gets pleasure out of the act of reading it. That is the whole point of fiction books, classic or modern. To a lesser degree it is also a point in non-fiction books as well. A non-fiction book can be dull or an interesting read depending on many different factors just one of which is how clear the writing is. If a book (Fiction or Non-Fiction) fails to capture the reader's interest it will flop no matter what else it has going for it. One of the reasons classics become classics (IMO) is that the writing is clear and we can still empathize with the characters.
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