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Originally Posted by Nabeel
I would have liked something like a 'classics' genre. I really do enjoy a lot of those great nineteenth century writers: Balzac (who taught me to reach French!), Dostoyevsky, Flaubert...
I think I'm not alone: it's one reason why they keep being re-issued.
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Ah but 'classics' don't fall into any one genre of fiction. There are classics in every genre. For example "The Time Machine" and "Treasure Island." Both are "Classics" in their own right, but one is a straightforward Adventure, and the other is Science Fiction. To my mind a classic is a book (no matter the genre) that is still read and enjoyed a century (or more) after the author has laid down their pen. I think that's the only true test of whether a book is a classic. Schools and publications connected with writing (such as the New York Times) may say such and such is destined to be a classic but how the book withstands time (and if it is still read) is the only real measure of whether or not a book is one or not I think.