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Originally Posted by Uncle Robin
There's also the complicating factor of culture and background - how much does part does universality play in determining a work's status as "a classic"? For example, all my education was in English, and I am now middle-aged, but until this thread I had never heard of "Raisin in the Sun". Clearly in the English-medium education system I experienced, it was not considered one of the "books you should read in school". I have never read and will never read any of the Harry Potter series, but seeing how pervasive references to the series are across language and cultural divides, they seems much more likely to "form a common foundation of understanding, myth and imagery for society" than many candidates suggested from a more traditional Anglo academic perspective.
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Yes. Some books are only classics in the author's native country. Others are considered classics worldwide.