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For me, the test of whether a book is a classic is how often it will bear re-reading. If I've got to wait for 15 minutes at the dentist's surgery, then I can open a Balzac, Proust, or Jane Austen at random and will usually discover something new, that I failed to notice in an earlier reading. (Others may find this with the great works of science fiction etc.)
Now, there are plenty of writers whose work is quite nice to read, but where most of the pleasure is extracted at the first reading - I'm thinking of the detective novels of say, Jill Churchill, Dorothy Cannell or Valerie Wolzien. Their series (particularly the earlier novels) fill the time agreeably, but yield all their fruits at once.
I'm wondering - having followed this thread - whether there are two different sorts of reading preferences. Perhaps the more extraverted reader prefers something new, because they wish to avoid boredom at all costs; whilst the more introverted reader is more comfortable with reading fewer new works, but likes greater depth, because they like re-reading. (I suspect that most of us have both traits, but have a stronger preference for one of them.)
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