The Classic Read

Beyond Bestsellers

A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a rereader, said Vladimir Nabokov. But do we revisit every book or a select few whose distilled essence lingers on in our consciousness after years?  Most of the classics stand the test of time and are appreciated and read with pleasure equally by the youth as a first- time read and the adults, who bewilderingly realize that their new encounter with the same book is refreshing and an entirely new experience. What is it about a classic that implants itself so strongly in our minds, and how does a book become a classic? How a classic is different from a bestseller of contemporary times, and continues to remain a bestseller for a long – long period of time. These are questions I have often asked myself and my journey through the world of books with time and experience has given me a few answers.

 Voraciously reading classics gives a person a discerning ability to segregate the good reads from not- so- good ones. Classics are books that people say they are rereading and never, I am reading……. The practice could stem from the fact that to admit to not having read a great work would be sacrilegious of their reading repertoire and good taste. The gung-ho quality of classics is rooted in a plethora of distinguishing clauses. A classic is timeless. It somehow transcends the limitations and peculiarities of the age, it was written in, and thereby speaks to what is constant in human nature. Such writing is not for an age, but for all time, as Ben Johnson said of Shakespeare. ‘It is news that stays news’ said Ezra Pound. A classic is something that persists as a background noise even when the most incompatible momentary concerns are in control of the present situation. A classic has a certain universal appeal. Great works of literature touch us to our very core -- partly because they integrate themes that are understood by readers from a wide range of backgrounds and levels of experience. Odyssey, Divine Comedy, Shakuntala, Heer Ranjha, The Chinese Book of Changes and Shakespearean plays would easily conform to this criteria. 
A rollicking good story enthralls us, even in the absence of a good writing style and other literary merit. The contemporary writings of Chetan Bhagat and Amish Tripathi are a good example. Then we come across a classical novel which amalgamates a good story with timeless human emotions of love, faith, loss, justice, racial discriminations, sexual desires delineated through well-rounded characters and a stylistic writing style. The joy of reading such a book is unbound. A classic helps us understand our inner selves and our lives in novel ways and it partakes of our personal journeys in an intimate, intricate manner. You cannot feel indifferent to it. It helps you define yourself in relation to it, even in dispute with it. A classic does not necessarily teach us anything we did not know before. We sometimes discover something we have always known (or thought we knew) in new, fresh and unexpected encounter upon reading, which then becomes our truth for life. Black Beauty and Heidi are wonderful writings for school children and I revisit them through my reading workshops for their universal appeal of love, kindness and sensitivity. The Great Gatsby, The Colour Purple, Fathers and Sons are books which have long shelf lives in the libraries of scholars, researchers and teachers who hug them to their bosoms as treasures for life to channelize their work and inspire them for further teaching and study.
A classic is a “total book,” as Mallarmé conceived of it. It could morph into a microcosm of the universe for a reader. The Indian epics, Panchatantra, Malgudi Days are indigenous case studies of life as an expression of creation, beauty and truth. Moby Dick, The Parliament of Birds, Meditations are writings from faraway shores which construct and deconstruct our connect with the universe in myriad, multi-layered constructs.
A classic echoes, replicates and uncommonly subverts the canon to which it is in cahoots with all the time. It is difficult to say whether Odyssey to Ulysses, Don Quixote to Madame Bovary, Alice in Wonderland to Fannigans Wake are incrustations or distortions or expansions of the original, but they are undeniably classics in their own right. Classics can be a drag for some readers, but because of their style, language-usage and themes, they make it to the list of honors and are deemed as classics. Artists never tire of studying the masters. Literary writing has a similar following amongst aspiring writers who visit profound texts for inspiration, ideas, stylistic devices, sincerity of a work or the sheer pleasure of reading it all over again.
Great works have a long gestation period. The writers live with the characters in their heads for 10 -15 years whereafter the wispy imaginations turn to ink and paper and a masterpiece is in the making. The canon expands at a snail’s pace. Great writing is few and far between. Mathew Arnold took the pantheon of great writers more or less for granted. He did not question the excellence of Dante for instance, which is why Dante became a touchstone. Over a period of time, it would equally apply to Salman Rushdie or Vikram Seth for their inimitable works. The mystery of one- book wonders too becomes unraveled through the same context. A masterpiece once created cannot be replicated again, not in the lifetime of the author.  Maybe he cannot bring himself to render a great, a second time, such is their worth and status. To Kill A Mocking Bird, Catcher in the Rye, Gone with the Wind, The Invisible Man are classic examples of one time wonders.
In our contemporary times we may experience small peaks in the world of books but authors like Franz Kafka, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Salman Rushdie, Rohinton Mistry will occupy unrivalled positions for years to come. The nexus of writers and publishers may produce adrenaline- pumping books to shock, thrill and titillate; write it, edit it, market it, pulp it.  But Lady Chatterley’s Lover, War and Peace, A Scarlet Letter will continue to occupy iconic status and render unparalleled experience. If a reader is looking for supercilious fun, a kick to your senses, indulge by all means in pulp fiction, bestsellers, sensational news and views which appeal to a part of our makeup, but if you are in search for multi-layered, deep-rooted exploration of self and the lives we lead, savor the universal, timeless, popular classics par excellence.