Literary Classics | Books & Reading

Literary Classics are a collection of books that are generally considered to have contributed significantly to the canon of literature that has developed over the centuries in the Western World (Europe and America). There is no standard definition of a literary classic but the word 'classic' implies that they have stood the test of time and do not (yet) include the most recent works of fiction. They are also books of high calibre, recognised as works of quality in their own time and today and have somewhat shaped fiction as it is written today. Literary Classics are enjoyable to read as they are popular and rather original stories but they are also used for the purpose of study at school, colleges and university. Many literary classics have also now been adapted for television, stage and film.

Buying Literary Classics
Most of the literary classics can be bought second hand and the paperbacks are usually inexpensive. Expect to pay more for special editions or hardback copies. Original prints that are available are rare and are the most expensive and fetch a much higher price. However if you simply want a copy of one of the classics it is best to buy a standard paperback. Be cautious in purchase, however, as most literary classics appear in a variety of forms. They can be abridged, children's versions or adapted into modern language versions of the original text. You should read the description of the classic carefully because of the range of versions or you could end up with one of Shakespeare's plays in Manga. On the plus side if you are looking for a version of a classic in a different form it is well worth looking online as high street shops usually only stock the standard version. The biggest concern, however, when searching for a classic, is what books are actually considered as belonging to this category. The next sections are a guide to the different ages of the classics and name some of the authors and texts belonging to these groups of classics.

Literary Classic Origins
The first period of literary classics extends from the time Before Christ to the Middle Ages. The first works considered to be literary classics originate from Greece and are authored by Homer and Aesop. Aesop is famous for his short stories (fables) and Homer is famous for the epic adventures of Odysseus in 'The Odyssey' and 'The Iliad.' Yet the first works of English literature did not come into existence until around the 5AD and were centred on the stories surrounding the myth of King Arthur. The most famous classic on King Arthur, however, is probably 'Le Morte D'Arthur' by Sir Thomas Mallory. Following this are the legends of Beowulf which appeared around the twelfth century and were centred in Europe and in Norway the collections on the Nordic Gods. Eastern literature such as tales of Sinbad the sailor followed a similar style. For those interested in the original myths and legends this is a fascinating era that developed the culture of story telling.

Renaissance Period
The period of Renaissance literature began in the fourteenth century. It began in Italy with the Florentine artists Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio. These were inspired by culture, Art and religion. The most famous of these is perhaps Dante's 'Divine Comedy.' A little earlier in England, Chaucer was writing his 'Canterbury tales' but the ideas produced by the Renaissance did not inspire English authors until more than a century later when classics were produced by Milton who wrote 'Paradise Lost', Shakespeare, who produced a collection of prose, plays and poetry and later the Metaphysical poets such as John Donne and Andrew Marvel and the satirical prose and essays of Jonathan Swift who later wrote 'Gulliver's Travels' and the novels of Daniel Defoe, such as 'Robinson Crusoe'. In other parts of Europe, 'The Three Musketeers' was critically acclaimed and Alexander Dumas's 'The Black Tulip' also became a classic.

The Victorian Period
This is perhaps the most recognised period for producing literary classics. During the nineteenth century man great works were produced in Britain from earlier on in the century from Lord Byron's poetry to Mary Shelley's famous horror 'Frankenstein.' Later the gothic Romance period became prevalent and a number of female as well as male writers captured interest from a variety of readers, most notably, the Bronte Sisters who wrote 'Jane Eyre' (Charlotte Bronte) and 'Wuthering Heights' (Emily Bronte). Many romance novels and novels with a social commentary were produced as a result of the growing popularity which established writers such as Jane Austen, William Thackeray, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Charles Kinglsley and Charles Dickens. Other novelists developed supernatural and mystery writing from Wilkie Collins' who wrote 'The Woman in White' to Edgar Allen Poe who wrote a collection of short stories.

Later in this period there developed an increasing popularity in with crime and horror fiction and writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde and Robert Louis Stevenson are famous for literary classics such as the Sherlock Holmes collection (Doyle), 'Dracula'(Stoker), 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' (Wilde) and 'The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde' and 'Treasure Island' (Stevenson) which all form part of the late nineteenth century collection.

During the nineteenth century the American canon of literature also began to develop more significantly, most notably, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Walt Whitman, Herman Melville and Mark Twain were among the most acclaimed writers. The Victorian authors are perhaps the most memorable and well known because many of them are produced for prime-time British television.

The Twentieth Century
The turn of the century there was an even larger volume of work produced by European and American writers. Certainly far too many that deserve mention in this category can be named here and now! But- the most famous of these are the Modernist writers such as Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner and James Joyce. African American literature became established in this century and classics include the works of Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright. Later writers are famous for Post-modern works both sides of the globe and include Thomas Pynchon, Samuel Beckett, Tenessee Williams, Arthur Miller, J D Sallinger and Harold Pinter. It is expected that Post-modern writers such as Toni Morrison and Umberto Eco will become authors of classics when their work has been around for a bit longer.

There are far too many authors and books to cover in this introduction that would be placed in this category but I hope this gives you some idea of whether what you are looking for might be here, the purpose of buying literary classics and what to look out for when you buy one