![]() Somerset Maugham? Suryesh’s desire to see words used carefully is one that we can all get behind, but good writing is good writing, and while it may be rare, surely we have to admit that there is equally good writing out there that isn’t listed as a “Classic.” Surely a terse, tense line of Raymond Carver can be as powerful as the plumpest bit of W. That is not to say that there is no difference between good and bad writing it is simply that good writing can’t be reduced to floweriness or extravagance or richness of language. Suryesh first identifies evocative, beautiful language as the hallmark of The Classics, which, while necessary, is certainly not sufficient to explain what makes something a Classic or not. While I endorse Suryesh’s call for more and deeper reading, the canon should be approached not as an idol to worship but as a specimen to vivisect. Failing to recognize that fact conflates their status (as a classic of Western literature) with their worth, resulting in a less vibrant, less diverse literary landscape. An alternative view is that identifying The Classics is, like all human endeavors, socially constructed and, as such, the product of contingency and context. Saket Suryesh’s recent article “Why Writers Should Read the Classics” proceeds (like nearly all such discussions) from the premise that The Classics are made up of intrinsically great works. That’s nonsense, and dangerous nonsense to boot. Key to the myth is the idea that The Classics represent some sort of unearthly ideal, that they would always arise and would always be treasured, that they would inevitably be considered The Classics. It offers us the promise that great work will one day be appreciated and understood, that its brilliance will shine on in spite of the dingy, banal, everyday meanness of taste and public appetite. ![]() The comfortable myth of “The Classics” persists in literature because it comforts those of us in the trenches.
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