Classic Literature

I've been reading and pondering over what constitutes a classic in literature lately, and I found this quote from James Russell Lowell. You have to read it a few times to unravel it, but I think it conveys the spirit of how I feel about works I consider classics:

"[A] classic is properly a book which maintains itself by virtue of that happy coalescence of matter and style, that innate and exquisite sympathy between the thought that gives life and the form that consents to every mood of grace and dignity, which can be simple without being vulgar, elevated without being distant, and which is something neither ancient nor modern, always new and incapable of growing old."

I like that definition. I get the feeling that I know what he means when I think about a book I love and consider whether it's "elevated without being distant" or "incapable of growing old." I'm grateful that being part of this book club is continually adding more classics to my bookshelves.

Juli