Jim wrote in response to an Agatha Christic comment:
And I largely agree with that assessment. But she's still
read and enjoyed all over the world. More than two decades
after her death, she's still one of the most successful
mystery writers there is. She's talked about, studied,
written about, adapted into other media. She, too, despite
her stick-figure characters, stilted dialog, dated attitudes,
etc, has stood the test of time.
***************** The appeal of the test of time definition
for literature lies at least partly in its democratic
methodology. It denies the final decision to the elitist
critic. If a work is still read by many people many years
after its inception, then it gets the literature tag. And the
elitist critics can rail all they wish about bad style or
shallow characters or unimaginative themes.
There are two conclusions, at opposite ends of a spectrum,
that can be drawn from this. The first is that the elitist
critic might be passing over some significant elements in
works which make them resonate down through the ages. The
second is that the common people are simply clueless as to
what amounts to a good book. This roughly equates to the
bourgeoisie regret that the unwashed masses were ever taught
how to read.
miker
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