- Paperback: 152 pages
- Publisher: Harvard University Press; New edition edition (1 July 1983)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0674133986
- ISBN-13: 978-0674133983
- Product Dimensions: 20.7 x 14 x 1.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,217,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Kermode is one of the rare critics and scholars it is in any case uncommon to he both who offer a new and unusual insight on whatever author or topic they turn to. New Statesman Kermodehas one of the finest minds in contemporary criticism, and there is nothing that he touches that he does not in some unexpected way to use some of his own termstranslate, renovate, eternalize. Commonweals Taking as his central concept 'the classic,' the literary work we speak of as enduring, Kermode asks how a text can retain its identity as its time-hound readers change ... The Classic is an enormously suggestive book . elegant and accessible. Yale Review The subtitle ... modestly describes the tensions that generate the remarkable energy of this highly original study. The old conception of classic, Kermode argues, is tied to Virgilian attitudes of empire and eternity; the modern use of the term embraces change, plurality and secularization. The Classic brilliantly mediates between the two views of literature and culture ... This closely argued and clearly articulated essay . .rests on formidable learning. The New Republic
Synopsis
Attempts to determine the criteria for classical literature through an analysis of the social and intellectual importance of great works of the past.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Really chewy and highly recommended for an insight into how to think about writing . Will read and read again .
Format:Paperback
Surely the Kirkus review above has been written by one of those wannabe intellectuals which crowd English and American magazines, who think that to prove you're smart you have to belittle the book you have to review. But even the wannabe Kirkus reviewer has to admit there's something very strong in this book: truth is, he could not ignore Kermode's usual intellectual power.
Well, let me tell you this is a Classic of literary criticism, with capital C. It's a shame that it's out of print, but no wonder: with such a title, it is the obvious target of all the PC puritans around. This said by one who is not a Republican nor a conservative. But I do believe that in literature there are such things as classics. I do not think they are always the same (neither does Eliot, neither does Kermode), and I do not think the canon (another obscene word to some) cannot be enlarged by the acknowledgement of new classics (neither does Eliot, neither does Kermode). And here's another big problem of this book: instead of bashing T.S. Eliot because he was an anti-Semite and a conservative intellectual, it seriously and respectfully explains what Eliot was trying to do, and what his real achievements are. And this is another intellectual crime that--according to some--Kermode cannot be forgiven.
Well, forget the Kirkus wannabe and the PC puritans. Buy this and read it and learn what is real literary criticism.
Well, let me tell you this is a Classic of literary criticism, with capital C. It's a shame that it's out of print, but no wonder: with such a title, it is the obvious target of all the PC puritans around. This said by one who is not a Republican nor a conservative. But I do believe that in literature there are such things as classics. I do not think they are always the same (neither does Eliot, neither does Kermode), and I do not think the canon (another obscene word to some) cannot be enlarged by the acknowledgement of new classics (neither does Eliot, neither does Kermode). And here's another big problem of this book: instead of bashing T.S. Eliot because he was an anti-Semite and a conservative intellectual, it seriously and respectfully explains what Eliot was trying to do, and what his real achievements are. And this is another intellectual crime that--according to some--Kermode cannot be forgiven.
Well, forget the Kirkus wannabe and the PC puritans. Buy this and read it and learn what is real literary criticism.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful
The Mathew Arnold's conception is wiser and more comprehensive
2 Feb 2006
Format:Paperback
The conception of the 'classic' which stands at the center of this work is Vergilian.Kermode writes, "Vergil as the classic of empire and the type of all classics" He then goes on to read this Vergilian idea as it goes through transformations in Western culture. Centering on the question of 'permanence and change' he comes to a definitiion of the modern classic which introduces concepts of plurality , secularization, and change.
I found this work extremely difficult to read. I also found it did not really deal in a way I would have liked to have seen with literary matters and texts, though its concluding example is an analysis of 'Wuthering Heights'.
I much prefer Arnold's way of thinking about ' the best that has been thought and said'. And his relating it to ' classic works' which surely precede those of Vergil, what Arnold calls the Hellenic and Hebraic.
As for the question of what makes a work one which all subsequent generations wish to read and reread, I believe this touches upon a question Kermode does not raise, i.e. What constitutes true literary greatness?'
I found this work extremely difficult to read. I also found it did not really deal in a way I would have liked to have seen with literary matters and texts, though its concluding example is an analysis of 'Wuthering Heights'.
I much prefer Arnold's way of thinking about ' the best that has been thought and said'. And his relating it to ' classic works' which surely precede those of Vergil, what Arnold calls the Hellenic and Hebraic.
As for the question of what makes a work one which all subsequent generations wish to read and reread, I believe this touches upon a question Kermode does not raise, i.e. What constitutes true literary greatness?'
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