Classics are often a function of their socioeconomic milieu. It's harder to identify older books that are more relevant to modern times than the time of their original publishing.
On the contrary, many books that now live in the literary canon as "classics" were barely appreciated or noticed in their own time. It is almost certain that even a commercial success like Great Expectations or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer enjoy more readers in the 21st Century than the 19th.
That seems like a certainty. Isn't it true that there are more people alive now, than have every lived before? Geometric growth works like that. So conceivably, everything is more popular in absolute terms, than it can every have been in history.
Only works that are still remembered would be more popular (in absolute or relative terms). There are countless authors whose works were enjoyed at their time of publication, but have been completely forgotten. This is the fate of almost every one hit wonder.
As long as a critical mass of copies were printed and migrated forward. If a book received a strong negative reception, not many copies would survive for evaluation by future audiences.
Comments
"'Classic.' A book which people praise and don't read."
Classics are often a function of their socioeconomic milieu. It's harder to identify older books that are more relevant to modern times than the time of their original publishing.
On the contrary, many books that now live in the literary canon as "classics" were barely appreciated or noticed in their own time. It is almost certain that even a commercial success like Great Expectations or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer enjoy more readers in the 21st Century than the 19th.
That seems like a certainty. Isn't it true that there are more people alive now, than have every lived before? Geometric growth works like that. So conceivably, everything is more popular in absolute terms, than it can every have been in history.
Only works that are still remembered would be more popular (in absolute or relative terms). There are countless authors whose works were enjoyed at their time of publication, but have been completely forgotten. This is the fate of almost every one hit wonder.
As long as a critical mass of copies were printed and migrated forward. If a book received a strong negative reception, not many copies would survive for evaluation by future audiences.