Do you really think people will be reading her 200 years from now?
Well people have been reading her novels for 95 years now, and she's sold over 2 billion copies. So the answer is yes I do.
I'm not sure why you think what is considered a classic could be dictated by what is taught in schools? I can see no basis for this assertion.
Because what most people consider classics are books they were told are classics--mostly by their high school literature teacher. I'm sure there are more objective measures, but the majority of people certainly don't use them.
Being a classic is a bit self propagating. Kids grow up hearing that Ethan Frome is a classic, they become teachers and teach their students that Ethan Frome is a classic.
Comments
Well people have been reading her novels for 95 years now, and she's sold over 2 billion copies. So the answer is yes I do.
Because what most people consider classics are books they were told are classics--mostly by their high school literature teacher. I'm sure there are more objective measures, but the majority of people certainly don't use them.
Being a classic is a bit self propagating. Kids grow up hearing that Ethan Frome is a classic, they become teachers and teach their students that Ethan Frome is a classic.
The Lindy Effect [1] would say that the best guess is that they'll still be reading her 95 years from now...
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Effect