I'd add that when it comes to fiction or literary non-fiction, good novels or otherwise require creative interpretation. What makes something last is that very different kinds of people across very different time periods can take something from their own different experiences and find resonances within the same work.
Some of your examples like the Odyssey and Moby Dick are illustrative here. The written Odyssey is itself an adaptation of pre-existing oral storytelling. It's structured like a series of loosely connected episodes joined together with similar characters, because it's something of a Sports Centre Highlight Reel of all the Greek spoken story bangers of Antiquity. The written version is itself a creative interpretation of those stories. It has since undergone a series of adaptations into different languages and on-screen adaptations. Many people are mad at Emily Wilson, one of that text's more recent translators, for her criticism of Christopher Nolan's film, but really what she's saying is that what Nolan has taken from the text is a very limited creative interpretation of what's there. People can agree or disagree. Somewhat amusingly, when Wilson's 2017 translation was released, she was similarly criticized by other Classicists for a variety of reasons, including that her choice to try and match the ancient Greek poetic structure resulted in her version being written in a much more spare and clipped language than some other adaptations. However and whoever is adapting it, however, The Odyssey, is an amazing machine for generating interpretations and arguments, and most importantly passion for what it could mean. This is what makes it something that is still being fought over and read after thousands of years.
Meanwhile, Moby Dick is now known as the Great American Novel, which would have done absolutely no good to Mr. Herman Melville himself, who ruined his life with the publication of the book. Before Moby Dick, Melville was known as a writer of complicated but popular adventure tails on the high seas (more or less). He wrote Moby Dick because he really, really, really, really fucking loved whales and was like "let's get everything that is known about whales on to the page." Moby Dick was released to mostly negative comment in America beginning the "dying in obscurity" phase of his career.* I suspect many readers of it today are still a little surprised by its unusual structure of 100 Pages of Plot, 400 pages of Semi-related Facts and Stories About Whales, and 100 More Pages of Plot Picking Up From the First 100 Pages. After it bombed, Melville became a customs inspector and died in relative obscurity. Moby Dick's legacy is largely a post-Melville's life phenomenon, as literary critics in England identified and appreciated it as a masterpiece at a time when there was anxiety over whether Americans could produce something that would be considered a Great Novel. Turns out, it had already been written. What was missing at the time was critics who appreciated the text's difficulty as a feature, rather than a bug, for generating interpretations about the many themes within the book that is about a lot more than just whales.
All this to say, read new books, read old ones, but a good test of whether something is worth reading is if it leaves you thinking about what it was about or wondering if it can be read more than one way. If you can read it at different points in your life and come away with completely different impressions, then it might be on to something. In addition to expanding your knowledge, this kind of creative interpretation is a different kind of analysis that's worth working on. Beach reads have their place and it is summer, but people don't threaten to launch a thousand rhetorical ships because a bestseller was adapted badly for the screen.
Happy Tuesday!
*This phase did produce The Confidence Man, which is a challenging read but uh, haha, let me tell you how relevant it still is; it's very relevant to today.
I'd add that when it comes to fiction or literary non-fiction, good novels or otherwise require creative interpretation. What makes something last is that very different kinds of people across very different time periods can take something from their own different experiences and find resonances within the same work.
Some of your examples like the Odyssey and Moby Dick are illustrative here. The written Odyssey is itself an adaptation of pre-existing oral storytelling. It's structured like a series of loosely connected episodes joined together with similar characters, because it's something of a Sports Centre Highlight Reel of all the Greek spoken story bangers of Antiquity. The written version is itself a creative interpretation of those stories. It has since undergone a series of adaptations into different languages and on-screen adaptations. Many people are mad at Emily Wilson, one of that text's more recent translators, for her criticism of Christopher Nolan's film, but really what she's saying is that what Nolan has taken from the text is a very limited creative interpretation of what's there. People can agree or disagree. Somewhat amusingly, when Wilson's 2017 translation was released, she was similarly criticized by other Classicists for a variety of reasons, including that her choice to try and match the ancient Greek poetic structure resulted in her version being written in a much more spare and clipped language than some other adaptations. However and whoever is adapting it, however, The Odyssey, is an amazing machine for generating interpretations and arguments, and most importantly passion for what it could mean. This is what makes it something that is still being fought over and read after thousands of years.
Meanwhile, Moby Dick is now known as the Great American Novel, which would have done absolutely no good to Mr. Herman Melville himself, who ruined his life with the publication of the book. Before Moby Dick, Melville was known as a writer of complicated but popular adventure tails on the high seas (more or less). He wrote Moby Dick because he really, really, really, really fucking loved whales and was like "let's get everything that is known about whales on to the page." Moby Dick was released to mostly negative comment in America beginning the "dying in obscurity" phase of his career.* I suspect many readers of it today are still a little surprised by its unusual structure of 100 Pages of Plot, 400 pages of Semi-related Facts and Stories About Whales, and 100 More Pages of Plot Picking Up From the First 100 Pages. After it bombed, Melville became a customs inspector and died in relative obscurity. Moby Dick's legacy is largely a post-Melville's life phenomenon, as literary critics in England identified and appreciated it as a masterpiece at a time when there was anxiety over whether Americans could produce something that would be considered a Great Novel. Turns out, it had already been written. What was missing at the time was critics who appreciated the text's difficulty as a feature, rather than a bug, for generating interpretations about the many themes within the book that is about a lot more than just whales.
All this to say, read new books, read old ones, but a good test of whether something is worth reading is if it leaves you thinking about what it was about or wondering if it can be read more than one way. If you can read it at different points in your life and come away with completely different impressions, then it might be on to something. In addition to expanding your knowledge, this kind of creative interpretation is a different kind of analysis that's worth working on. Beach reads have their place and it is summer, but people don't threaten to launch a thousand rhetorical ships because a bestseller was adapted badly for the screen.
Happy Tuesday!
*This phase did produce The Confidence Man, which is a challenging read but uh, haha, let me tell you how relevant it still is; it's very relevant to today.
That’s quite an interesting comment.
Thanks for sharing.
Enjoyed reading it.
Very astute points. If a book reads too easily, without anything challenging your beliefs, it’s probably not saying anything new or thought provoking.
Other books are great but just too early for the time they’re released.