Classic vs Best Seller
Introduction: Bestseller versus classics has been a subject of controversy from the time immemorial. Many readers think of them being located poles apart. However, many think them to be complementary to each other. A classic, by nature, has to be a masterpiece, a gem written by the author in such a way that it is almost flawless, possess something that no other book has done. But unfortunately, by the very nature of the word ‘bestseller’, a piece of work has to pass through the rigours of trade, which, at times, favours glitz and advertising more than quality. Hence it is often found that a particular book has topped the best sellers chart for a considerable amount of time despite lacking in quality, mainly due to advertising and marketing push, while a classic could not transform its class into commercial success. Although, opposite examples are also not scarce when a classic has gone on to top the Best Sellers list due to its sheer class.
Bestsellers and Classics Differentiated: The word “classics” is derived from the Latin adjective classicus: “belonging to the highest class of citizens”, implying superiority, authority, and perfection. Besides, it refers to those who or which follow ‘classicism’ that is the principles, traditional aesthetic values, attitude or style of the art of ancient civilizations. The term may refer to a later work inspired by those of antiquity. More broadly, ‘classicism’ implies the adherence to virtues regarded as characteristics of classicism or as universally valid including formal elegance and correctness, simplicity, dignity, restraint, order etc. It is often opposed to romanticism. On the other hand, the best seller is one, irrespective of sanctities, capable of making big fortune through the sheer volume of sale of it. We, of course, are speaking of art that is the activity of human – the intellectual being on the earth. Art is an outcome of the aesthetically skillful exercise of human thinking. Literary works belong to
Bestsellers and Classics Differentiated: The word “classics” is derived from the Latin adjective classicus: “belonging to the highest class of citizens”, implying superiority, authority, and perfection. Besides, it refers to those who or which follow ‘classicism’ that is the principles, traditional aesthetic values, attitude or style of the art of ancient civilizations. The term may refer to a later work inspired by those of antiquity. More broadly, ‘classicism’ implies the adherence to virtues regarded as characteristics of classicism or as universally valid including formal elegance and correctness, simplicity, dignity, restraint, order etc. It is often opposed to romanticism. On the other hand, the best seller is one, irrespective of sanctities, capable of making big fortune through the sheer volume of sale of it. We, of course, are speaking of art that is the activity of human – the intellectual being on the earth. Art is an outcome of the aesthetically skillful exercise of human thinking. Literary works belong to