Have you seen it – authors of children’s books claiming their book is a modern day classic? It’s becoming more and more common as readers get served books of less quality, resilience, artistic capability, and overall flat creative inspiration.
By definition a classic has withstood the test of time over decades and centuries, proving it’s universal relevance. A book that was published in the past 5 years doesn’t meet those standards in any capacity. Recency bias and big bucks for marketing is quick to overvalue the immediate impact of a piece of media – is it a fleeting trend or timeless art? Chances are if you have to spend millions of dollars to advertise a book, it is, at best, going to be culturally irrelevant within a short period of time.
A Contradiction Of Terms
A “classic” demands historical distance to measure its lasting influence across generations. A “modern” subject is still firmly tethered to the present, making it impossible to know if it will have any relevancy into the future or will fade into obscurity. There are classic cars, classical music, classic style, and all of these have stood the test of time.
Marketing Hyperbole
Most books with the description of ‘modern day classic’ signal hype-driven marketing rather than genuine, enduring artistic merit. Not just that, any author bold enough to classify their book in this way either has no idea what a classic actually is or such an inflated ego they mistake timely relevance for timeless greatness. Indeed the term is now used so often that it’s meaning has become diluted and has largely lost any weight – mostly it’s now the modern phrase for ‘new release’ and genuinely misleading.
What BCR Looks For When Reviewing A Book
We here at BCR remain dedicated to reviewing books based on their merit, exceptional artist quality, composition, interesting and challenging language, educational and/or entertainment value, relatable characters, and intriguing setting, and an enduring influence that shapes literature and perhaps society long after their initial publication.
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