Once upon a time in my days as a college instructor, one of my students said that just like the nugget that can never be flushed down the toilet, the classics will always be around. Maybe I wouldn't phrase things quite as eloquently as my former student, but there are reasons why the classics have endured for generations. Among some of the reasons, the classics reflect not only the societies and eras in which they were written, but they speak of the universal human condition that transcends culture, place, and time. They resonate in the souls and imaginations of their audiences.
Occasionally, I feel the classics resonate and fuel the imaginations of some audience members a little too much, inspiring a number to write less worthy spin-offs of great works of literature. I can't begin to name how many writers have come up with their own spin-offs of Pride and Prejudice. Now, I'll admit that I'm an Austen fan and I love the world she created in her books. I can understand how many would like to revisit and expand that world, but do we really need mediocre spin-offs that detail Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's honeymoon night and their subsequent sexual escapades? Or the murder of Elizabeth's brother-in-law six years into the Elizabeth's and Mr. Darcy's marriage? Austen is probably rolling in her grave with shock.
Sometimes it's better not to mess with a good thing and keep the classics the way the original authors intended. Imitation may be a form of flattery, but it can unfortunately slide easily into the domains of devaluation and desecration. Instead of looking back and creating spin-offs of the classics, why don't today's writers look to the present and the world around them to make their own new classics? It would be interesting to look into a crystal ball and see which books today will withstand the test of time and still have something to say to readers a century or more from now.
My 2 cents from the perch.
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