Is there any way that writing in literature can fall back into the writing styles of classical books. So much of writing has changed and evolved but are there any current books or any possibility of an audience that would enjoy modern authors writing in the style of classical going from Tolstoy, Austen, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Orwell. With Harper Lee's "new" book coming out onto shelves this next week, it'd be interesting to see others following in her path and falling back towards those times, settings, and styles of writing.
I wish such a thing could come true but I think publishers would make it too hard on writers to divert back to old ways (if they're not already famous and can get away with whatever they want). We're always told to be as clear and concise as possible, people don't have the attention spans to sit through intense abstract imagery descriptions. If people don't have the patience to read it, it doesn't sell, they don't get published. To be successful in mainstream anyways (and not to us academics) it must be hard to be successful sticking to classic writing. – Slaidey9 years ago
What exactly do yo consider "classic" writing? What traits and characteristics must be present in order to be considered classic? Is it merely a question of time period or is it the writing style, genre, or effect on society? The authors you named come from different eras, genres, and have very distinct voices. Can you really call an author who just published a book this month "classic?' – RyanLee9 years ago
What is classic. In my definition, a classic is something that was written in either Old English, Old Norse, Akkadian, or Egyptian. It may also be heroic. So it depends then on what definition. If Dostoyevsky's writing is "classic" than by the gods Hemmingway is not due to his tiny sentences. A classic also requires then a certain kind of vocabulary level, one that it appears many people lack due to a schoisslickh education system. And then as one of you mentioned above, publishers don't want long expository prose, because supposedly, "It doesn't sell." Thankfully we don't have to take publishers seriously because we kan then laugh at them for publishing Ursula K. Le Guin, and David Mitchell. This is a very interesting topic and I really hope someone picks this up. The trick will be figuring out whose linguistic patter is quote "classical". – Starvix Draxon9 years ago
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