I’m way late with this week’s Booking Through Thursday meme, but I guess this is better than skipping it entirely!

When somebody mentions “literature,” what’s the first thing you think of? (Dickens? Tolstoy? Shakespeare?) Do you read “literature” (however you define it) for pleasure? Or is it something that you read only when you must?

For me, the main consideration in determining whether or not something should be considered “literature” is how well the work stands up to the test of time. Will the author or work still be read 100 years from now, or will they more or less be forgotten? So, yes, Shakespeare and Tolstoy for certain, as well as some Dickens, Austen, Eliot, Balzac, Wilde, etc. etc.

If you look at recent bestsellers, I have a feeling that not too many of them will be highly regarded a century hence. Harry Potter likely will turn into the current generation’s Narnia, but John Grisham, Dave Eggers, Nora Roberts? Maybe not so much.