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    "Neither Rowling nor King will be classics." Who can say, at this point? Charlotte's Web and Mary Poppins have, despite being children's tales no more contemplative than Rowling's. Lovecrafts works are, to my mind, pulp horror no more profound, more purple, and more offensive than King's. History is littered with critics who said that now-classic novels would never catch on. Commented Jan 28, 2018 at 5:22
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    @Obie2.0 I gave the criteria for my analysis. Lovecraft, while significant in the history of the genre, is not a classic. The movie Mary Poppins may be classic, but not the book. Charlotte's Web is a classic, and fits the prose+story+truth mold. Neither King nor Rowling do. Both are good storytellers, but neither are great stylists and neither reveals any significant truth of the human condition. Rowling, in particular, panders to the child's wish to be special. It is hard to say what will be classics, but really not hard to discern what won't be. Commented Jan 28, 2018 at 12:44
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    Ah, well, if you can set your own criteria, you of course tautologically know what will be a classic. If, on the other hand, you’re going off of what people are actually calling a book, there can be no doubt that Mary Poppins, even in novel form, is considered a classic. As are many of Lovecraft’s works. Commented Jan 28, 2018 at 17:11
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    For goodness’s sake, even Shakespeare was often considered pulp nonsense. As Samuel Pepys tells us: “This day my oaths of drinking wine and going to plays are out, and so I do resolve to take a liberty to-day, and then to fall to them again. To the King’s Theatre, where we saw ‘Midsummer’s Night’s Dream [sic],’ which I had never seen before, nor shall ever again, for it is the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life. I saw, I confess, some good dancing and some handsome women, which was all my pleasure.” Commented Jan 28, 2018 at 17:17
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    Modern critics and authors often believe that they can reliably tell which works will become classics. History, however, is the only true test in this regard. Commented Jan 28, 2018 at 17:19