Classic Lit Bracket

The (un)offical classic literature bracket of tumblr.com

[classiclitbracket]

The Classic Lit Bracket

Current Bracket:

Read the latest update here!

About:

A poll to determine which piece of classic literature is the most classic, moderated by @sorrel-scribbles [she/her, minor].

Propaganda is welcome!!! (this can be done by using the ask box or making your own post and @ing me)

If you have questions or want to be silly feel free to submit them to the ask box!

Friendly competition is fine, but I will block you if you can’t be civil with one another!

Voting Guidelines:

The goal here is to determine which is the most classic piece of literature. You can vote based on your personal favorite, what you think had the most cultural impact, what is the most popular or timely today etc. 

If you are voting based on personal preference, you should do it based on the content of the original book. However, if you are voting for other reasons, you are welcome to take screen adaptations and/or retellings into account as they are a part of the overall legacy of the book.

I DO NOT want to see any moral complaints. Many of these authors/works were racist, sexist, etc. and I fully condemn that, but we can separate the art from the artist and still understand the importance of/enjoy the work despite its flaws.You’re free to not like/not vote for a book due to offensive material, but I don’t want to see tags/comments/asks saying “you shouldn’t have included x because it’s racist” or “nobody vote for y it’s misogynistic.” This isn’t “which classic lit book is the most morally correct”.

Masterposts:

Round One

Round Two

Round Three/Sweet Sixteen

Round Four/Elite Eight

Round Five/Final Four/Semifinals

Round Six/Finals

Welcome Post Here

[classiclitbracket]

Would People Be Interested in a Classic Lit Bracket 2

Yes

No

Voting ended onMar 26

I consider running this again every March, but now that I'm in college I simply do not have the time and I'm accepting it after year 2 of not getting it together on time. I do want to run another bracket at some point thought because there were parts of the experience I really enjoyed, hence this poll.

This is just a general interest check, not a promise to run agin, but I would really appreciate voting and reblogging for sample size so I know if this is even worth it. This will also help me to know if there is enough interest for some form of seeding period (either leaving the submissions form open longer or having a second ranking form) or not, which I did not host the first time around.

If things go well, it would probably be returning this July, with submissions opening some time in June.

[ultimate-poll-tournament]

R5: @catgirlgames VS @classiclitbracket

classiclitbracket propaganda

who is the ultimate-er poll tournament?

catgirlgames

classiclitbracket

Voting ended onMay 1, 2023

[classiclitbracket]

Classic Lit Bracket Finals: Les Mis vs. Lord of the Rings!

Which is the most classic?

Les Misérables-Victor Hugo

Lord of the Rings (all applicable novels)-J.R.R. Tolkein

Voting ended onApr 29, 2023

Les Mis propaganda #1

Les Mis propaganda #2

Les Mis propaganda #3

Les Mis propaganda #4

Les Mis propaganda #5

Lord of the Rings propaganda #1

Lord of the Rings propaganda #2

[classiclitbracket]

Congratulations the winner of the 2023 Classic Lit Bracket (drumroll please):

🎆 Les Misérables 🎆

[latamclassiclitbracket]

Bienvenidos al torneo de literatura clásica latinoamericana

This bracket was mainly inspired by @classiclitbracket and people in @latinotiktok talking about the potential of a Latin American lit bracket.

Feel free to make your submissions/talk to me in English, Spanish or French. I unfortunately cannot speak Portuguese but I understand a fair amount of written Portuguese (as is usual with people who know Spanish), so, while not preferred, that is also an option.

I have not decided when I will close submissions yet but the pinned post will be there until I do. Have fun!

[classiclitbracket]

Lord of the Rings propaganda:

https://youtu.be/uE-1RPDqJAY

Without LotR you'd never have this piece of art right here.

Viggo Mortenson didn't break his foot and a tooth just for you to disrespect the classic that is the Lord of the Rings.

Lord of the Rings propaganda #3

[ultimate-poll-tournament]

R4: @worst-fictional-cook-showdown VS @classiclitbracket

classiclitbracket propaganda

who is the ultimate-er poll tournament?

worst-fictional-cook-showdown

classiclitbracket

Voting ended onApr 29, 2023

[classiclitbracket]

There is a specific reblog (I don't want to say which one because I don't want to add fuel to the fire here) that has been made about this bracket and Les Mis in particular that's caused a bit of disagreement over the last couple of hours. I have already taken the action I felt was necessary, but people are continuing to throw their hat in the ring and argue about this. I know all of you who have disagreed with the person and have the absolute best intentions, but now half my notifications are just people arguing with the poster and it's really causing me a lot of stress and I would really prefer if you could all just let the whole thing go.

I really don't want to have to block people who are effectively supporting my bracket and seem to have good intentions, but I will if I need to for my mental health. This is not the kind of atmosphere I wanted to foster on either side of this, and I'm so sorry, but I kind of don't know what else to do here because I can't turn off reblogs on the finale post.

To anyone who has interacted with the post in question, I do not want you to feel bad about it or believe I'm mad at you. I'm not here to shame, I'm not mad, and I actually agree with much of what you have to say. Me being high stress and conflict averse isn't your fault, and I hadn't previously set this boundary. Because of this I won't take preexisting stuff into account, just anything following the time of posting.

(Please don't take it up with anybody who had anything to do with this or go looking for the material in question! That is not my intention and I don't want to make the whole thing worse)

[classiclitbracket]

Here's your reminder that this is all for fun and in good fun. I'm happy people are passionate about this topic but I would really appreciate it if everyone could be respectful to eachother and try not to take this *too* seriously. If you don't like my poll, you're more than welcome to unfollow or block me or whatever. I'm trying to hold off on blocking people myself because I'm afraid of misconstruing the intention of something and doing it for no good reason, but I will start if I see more rude comments.

(please do not go harass anyone who has been rude though ofc)

[classiclitbracket]

Classic Lit Bracket Finals: Les Mis vs. Lord of the Rings!

Which is the most classic?

Les Misérables-Victor Hugo

Lord of the Rings (all applicable novels)-J.R.R. Tolkein

Voting ended onApr 29, 2023

Les Mis propaganda #1

Les Mis propaganda #2

Les Mis propaganda #3

Les Mis propaganda #4

Les Mis propaganda #5

Lord of the Rings propaganda #1

Lord of the Rings propaganda #2

[ultimate-poll-tournament]

R3: @ultimate-villain-showdown VS @classiclitbracket

classiclitbracket propaganda

who is the ultimate-er poll tournament?

ultimate-villain-showdown

classiclitbracket

Voting ended onApr 26, 2023

[classiclitbracket]

Classic Lit Bracket Finals: Les Mis vs. Lord of the Rings!

Which is the most classic?

Les Misérables-Victor Hugo

Lord of the Rings (all applicable novels)-J.R.R. Tolkein

Voting ended onApr 29, 2023

Les Mis propaganda #1

Les Mis propaganda #2

Les Mis propaganda #3

Les Mis propaganda #4

Les Mis propaganda #5

Lord of the Rings propaganda #1

Lord of the Rings propaganda #2

[secretmellowblog]

As someone hyperfixated on both: Les Mis should win this, largely because LOTR is not in the public domain and is instead owned by a highly protective wealthy estate that will only license it out to massive mega corporations. This really hurts its legacy. The Tolkien Estate has even put out an official policy saying that they do not want any derivative fanworks created or for anyone to speak Tolkien’s languages, for profit or not. If they could scrub all of our fanwork from the internet and have Tolkien’s works solely be the property of corporations they would.

I know LOTR is currently winning the poll because it’s popular, but as a counterpoint I’d remind people that LOTR has essentially become like the Star Wars franchise—- frozen in the state when the corporations have decided it was most profitable, incapable of growing and changing or reinterpreting the story in a way that might be new and possibly less profitable, with every official derivative work of LOTR not trying to tell a story but trying to remind you of the most popular/ nostalgic state of franchise’s life.

Les Mis, by contrast, has really benefited from being in the public domain for so long! It is one of the most adapted novels of all time, and has a wealth of beautiful moving reinterpretations made by people genuinely attempting to find new valuable things about the source material. And there are Garbage adaptations too like the bbc miniseries, but unlike with LOTR the Garbage Les mis adaptations don’t legally own Les Mis in any meaningful way. The musical is currently rhe most famous and beloved adaptation, but versions like the Arai Manga adaptation or the Lelouch film that uses Les Mis to process the director’s own feelings about escaping the Nazis during WWII, all add so much depth to the source material’s legacy.

I mean, you could write and publish your own Les Mis adaptation! And Victor Hugo can’t stop you. Engaging with the work really feels like you’re joining a centuries-long conversation. It’s a massive contrast to LOTR, where it’s always in the back of your head that the people who really control the “conversation” want all of your analysis and derivative work gone. I feel like in order to be a true Classic, people need to be actually able to engage with the work freely— I don’t think LOTR deserves the title until all the copyright nonsense happening around it is finally over and people can make derivative works about it in peace. :3

[qthewhatever]

this is a very cool moment for me, because while I completely understand and agree with you, I still voted Lord of the Rings.

to me, the idea of "which is the most classic" comes down to which has had the greatest impact. LOTR pretty much originated the high fantasy genre, and it inspired a massively far-reaching wave of art and creativity. without Lord of the Rings there would be no Dungeons and Dragons, no Dark Tower series, no Legend of Zelda... with Les Miserables, all it's really inspired is more versions of itself. immensely valuable in their own right, but in no way as foundational.

[overlyrighteousangel-deactivate]

i'm really loving the discourse we're getting into here because i LOVE lotr but les mis is The Book for me and i will take any chance to explain why

i agree that classic comes down to impact, and i completely agree with lotr's genre + creativity impact. but i still completely voted les mis with no hesitation.

les mis is famous for being the book of the downtrodden, the book of revolution, etc. within les mis, hugo spoke for the marginalised, and not just in the 'old 19th century white man' way re romanticising injustice. he actively demonstrates within the book how absolutely horrific circumstances can be, but also presents a message of hope about rising above these circumstances and giving voice to those marginalised.

eugene debbs, a pioneer of american socialism, was literally given the middle name 'victor' after our man VH, read les mis repeatedly throughout his life and through it, was inspired to create the international labour union 'Industrial Workers of the World', which has continued to impact upon labour movements even recently (see: 2011 wisconsin protests, etc)

closer to its publication, les mis had a HUGE impact on french socialism, especially the paris commune. revolutionaries fighting for the commune read les mis for courage when realising their death was imminent. furthermore, louise michel, a major french anarchist figure and someone who led the paris commune, literally called herself enjolras after the main revolutionary in les mis, and used the novel and that title to further her work. her social justice publication influenced thousands throughout europe.

les mis was used to fuel anti-colonial sentiments in mexico during the second french intervention (ironic, i know). wilkie james, a civil war officer of the 54th massachusetts (a free black regiment, for my fellow non-americans) was white, but was passionate about the abolishment of slavery and was greatly affected by les mis in achieving this aim. 'do you hear the people sing' is a protest song used worldwide to signify the fight against oppression.

if 'classic' can be defined by impact (which i agree with, and agree that lotr's impact is massive) i still continue to think that les mis had such a significant social and cultural impact that it is definitely worthy of winning this poll.

if anyone read to the end of this long post, thank you, and i will leave you with something hugo himself wrote to an italian minister:

"You are right, sir, when you say that the book Les Misérables is written for all people. I don’t know if it will be read by all, but, I wrote it for all. It speaks to England as much as Spain, to Germany as much as Ireland, to republics that have slaves as well as to empires that have serfs. Social problems know no borders. The wounds of the human race, those great wounds which cover the globe, do not halt at the red or blue lines traced upon the map. Wherever man is ignorant and despairs, wherever woman is sold for bread, wherever the child suffers for lack of a book to instruct him and a hearth at which to warm him, the book Les Misérables knocks at the door and says: “Open to me, I come for you.”

(p.s. this is definitely meant as propaganda if the mod happens to read this)

[classiclitbracket]

I know I've already said this, but I saw some comments pertaining to this so I thought I'd better re-iterate: the mod does not support the actions of past or present communist regimes.

[classiclitbracket]

Classic Lit Bracket Finals: Les Mis vs. Lord of the Rings!

Which is the most classic?

Les Misérables-Victor Hugo

Lord of the Rings (all applicable novels)-J.R.R. Tolkein

Voting ended onApr 29, 2023

Les Mis propaganda #1

Les Mis propaganda #2

Les Mis propaganda #3

Les Mis propaganda #4

Les Mis propaganda #5

Lord of the Rings propaganda #1

Lord of the Rings propaganda #2

[secretmellowblog]

As someone hyperfixated on both: Les Mis should win this, largely because LOTR is not in the public domain and is instead owned by a highly protective wealthy estate that will only license it out to massive mega corporations. This really hurts its legacy. The Tolkien Estate has even put out an official policy saying that they do not want any derivative fanworks created or for anyone to speak Tolkien’s languages, for profit or not. If they could scrub all of our fanwork from the internet and have Tolkien’s works solely be the property of corporations they would.

I know LOTR is currently winning the poll because it’s popular, but as a counterpoint I’d remind people that LOTR has essentially become like the Star Wars franchise—- frozen in the state when the corporations have decided it was most profitable, incapable of growing and changing or reinterpreting the story in a way that might be new and possibly less profitable, with every official derivative work of LOTR not trying to tell a story but trying to remind you of the most popular/ nostalgic state of franchise’s life.

Les Mis, by contrast, has really benefited from being in the public domain for so long! It is one of the most adapted novels of all time, and has a wealth of beautiful moving reinterpretations made by people genuinely attempting to find new valuable things about the source material. And there are Garbage adaptations too like the bbc miniseries, but unlike with LOTR the Garbage Les mis adaptations don’t legally own Les Mis in any meaningful way. The musical is currently rhe most famous and beloved adaptation, but versions like the Arai Manga adaptation or the Lelouch film that uses Les Mis to process the director’s own feelings about escaping the Nazis during WWII, all add so much depth to the source material’s legacy.

I mean, you could write and publish your own Les Mis adaptation! And Victor Hugo can’t stop you. Engaging with the work really feels like you’re joining a centuries-long conversation. It’s a massive contrast to LOTR, where it’s always in the back of your head that the people who really control the “conversation” want all of your analysis and derivative work gone. I feel like in order to be a true Classic, people need to be actually able to engage with the work freely— I don’t think LOTR deserves the title until all the copyright nonsense happening around it is finally over and people can make derivative works about it in peace. :3

[qthewhatever]

this is a very cool moment for me, because while I completely understand and agree with you, I still voted Lord of the Rings.

to me, the idea of "which is the most classic" comes down to which has had the greatest impact. LOTR pretty much originated the high fantasy genre, and it inspired a massively far-reaching wave of art and creativity. without Lord of the Rings there would be no Dungeons and Dragons, no Dark Tower series, no Legend of Zelda... with Les Miserables, all it's really inspired is more versions of itself. immensely valuable in their own right, but in no way as foundational.

[classiclitbracket]

Classic Lit Bracket Finals: Les Mis vs. Lord of the Rings!

Which is the most classic?

Les Misérables-Victor Hugo

Lord of the Rings (all applicable novels)-J.R.R. Tolkein

Voting ended onApr 29, 2023

Les Mis propaganda #1

Les Mis propaganda #2

Les Mis propaganda #3

Les Mis propaganda #4

Les Mis propaganda #5

Lord of the Rings propaganda #1

Lord of the Rings propaganda #2

[medic-matchups]

Tournament mods, knowing the amount of nominations per characters beforehand, did the outcomes of the brackets surprise you?

No, brackets went mostly as expected based on submission numbers

Not really, there were a few exceptions though

Kinda, there were a few unexpected victories/losses

Quite a bit, I couldn't have predicted the results based on nominations

Yes, I was absolutely shocked how the rounds ended up

Not a tourney mod (see results)

Voting ended onApr 28, 2023

You can answer if your tourney is still running btw.

Please share for a large sample space! Thank you.

[classiclitbracket]

I was going to make the finals polls one day like I've been doing with the others, but on second thought, I think I'll put it to a vote (the poll will open on Saturday at 8 regardless of result).

The final poll should last for...

1 day

1 week

Voting ended onApr 21, 2023

[classiclitbracket]

The people have spoken! The finals will be open for one week, from Saturday 4/22 to Saturday 4/29.