Tyrone Slothrop said:genious storyteller. average writer
Right on.
Personally, the most timeless stories are the ones that can be transplanted across genres and settings and still have the same impact as before. This is why a lot of Shakespearan works can be adapted to modern times.
This is why a lot of fantasy and science fiction are not good; many of the stories focus on setting rather than the actual literary material. I do not want every minute detail of the environment or the protagonist's actions. Give me his motivations and his inspirations, his development and his conflicts.