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Which books could become classics?


emelee

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Personally I'm not quite sure what defines a classic. I've probably been taught in my Dutch classes but I don't remember :blush2:. I can imagine some of the popular books nowdays that are considered 'literary fiction' (again of which I'm not sure what it means) might be considered classics.

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I'm of the opinion (which I know a lot of you may disagree with), that for a book to become a classic, it first has to be well known.(nothing can become a classic if nobody reads it). On that basis, Stephen King's book are a good bet to become classics.

 

Of course, the counter argument to that is - something may become popular long after it was written - which I think is what happened with Jane Austen?

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It has to become very known at SOME point at least. A classic, to me, is a book that you've heard of even though you may not have read it. And it's also not a book that is part of a pop culture series (again, according to me). 

 

Life of Pi, as mentioned above, is a novel that I can picture becoming a classic, absolutely. 

 

What Stephen King book stands the best chance of becoming a classic? The Green Mile maybe?

 

How about The Kite Runner?

Memoirs of a Geisha?

The Road?

Something by Haruki Murakami?

House of Leaves?

White teeth?

 

Can the Harry Potter series and Hunger games become classics, you think?

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For those who are wondering about the definition of a classic: we have a thread on the subject here :)

 

I find this an interesting question, but not an easy one to answer. Some classics are popular in the days they were published, and some were largely ignored or looked down on during their day but have reached the status of a classic later on. 

 

I also wonder how the language of the current day effects the whole matter. How much is it because of the plot and characters, how much is it to do with the language. Of course the languages change in time... 

 

I don't know! This'll be interesting :)

 

Edit: Another point that I just thought of: how much will the actual definition of a classic change in the future? :shrug:

Edited by frankie
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For those who are wondering about the definition of a classic: we have a thread on the subject here :)

Thanks for that, Frankie :)!

 

I think a Stephen King book should have a good shot. I also think Harry Potter and The Hunger Games both had a big impact on youth, lots of teenagers are reading more nowadays because of those series.

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Nice topic!  I have actually thought about this before and have probably used (and read in reviews across the web) the term "modern classic".  My own defenition is any contempary book that is unique or profound, has reached a mass amount of readers, and provokes a lot of discussion.

 

I agree with Athena and Emelee about the Harry Potter books and The Hunger Games, as well.

 

Here are some more that I've read and, in my opinion, are "modern classics" and could possibly be considered classic in 100 or 200 years:

 

The Book Theif by Markus Zusak (2005)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (published 1993, but won award in 1994)

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1998)

The Road by Cormac McCarthy(2006)

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold(2009)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett(2010)

 

I believe Stephen Kings books are also modern classics, mainly the ones published in 1970's and 1980's.

 

 

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I suppose, for me, classic means a story that can stand the test of time, one that won't seem dated in one or two hundred years.  Something universally human that could take place in the 21st century as well as the 23rd.  Naturally the technology will change, probably drastically, but the story should rise above that and not depend upon it.

 

But the last 20 years?  I'd have to think long hard about that. 

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I'd have to agree about The Handmaid's Tale and The Road

 

I have to say I didn't like The Book Thief, I felt it made light of the Nazi reality.  So, I'd hope it doesn't become a "go to" classic in the future.  I'd hate to think that future generations thought that was all there was to that horror.

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Just thought of one. 1998's A Widow For One Year by John Irving. Fantastic story! The film The Door in the Floor was made from the first third of the book.

 

Universal story, not dated.

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Quite an interesting topic . I'm with Kate , it'd be hard to think of many in the past 20 years that would be in the running for classic status. I would think the Harry Potter books would have a shot since they were so very popular and still are . Kinda like more modern day Grimm's for lack of a better term .

 

There is only one that I can think of that is ( at least in our school system ) required "Modern Classic" reading :

 

A Prayer for Owen Meany by Irving . A REALLY good book with some great moral lessons ,so I think it'd stand the test of time. It's not exactly a currently released book, but it's still modern I'd say .

It's also a great book for discussion since it deals with many different topics throughout .

 

 I'd probably toss a vote in for a Wally Lamb book, but I doubt they'd ever make Classic status in the long run ..

 

Maybe A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. That was also one terrific story !!

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I think certain literary works by for example Harry Mulisch (Dutch author) could become classics. I thought his Twee Vrouwen was thought provoking (although it was published longer than 20 years ago, so maybe it's already a bit of a classic).

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  • 4 weeks later...

Enders Game!! .... No, maybe not.. But it's still good.

This is on my TBR list, I hope I get to it in the next couple of months.  I need to hold off a bit on dystopian books for awhile.  Glad to hear it is good!  And hello from California!

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This is on my TBR list, I hope I get to it in the next couple of months.  I need to hold off a bit on dystopian books for awhile.  Glad to hear it is good!  And hello from California!

Hello back at ya, from the Garden State! Lol.. Yeah I totally recommend it to anybody. And after a 2nd thought, I think it is possible the Enders Game could be considered a classic to a certain extent because its just so cool. But I doubt it's a real classic. Still, its definitely a book you should read before you die lol.  

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@ Anna Begins, And by the way, how was The Fountainhead, or are you still reading it? I have not ever read that but I hear that that's a classic.

I am 60% into it.  It is good, but not as good as Atlas Shrugged.  Atlas Shrugged could definitely be a classic, but it came out in the 50's (I believe).  I've been keeping notes and will post a review in a few days :smile: Thanks for asking!

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I wonder how many contemporary books today will become classics, just because of the vast numbers of books that are published today?  I'm not necessarily talking about here on the forum, but generally, popularity is now judged by sales figures, but is rarely a sign of the quality of the writing.  The quality of literature is often (wrongly, I believe) said to be the preserve of literary awards, but again, I wonder how many award winners are enjoyable and timeless reading experiences, which I think is part of the requirement for a book to become a classic?  Are we so overwhelmed by numbers that we can't see the wood for the trees?

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I wonder how many contemporary books today will become classics, just because of the vast numbers of books that are published today?  

 

 Are we so overwhelmed by numbers that we can't see the wood for the trees?

Here is a list of Best Selling books according to wiki.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books

I thought The Little Prince topped the list, but it's Tale of Two Cities at 200 million copies sold.

Edit: oddly 3 of my favorite books are in the 30 million range (Gone With the Wind, Valley of the Dolls and The Thorn Birds).

Edited by Anna Begins
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Here is a list of Best Selling books according to wiki.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books

I thought The Little Prince topped the list, but it's Tale of Two Cities at 200 million copies sold.

But that's covering best selling books of all time. I'm talking about books that are published today becoming future classics.  Look at this wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_published_per_country_per_year based on the last years available data for each country.  Just looking at the UK alone, as it's figures are based on new books published that year, not including new editions of previously published books, that's almost 150,000 books per year.  I can't immediately find any figures for 19th century books, but it won't be anywhere near that sort of figure.  My point is, with that many books being published each year (and I'm sure in the last couple of years, the UK number being batted around is now much closer to 200,000), will there be any books that will become classics that will have the mix of quality of writing and are enjoyable, timeless stories that people will want to keep reading, that enough people will be able to find and keep buying and reading in the future, when there are so many books being published each year.  At the moment, we're close to 2 million new books per decade - how will any of those find enough of a foothold to be able to make them classics of the future?

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