Janet Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Some books were so good that they became classics - books by authors like Dickens, Austen, the Brontë family, Eliot, Defoe... Some newer authors' books are now classed as modern classics - Steinbeck, Woolf, Orwell, Amis, Kafka... for example. It stands to reason, therefore, that some books from recent years will be considered classics in years to come. Books that instantly come to my mind (to name but three) are: The Book Thief by Markus Zusac The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Mark Twain defined a classic as "a book which people praise and don't read.” Italo Calvino stated ‘A classic is the term given to any book which comes to represent the whole universe, a book on a par with ancient talismans’. My question to you is - if you were compiling a list of 'future classics', which contemporary books would you choose? For you, what will stand the test of time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I agree with you that Khaled Hossieni's two books should be on that list - I've not read The Book Thief. I'd like to include "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel to that list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 (edited) Janet Wow, that is a Humdinger of a Question ! I've been sitting here for sn hour ,flipping through my brain to come up with a book that would be called a future classic . As for the ones you've named, I try to look at the qualities that those books had that made them classics . Were any of them written as a Moral Lesson for future generations ? Are there things in them that can teach me, or the readers of today ,lessons on how to live our lives, or make them better in some way ? Or are they just novels told about a different time or place,so that we know how people back then thought and lived ? Sorta like a Written Time Capsule ? I don't know, this one is gonna take some thinking. I need to look at the books I've read in my life that have really taught me something ,or made a difference in the way I have looked at life in the past . Thank you for bringing this up ,and now I need ot get the Brain Oil Can out and get those rusty cogs moving,and come up with some good answers . Could you,or anyone else, tell me why books like those of Austen, Bronte,etc ,be considered Classics ? I know they are ,but what makes them that ? This isn't meant to be a rude question, I'm just trying to understand what made those books a classic, in order to judge what books of today would follow in that category ? Edited January 14, 2013 by julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Ok, after mulling it over a bit ,here's a few I thought of that would have to go in the Classics category. I'd be judging my list on books that tell of an important event that has changed who we are or how our life will be defined in future generations . Unbroken -Laura Hillenbrand -- Story of WW 2 that tells up close and personal what the war was like and how it affected people from all over the world . Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All - Alan Gurganus This isn't a brand new book,but it was written in the not too distant past ,and tells the fictionalized version of what it was like to live during and after the Civil War. Told in many parts of actual battles but mainly tells of how it affected the survivors of the war,and the aftermath of it .Told from the Southern point of view, it tells of how people's lives were destroyed and how they had to rebuild completely and begin life over . Also tells of the beginning struggle of what it was like for the slaves who had never held paying jobs ,so they had to figure out how to restart their lives all over again too . The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy Tells of life in the South,and growing up in a a very dysfunctional family ,and how different family members cope and try to move on in life after abuse . It's a novel,but it's probably the first book I read that helped me understand how domestic abuse can affect a family and the long-term problems it can cause . Lonesome Dove- Larry McMurtry Has to fit in there somehow,because the times of the old west ,cowboys & Indians, etc is gone,so we need an accurate portrayal of that time . A Prayer for Owen Meany -John Irving I don't think we can leave Irving out if we are talking classics . One of his books has to fit the category,and I think Owen is the best . Tells of what it's like to grow up with some type of physical defect, but how a person who has one, shouldnt be judged from the outside,because the inside is made of gold . A Fine Balance -Rohinton Misrty This was one of the hardest ,but hest books I've ever read. Tells of life in India in the not too distant past,and all the different classes and religions of people,and how terrible but beautiful the country of India can be . I Know This Much is True - Wally Lamb This one was,for me,an absolute gem. Tells of the story of family,and how you are interconnected with family ,no matter how trying and difficult it can be at times, you still owe some loyalty to family,no matter what . That's all I can think of right now. Maybe I'll come up with some more later ,or maybe if someone else posts some that jog my memory, I'll be able to add more . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelee Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I am currently writing an essay about what high school students should read. Classics or more modern literature? And who should decide what they need or not need to read. It's a very interesting topic, because I can see both perspectives. I definitely feel the list of classics will change constantly through times, as it has in the past. The past has taught us that society and its needs will decide what books will become classics. Today's society is filled with different nationalities, different cultures meeting. So I think books about different cultures colliding have a good chance of becoming classics. Also, society is fast paced and technology has made it easy for people to stay home and be alone infront of the TV. I think books that are about life and hardships will continue to be popular. I can definitely see The Kite Runner becoming a classic. Maybe something by Cormac McCarthy (No country for old men, The road?) Possibly Umberto Eco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsmeagain Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Brick Lane by Monica Ali. The way she writes about the life of a Bangladeshi family in London, is brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Of the authors I have read I think Haruki Murakami's books are the most likely to become classics one day (I suspect some would argue that they already are). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 It occured to me after I posted yesterday, that when I think of Classics, I think of Dickens & Austen, both of which were very popular while they were still alive. On that basis, can we expect to see Dan Brown & James Patterson as future classics? Perish the thought personally, but that's just my opinion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 (edited) I think classics are books that stand the test of time, rather than books that proved popular when published, so I'd be surprised if Brown or Patterson are rated in 100 years time. Dickens and Austen were popular in their own time, but there are classics that only got the label after the author was dead (A Confederacy of Dunces, for example, which could be argued is a modern classic). Edited January 15, 2013 by Raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I think The Secret History Donna Tartt would be on my list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devi Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 (edited) Some may laugh at my idea of a classic I think the Tomorrow series could be a classic, I know it taught me a thing or two reading it when growing up. I learnt that things can change at anytime, and that sometimes you have to grow up fast - which is what happened to me with my younger brother being ill, so I related especially well with the characters. I also learnt that when you stick together and help each other out, a lot can be achieved, and I learnt more about what effect a war can have on a country. Ah look at me, blubbering on. Let's just say the books have a close place in my heart. No other book has ever made me feel the same way as this series has, and that I think a lot of young adults could learn a lot from the books. Edited January 16, 2013 by Devi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 The Book Thief is the first and only one that comes to mind for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) It occured to me after I posted yesterday, that when I think of Classics, I think of Dickens & Austen, both of which were very popular while they were still alive. On that basis, can we expect to see Dan Brown & James Patterson as future classics? Perish the thought personally, but that's just my opinion! No, because popularity doesn't make a classic: there are plenty of authors who have been popular with their contemporaries which haven't survived. For me, a classic is defined by the quality of the writing and what it has to tell us (usually about the human condition). To that extent, books I would like to see being regarded as classics in the future include: A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie A Month in the Country - JL Carr A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley Voyageurs and The Sea Road - Margaret Elphinstone The Bone People - Keri Hulme Having said that, classics do tend to have been popular at the time, and a few of these are maybe not sufficiently well known - underservedly so. Fascinating idea, particularly when one starts seeing what others think might reach that status: of the ones so far mentioned, very few would go on my list (and very few of mine go on others?!); Murakami might (even though I don't like his books one bit), Some others I liked, even loved, but not sure about being classic (e.g. Brick Lane); would be good if it turned out that why. One or two, I just disliked (e.g. The Book Thief)! I haven't read them yet, but OH would agree with you Julie on Owen Meany and Fine Balance. Edited January 17, 2013 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 A Fine Balance is a great book - so colourful and vibrant. I agree about A Month in the Country, although isn't that already classed as a Modern Classic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelee Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Salman Rushdie's The satanic verses? Lord knows it is controversial... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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