5d ago

Which modern books do you think will become classics?

I suppose when I say 'modern' I mean anything from the mid 20th century to the present day.

At some point in years to come, certain books will stand the test of time and continue to be commonly read, held above other novels as the best this century had to offer. What makes a book a classic? My guess would be the impact it has had and the overall quality of its writing. But it's probably quite subjective!

One book that springs to mind is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. It's just unlike anything else I've read, with some beautiful visions of the American landscape contrasted with brutal depictions of the worst humanity has to offer.

9 comments

From 1950 to today?
Wow there are so many that already are:
The Dune books
The Harry Potter books
many Stephen King books
To Kill a Mocking Bird
One flew over the cookoos nest
Watership Down
I think the tougher challenge will be to identify books written in the last 20 years that will be classic.
- Lord of the Rings was published in 1954 and would probably make it in that list.
- I think you're right about those books! What would your suggestions be for the last 20 years then?
Catch-22
Gravity's Rainbow
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Handmade's Tale
Infinite Jest
Name of the Rose
One Hundred Years of Solitude
- I've read (and loved) all but 2 of these. Time to read those two I think!
"How to find edible plants and fungi in a post-apocalyptic wasteland", "What to expect when you're expecting nuclear mutants", "To Serve Man".
If America could ever get it's head out of it's ass about race, James Baldwin will sit in the pantheon of great American writers next to Twain, Steinbeck, and Hemingway.
- Is there a particular book you'd recommend by him? I've come across Giovanni's Room before but never got round to reading it.
From the past 10 years, in reverse order (from my Goodreads)
The Passenger + Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy
Ducks by Kate Beaton
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
On Tyrrany by Timothy Snyder
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Edit: a few more from the past 50 years.
The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
Post War by Tony Judt
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

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