# What 1951-2000 U.S. Literature will endure? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 12, 2003, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406 "2003-06-12T18:45:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/21 "2003-06-13T06:00:40Z")
Kurt Vonnegut _Slaughterhouse Five_ Alice Walker _The Color Purple_ William Styron \*Sophie’s Choice \* Alex Haley _Roots_ Truman Capote _In Cold Blood_ Maya Angelou _I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings_ James Dickey _Deliverance_ James Lee Burke ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/22 "2003-06-13T06:47:30Z")
Of all the SF authors, I’d say Philip K. Dick stands the best chance of being remembered, based on his short fiction and some of his major works like _The Man in the High Castle_ and _A Scanner Darkly_. I’ve read more than one reference to Dick as “the Kafka of the latter 20th century.” Bradbury is a good bet, too. Of course, if there were any justice in the world, R. A. Lafferty and Cordwainer Smith would be remembered forever. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/23 "2003-06-13T13:11:57Z")
First time I have been able to check, given my work schedule… **Exapno** - of course, you’re right - this will play out over time. That is the whole point to this thread - place your bets as to what _you_ think will stand the test of time. **Twickster** - you know, I agree with the Old Man and the Sea, since it was published in 1952, but I still think of Hemingway as a 1901-1950 writer, lumped in with Fitzgerald, Faulkner and Sinclair Lewis. I feel the same way about Steinbeck. But that’s just me… **Antiquarian** - have to agree with **The Gaspode** here - Celestine should be thrown aside with great force… **mobo85** - great call on Seuss - Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Horton all feel like they could endure - and of course the Grinch, but it feels like the cartoon surpasses the book on that one… **John Mace** - of course you’re right re: the Fountainhead. But that would mean we’d have to include Atlas Shrugged, as you state, and it is such a piece of excrement that I really didn’t want to have to do that - oh well… Lots of other great ideas - I would challenge you to really try to not just “build a list” as we Dopers tend to do with this type of thread, but really focus. What 5 books will endure, say - and if you agree that Mockingbird, Catcher and Catch-22 are reasonable choices, that would limit you to two remaining slots. Of course if you disagree with those, please say so and state why, for discussion purposes. If you choose not to follow this approach, that is obviously your call - just trying to keep things focused… Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![greenphan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c37758/32.png) [@greenphan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenphan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/24 "2003-06-13T13:26:38Z")
I don’t think “On the Road” will last into the future; it’s too much of a niche book. I think the Harry Potter books will have staying power. …oh wait, Rowling is a Brit. Nevermind. I think something by Toni Morrison will be remembered…shes’ fairly popular and well-liked by critics (I just can’t think of which title would be last). ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/25 "2003-06-13T15:01:36Z")
What about Vladimir Nabakov’s _Lolita_? I’m hazy on the publishing date but I’m pretty sure it was after he emigrated from the Soviet Union. And it follows **the Gaspode** ’s criteria of commenting on the culture in which it takes place (suburbia of the '50s/'60s). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/26 "2003-06-13T15:13:46Z")
Lolita is a great book, **Skammer** - no doubt. But Nabokov is Russian, as you say, and the book was first published in France (in English, but through a French publisher, I think) a few years before the 1st U.S. edition… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/27 "2003-06-13T15:18:37Z")
1. I know Tolkien is Brittish. 2. I just missed the part in the OP where it said, U.S. literature. 3. Did **THREE** people have to correct me? :eek: And **Exapno Mapcase** , why would it have been embarassing for it to be remembered as our great literature. It is. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/28 "2003-06-13T17:04:43Z")
> [@](#): > > I thought Tolkien was born in South Africa and then moved to UK (or was it viceversa?). If you’re going to go that route, then Asimov is Russian. But I think that if an author identifies himself as a particular nationality, writes as a member of that nationality, and targets an audience of that nationality… Well, it quacks like a duck. Although I’m not really sure why nationality is so important, anyway: Brits and Americans read each others’ books all the time. But a clarification on the OP: Is this about literature, or books? Because films are included in the first category, and movies like the _Star Wars_ trilogy (I’m counting them as one work) are sure to endure. Wait-- Is _Star Wars_ American? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/29 "2003-06-13T17:22:15Z")
Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land” and “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” will endure. Asimov’s Foundation trilogy as well. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/30 "2003-06-13T18:32:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mahaloth \* > \*\*1. I know Tolkien is Brittish. > > 1. I just missed the part in the OP where it said, U.S. literature. > > 2. Did **THREE** people have to correct me? :eek: > > And **Exapno Mapcase** , why would it have been embarassing for it to be remembered as our great literature. It is. \*\* Well, my correction was a simulpost, so that shouldn’t count against you. I objected to your saying: > [@](#): > > I’m hard pressed to come up with anything else that will definately be remembered 200 years from now. I don’t, as it happens, think that LotR is great literature, though I know I’m in the minority. But you were saying that it is the _only_ book that will be remembered. And that just horrifies me. Not only are there all the books that have been mentioned so far, but probably a thousand others that are good candidates, especially if you’re allowing in non-US works. And compared with those 1000+, Tolkien just doesn’t rank very high. Besides, I want future high schools to know what _our_ culture and times were like and there are far better books for that purpose than LotR. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/31 "2003-06-13T19:02:15Z")
Great ones listed here. One I think missed: THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT by Sloan Wilson will probably still be around – though maybe only grad students will read it. Outside chance: All the president’s Men (tho not for its literature value). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/32 "2003-06-13T21:27:49Z")
**Cold Mountain** - Charles Frazier **Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?** - P.K. Dick **Wise Blood** - Flannery O’Connor **Autobiography of Malcolm X** - Alex Haley **Invisible Man** - Ralph Ellison **A Confederacy of Dunces** - John Kennedy Toole **Lonesome Dove** - Larry McMurtry **Salem’s Lot** - King ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/33 "2003-06-13T21:29:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*Is this about literature, or books? Because films are included in the first category, and movies like the _Star Wars_ trilogy (I’m counting them as one work) are sure to endure. Wait-- Is _Star Wars_ American? \*\* **Chronos** Star Wars is American; George Lucas grew up in scenic Modesto, CA, which has recently seen a couple of murders muddy its image. But I didn’t realize that movies might be considered Literature - I am not saying that that is incorrect, only that I had not heard that categorization before… I am inclined, IMHO, to not include movies at Lit - to me they are their own category…but if they are Lit, then clearly a bunch from the 1951-2000 period would be absolutely critical and would endure, frankly, pushing most books aside. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/34 "2003-06-13T21:40:16Z")
I know The Stand by Stephen King will endure into the future, but somehow I don’t see a book where a man has a gun placed up his rectum by another character just to watch him die will have much of a place in schools. And as an aside, schools (high school and college) rarely choose books based on nationality of the writer. If it’s good literature, it will be taught. That is the criteria. So for a list of five: Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 1984 by George Orwell To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/35 "2003-06-13T21:51:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Justin\_Bailey \* > \*\*And as an aside, schools (high school and college) rarely choose books based on nationality of the writer. If it’s good literature, it will be taught. That is the criteria. \*\* Actually, my university (and the high school I attended) do teach based on nationality. 11th grade was American literature and 12th was British lit (although we also studied Greek tragedy). Those same classes are taught at my college, although there are also general “short story” classes and the like. Besides, **WordMan** asked about U.S. literature because that is the topic he is interested in. > [@](#): > > \*\*So for a list of five: > > Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien > Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger > 1984 by George Orwell > To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee \*\* I hope you were contributing to the list of five, or we’ll have to wonder if addition will be taught in schools in 200 years. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/36 "2003-06-13T21:57:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\ ***Cold Mountain** - Charles Frazier > > **Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?** - P.K. Dick > > **Wise Blood** - Flannery O’Connor > > **Autobiography of Malcolm X** - Alex Haley > > **Invisible Man** - Ralph Ellison > > **A Confederacy of Dunces** - John Kennedy Toole > > **Lonesome Dove** - Larry McMurtry > > **Salem’s Lot** - King \*\* Interesting choices, **spoke-** - I suppose my question to you would be - if you had to narrow it down to five that would endure, would you include my “core 3” (see previous posts) and if not what would you swap out and why, and what additional 2 would you add? and thanks, **Lisa-go-blind** I appreciate your trying to stay true to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/37 "2003-06-13T22:08:41Z")
Confedaracy of Dunces by John Kennedy O’Toole has the same timeless qualties as Gogol’s Diary of a Madman ---
**Author:** ![Quack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e99b99/32.png) [@Quack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quack)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/38 "2003-06-13T23:01:15Z")
I second **All the President’s Men** even if it is nonfiction. It’s still one of the greatest stories of the last century. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/39 "2003-06-13T23:04:55Z")
My “top 5” would be: **To Kill a Mockingbird** **1984** **One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest** **Catcher in the Rye** My dark horse is **Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?** , since the “When is a machine no longer just a machine?” theme will become increasingly relevant to future generations. I’m not sure I buy the premise that only a handful of books will endure, by the way. I can think of a number of 19th century books still talked about. I think several of the books listed in this thread will confound high school students (or maybe college freshmen) for many decades to come. (One final note: I think **The Fountainhead** will be remembered much as we remember **Uncle Tom’s Cabin** today. Not a very well-written book, and not great literature, but it sure stirred up a ruckus.) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406/40 "2003-06-13T23:08:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I hope you were contributing to the list of five, or we’ll have to wonder if addition will be taught in schools in 200 years. So my whole paragraph on The Stand went unnoticed? I can add, but it looks like you need glasses. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-1951-2000-u-s-literature-will-endure/181406.md?page=3)