Things go in and out of fashion in the literary world and today’s darling of the critics is tomorrow’s, “What in hell were they thinking when they said he/she was a great writer?” award winner. So what books written or widely read in the 20th Century do you think people will want to read in the 22nd Century? Fiction and non-fiction titles are both welcome here. My WAG:
For fiction:
1984 by Orwell. A timeless piece of work on what happens when a government goes mad.
Naked Lunch by Burroughs. This book is such an influence on modern literature and cinema that people will read it for a better understanding of 20th Century art.
For non-fiction:
A Man on the Moon by Chaikin. The best history of the Apollo program I’ve read so far. People will want to read it as we do the adventurers and explorers of past times.
The Johnstown Flood by McCullough. A look at one of the worst disasters in US history, told in a fascinating manner by a great historian.
There’s probably more, but I can’t think of any others at the moment.
Not necessarily, Poe (for example) was considered by some of his contemporaries (now all but forgotten) to be a hack writer. There’s been numerous writers (and other artists) who were ignored in their own time, and only considered “great” after they died, while their contemporaries who were praised to the hilt during their lives have been forgotten.
All of Franz Kafka’s major works will still be read frequently. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller and SlaughterHouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut will remain popular as long as war continues. The Catcher in the Rye and The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man are still popular with young people today even though they were written several generations ago. And I personally think that Brave New World is a much scarier and more believable description of the future than 1984 is.
As for authors who are universally praised now but may slide into obscurity later, my top three picks would be Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, and Toni Morrison.