# What novels published since the turn of the century will become classics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121 "2009-01-06T19:43:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/1 "2009-01-06T19:43:47Z")
I happened to look over my copy of Alice Sebold’s _The Lovely Bones_, and I notice that one of the author blurbs on the back avers that it will become a classic on the order of _To Kill a Mockingbird_ in time. Now, while I don’t agree that TLB is on the order of TKaM, I will agree that it is quite beautifully written and destined to be honored in posterity. Which brings me to the thread question: what other novels of this century\* do you think will be accorded such honor, and why? For purposes of this thread, pretend the 21st century began in 2000 rather than 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/2 "2009-01-06T19:48:25Z")
Neal Stephenson’s _Baroque Cycle_. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/3 "2009-01-06T20:08:40Z")
\*The Road \*by Cormac McCarthy. I really believe it will be studied in lit classes for decades or longer. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/4 "2009-01-06T20:14:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Neal Stephenson’s _Baroque Cycle_. I came in to say just that. A true case of a series that transcends its genre, whatever the \*hell \*that genre is. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/5 "2009-01-06T20:19:45Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > \*The Road \*by Cormac McCarthy. > > I really believe it will be studied in lit classes for decades or longer. I liked it but I didn’t get nearly as much from it as some people on here seem to have. Interesting choice. ---
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/6 "2009-01-06T20:20:53Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I came in to say just that. A true case of a series that transcends its genre, whatever the \*hell \*that genre is. I recommend History-of-Science Fiction with fantasy elements. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/7 "2009-01-06T20:41:50Z")
McCarthy’s _The Road_ is probably the highest quality I’ve read from this century. Not sure it’s real classic material, but it does have that extra dimension of timeliness and resonance of the era that separates it from the merely excellent. Am I allowed one from 1996? (sorry!). I’d bet the farm on _Infinite Jest_ being regarded as a classic in future times. It was headed that way anyhow, but DFW’s tragic death will probably propel it into the pantheon at speed. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/8 "2009-01-06T20:43:12Z")
I was going to suggest _A Fine Balance_ by Rohinton Mistry but it was published in 1997. Maybe _The Kite Runner_? ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/9 "2009-01-06T20:53:51Z")
Atonement by Ian McEwan, published in 2003. Powerful and moving. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/10 "2009-01-06T20:58:21Z")
_The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay_, which was published in 2000 and so makes it into **Skald** ’s millennium. Brilliant, fun, expansive, and very well written. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/11 "2009-01-06T21:37:14Z")
(edit for reading comprehension) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/12 "2009-01-06T21:46:06Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay_, which was published in 2000 and so makes it into **Skald** ’s millennium. Brilliant, fun, expansive, and very well written. Tain’t MY millennium. I was just trying to forestall the inevitable argument. 🙂 My New Millennium Party was on Dec. 31, 2000; nobody would have come if I didn’t always provide hookers and blow at my parties. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/13 "2009-01-06T21:48:45Z")
_The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime_ by Mark Haddon. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/14 "2009-01-07T00:53:28Z")
The first book I though of was _The Road_, but that’s been done in this thread so I’m going to go to another favorite of mine. _World War Z_ by Max Brooks. The author outdoes George Romero with a story of zombies overtaking the Earth which is really an examination of the real world. I doubt it’s in the top ten novels of this century, but its critical acclaim and geek credentials (Zombies!) guarantees that it will be read for decades to come and will make its way into a few classrooms. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/15 "2009-01-07T01:06:22Z")
I haven’t read it but [The Boy In The Striped Pajamas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_in_the_Striped_Pyjamas)sounds like it might be a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/16 "2009-01-07T01:41:03Z")
Chris Ware’s _Rusty Brown_, still in the process of being serialized in his own _Acme Novelty Library_ series, will come to be regarded as one of the major classics of the comics medium, toppling _Maus_ and _Watchmen_. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/17 "2009-01-07T02:54:22Z")
If there’s any justice left in the world, _English Passengers_, by Matthew Kneale, (first mentioned and recommended here on The Dope by **twickster** ). ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/18 "2009-01-07T03:07:20Z")
Maybe _The Time Traveler’s Wife_? ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/19 "2009-01-07T03:35:38Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Maybe _The Time Traveler’s Wife_? This was the book I thought of first. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/20 "2009-01-07T03:36:29Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime_ by Mark Haddon. Odd how tastes and opinions vary - I thought The Curious Incident of the Dog, etc., was okay but nothing more. I agree with A Fine Balance being a candidate for immortality. Amazing book. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121.md?page=2)