# 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:** 3
**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 7, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/41 "2009-01-07T17:06:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > This gives me a horrible vision of Dan Brown writing _On the Road_, or Kerouac writing _The Da Vinci Code_. I said METH-influenced, not WEED-influenced. And that was purposeful, as I originally wrote “weed” and then thought of Kerouac? Are you me? > [@](#): > > The thing’s tightly plotted and all, I wouldn’t say it’s incoherent. It’s just very stupid and the writing and characterization are awful. If people didn’t buy into Brown’s warmed-over '60s mother-goddess hype and start speculating that maybe it’s all really true, it wouldn’t be _as_ intolerable. I am willing to concede that DVC has a plot in the most generous sense of the word. I would not call that plot “tight.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/42 "2009-01-07T17:10:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I said METH-influenced, not WEED-influenced. And that was purposeful, as I originally wrote “weed” and then thought of Kerouac? I thought Kerouac was whacked out on bennies or some other kind of speed when he hammered out that book, but I could be wrong. > [@](#): > > I am willing to concede that DVC has a plot in the most generous sense of the word. I would not call that plot “tight.” I just mean it moves from point A to B to C in fairly short order. Not that it’s a brilliant plot. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/43 "2009-01-07T17:11:26Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I am willing to concede that DVC has a plot in the most generous sense of the word. I would not call that plot “tight.” I don’t want to sound like I’m sticking up for The Da Vinci Code, because I’m not a fan, but the thing is practically all plot. What are you talking about? ---
**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 7, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/44 "2009-01-07T17:13:18Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I thought Kerouac was whacked out on bennies or some other kind of speed when he hammered out that book, but I could be wrong. > > I just mean it moves from point A to B to C in fairly short order. Not that it’s a brilliant plot. I’m not sure it was weed Jack was on either. But I’m sure it WASN’T meth, and, as I said, I wanted to avoid any hint that I was comparing Kerouac’s beautiful prose-poetry with Brown’s clumsy, clanking, caliginous pseudo-prose. ---
**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 7, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/45 "2009-01-07T17:14:18Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I don’t want to sound like I’m sticking up for The Da Vinci Code, because I’m not a fan, but the thing is practically all plot. What are you talking about? I was mocking the idiocy of the plot. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/46 "2009-01-07T17:25:53Z")
I don’t think anything really touches Harry Potter for cultural significance, does it? I’d also add Susannah Clark’s _Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell_. I think it’s the best fantasy novel since LOTR. ---
**Author:** ![Redfrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@Redfrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redfrost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/47 "2009-01-07T17:30:12Z")
Kerouac was fond of speed and alcohol. He dabbled in weed but mostly stuck to alcohol and turned to speed when he needed to get some things done or was tired of being drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/48 "2009-01-07T17:37:17Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > What about Mark Twain, Jules Verne, and Shakespeare? > > Edit: Add Hemmingway and Longfellow. I could probably do this all day, and someone more studied in the classics could do it a lot longer I bet. The Sherlock Holmes books were also massively popular. Sherlock Homes was the Harry Potter of his era. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/49 "2009-01-07T17:39:35Z")
_The Road_ is pretty good, but I don’t think it’s McCarthy’s best work. _Blood Meridian_ knocked my head off. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/50 "2009-01-07T18:30:58Z")
_The Savage Detectives_ doesn’t quite count, unless you consider its translation into English as its date. Orhan Pamuk’s _Snow_ is another candidate. As much as I liked _Middlesex_, I’m not sure it will age all that well. Same thing with _Cavalier and Klay_. _Atonement_ is a good choice. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/51 "2009-01-07T18:57:12Z")
of the titles I see listed, only \*\*The Road \*\*has the reviews and cred to make the “long-term literature” cut, near as I can tell… however, if Oct 31, 2000 as a publishing date counts then without question, J.M. Coetzee’s [Disgrace](http://www.amazon.com/Disgrace-J-M-Coetzee/dp/0140296409) (Amazon link) is clearly on the shortest of short lists. Nobel Prize-winning author, his best, signature book that comments on the plight of his country (South Africa) with insight and wisdom. And it is truly freaking brilliant - should be the basis for classes on writing technique… This book will be taught for the ages. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/52 "2009-01-07T19:12:31Z")
I’d nominate _Cloud Atlas_ by David Mitchell. > **[Cloud Atlas: David Mitchell: 9780375507250: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Atlas-Novel-David-Mitchell/dp/0375507256)** > > Cloud Atlas \[David Mitchell\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Cloud Atlas Just bloody amazing, somewhat reminicent of Italo Calvino. Clearly a work of genius. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/53 "2009-01-07T19:43:02Z")
I think “Gravity’s Rainbow” by Thomas Pynchon will become one of those “classic works of literature” that no one has ever read. ---
**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 7, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/54 "2009-01-07T19:45:51Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > I think “Gravity’s Rainbow” by Thomas Pynchon will become one of those “classic works of literature” that no one has ever read. Written in 1974. ---
**Author:** ![Elyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@Elyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elyanna)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/55 "2009-01-07T19:47:18Z")
Joshua Ferris’s _Then We Came to the End_, for use of the first-person plural in depiction of corporate life. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/56 "2009-01-07T19:52:34Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Written in 1974. Whoops, sorry … wrong turn of the century. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/57 "2009-01-07T20:30:19Z")
Jonathan Safran Foer’s **Everything is Illuminated** and/or **Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close**. Dave Eggers’ **A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius** and/or **You Shall Know Our Velocity!**. I prefer the latter book by both authors, though I think the former works drew more praise. As for Alice Sebold, I cannot recommend her memoir **Lucky** enough. Classic or not, it should be required reading in high schools. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/58 "2009-01-07T22:35:06Z")
From Wiki, here’s a list of popular novels published from 1900 to 1910. It’s not comprehensive – I arbitrarily deleted titles I’d never heard of, and there were a lot of those. I’ve put a \* next to titles that (I believe) are still widely read today and qualify as classics. \*Lord Jim \*Sister Carrie \*The Wonderful Wizard of Oz The Autobiography of a Flea \*Buddenbrooks The First Men in the Moon \*Kim My Brilliant Career The Purple Cloud Springtime and Harvest Brewster’s Millions The Four Feathers \*Heart of Darkness \*The Hound of the Baskervilles Lavender and Old Lace \*The Tale of Peter Rabbit \*The Virginian \*The Wings of the Dove \*The Ambassadors \*The Call of the Wild The Jewel of Seven Stars \*Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm \*The Way of All Flesh The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth \*The Gold Bat \*The Golden Bowl \*Green Mansions \*The Marvelous Land of Oz Master of the World Nostromo \*The Sea-Wolf \*The House of Mirth The Lighthouse at the End of the World A Little Princess \*The Scarlet Pimpernel Where Angels Fear to Tread Annabel \*The Jungle \*The Railway Children \*White Fang Wings The Hill of Dreams \*The Man Who Was Thursday The Mystery of the Yellow Room \*Ozma of Oz \*The Secret Agent The Shepherd of the Hills The Tangled Skein The White Feather \*Anne of Green Gables The Blue Lagoon \*Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz \*The House on the Borderland The Old Wives’ Tale \*Room With A View \*The Wind in the Willows \*Anne of Avonlea A Girl of the Limberlost Martin Eden \*The Road to Oz \*The Secret Garden If we can accept that most of these books are classics, we should be able to come up with more titles from 2001-2008 that will be considered classic. If we can’t, I don’t know what that means. That we need more time to tell if a book will hold up? That today’s writers aren’t as good as writers from 100 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/59 "2009-01-07T22:41:02Z")
Literature is not as important now as it was then. They didn’t have movies or television. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121/60 "2009-01-07T22:52:58Z")
That’s a good point. But it’s balanced by the numbers. Wiki lists only 15 novels published in 1900. In 2000, they list 379. So the field to choose from is larger. But I don’t know what criteria Wiki is using. I know there were more than 379 novels published in 2000. Maybe they’re listing just the novels that made a best seller list or sold more than X number of copies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-novels-published-since-the-turn-of-the-century-will-become-classics/480121.md?page=4)