# Will today's novels be tomorrow's classics?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-todays-novels-be-tomorrows-classics/161325>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 14, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-todays-novels-be-tomorrows-classics/161325 "2003-03-14T14:01:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-todays-novels-be-tomorrows-classics/161325/1 "2003-03-14T14:01:19Z")

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I have often wondered if today’s puppy-mill paperbacks (and yes, they **ALL** are) will end up being studied in our schools as the “literary classics” of tomorrow? Do you think any of today’s authors REALLY have a true literary style, message, etc? Aren’t they all really pressed into same mold by the publishers just to rake in the bucks?

In a world where a Parker Brother’s game can be used to predict the future, I guess anything goes. I can only think McDonald’s Corp is mad they didn’t come out with the McPublishing Corp first!

- Jinx 😃

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**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-todays-novels-be-tomorrows-classics/161325/2 "2003-03-14T15:16:06Z")

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Very reasonable question.

Initial thought: The novel isn’t nearly as important and central an art form as it was even 50 years ago. The odds that a novel will “cross over” to the public consciousness and be a cultural phenomenon is less than it was with, say, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird or Catch-22 from the 50’s and 60’s.

The books that become classics typically fall into 3 categories (going off the top of my head here):

- Popular books that endure - of today’s books, there aren’t many that will endure, but that is usually the case. If you check the best seller lists from the 30’s, almost _none_ of the authors or titles are familiar; they all faded. Of today’s book, maybe 1 - 2 King titles (The Shining, IMHO), the Harry Potter books, some Elmore Leonard books, and one or two literature/Oprah type books that crossed over - maybe Cold Mountain, maybe the Lovely Bones. Bridges of Madison will be completely forgotten, if it hasn’t been already. In sci-fi, I would go with Neuromancer, Snow Crash (and other Stephenson, like Cryptonomicon).

- Critical acclaimed books that few people read. Like Ulysses or Gravity’s Rainbow. Some of Delillo’s books, Gaddis and a few like that. I suppose the Corrections falls into this category, even though it was an Oprah selection.

- Books that rise to the surface over time. I am not sure who would fall into this category now, but there are books and/or authors who aren’t famous at the time, but become more famous as time goes on. Philip K. Dick and Jim Thompson are examples from 30 - 50 years ago, but I don’t know who qualifies today.