A weekly meme hosted by The Blue Bookcase.
This week's topic is:
What makes a contemporary novel a classic? Discuss a book which you think fits the category of ‘modern classics’ and explain why.
This is an interesting topic up for debate. By definition, a classic should be from a generation that is no longer alive but resonates with the current generations. How can that happen if the book is only a few decades old or younger? But it happens with all products of culture: "this is classic." So the definition has changed. Some books have a treasured quality that allows readers to foresee it as being a classic, usually because they deal with subject matter never written about before (a difficult feat to muster in the 21st century) or writes about subject matter in a rejuvanating way.
In my humble opinion, a modern classic would be any book written anywhere from the last half century up to the last 20 years. So in 2010, a modern classic would be written between 1961 and 1991. There are countless titles, I wouldn't know where to begin naming just one. To give you an idea, these are some titles I categorized under Modern Classics in my TBR list, and this is by no means exhaustive:
The Godfather- Mario Puzo (1969)
Gravity’s Rainbow- Thomas Pynchon (1973)
Interview With the Vampire- Anne Rice (1976)
Requiem For a Dream- Hubert Selby (1978)
Unbearable Lightness of Being- Milan Kundera (1984)
The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
American Psycho- Bret Easton Ellis (1991)--this would be the baby of the bunch :)
Here were some titles that I considered MCs, but are a bit premature:
Schindler’s List- Thomas Keneally (1993)--this could be a strong exception
The Shipping News- E. Annie Proulx (1993)--...as could this
Trainspotting- Irvine Welsh (1993)
The Reader- Bernard Schlink (1995)
Infinite Jest- David Foster Wallace (1996)
The Perfect Storm- Sebastian Junger (1997)
Guns, Germs & Steel- Jared Diamond (1997)
...and some others that aren't quite close enough but may turn out to be MCs:
Life of Pi- Yann Martel (2001)
Love & Other Impossible Pursuits- Ayelet Waldman (2006)
Hmmm ... Guns, Germs & Dteel had an interesting premise, but I can't really foresee it becoming a classic. Infinite Jest, however, I can definitely see.
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating!
Definitely agree with The Unbearable Lightness of Being! I'd add Never Let Me Go to your list. I really want to read The Remains of the Day!
ReplyDeleteGravity's Rainbow is my best bet for a post WWII novel to be still read in the 22nd century-I enjoyed reading your list a lot
ReplyDeleteI agree that what really makes something a classic is different generations agreeing on the quality or relevance of a book. I'm hoping that Life of Pi doesn't make it, but it's looking like I'll be disappointed. :)
ReplyDeleteI really agree with your timing here - I'd say that the modern classic is about 50 years old. I was thinking of writers like George Orwell, for instance. But as someone commented on my site, sometimes it only takes a movie to turn a book that's disappeared into a modern classic, and in that respect we might be surprised by what we retain in years to come. The lists you post are great.
ReplyDeleteI think the books we try to identify as classics with a recent publishing date are very iffy.
ReplyDeleteHere are my thoughts: http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2010/11/literary-blog-hop-contemporary-and.html
Great list!
ReplyDeleteHere is my Literary Blog Hop post!
I agree with Remains of the Day in a way. On the other hand, there is no way that we can say what people will be reading in say 100 years time. I think it's very hard to predict what will be a classic. At the least we can say that some of the old classics weren't all that important in their time. So, our list doesn't need to exclude less famous books. But otherwise? I really don't know.
ReplyDeleteOh, The Shipping News. I'd forgotten about that one. Great book.
ReplyDeleteGravity’s Rainbow- Thomas Pynchon, Unbearable Lightness of Being- Milan Kundera, The Remains of the Day- Kazuo Ishiguro, all fantastic choices & then Trainspotting- Irvine Welsh inspired. Enjoyed your selection thanks,
ReplyDeleteParrish
Good list of books you have there. I agree with you except I gave modern classics a 30 year time frame, instead of 20. Although, American Psycho will be a classic in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteI think I am the only person in the world who hated Life of Pi.
Thumbs up to Unbearable Lightness of Being. Certainly a contender to become a classic.
ReplyDelete