Posterity
Posted by Tina Kubala at 11/19/2009 9:10 PM 
Categories: books
Tags: booking through thursday meme classics
Categories: books
Tags: booking through thursday meme classics
Do you think any current author is of the same caliber as Dickens, Austen, Bronte, or any of the classic authors? If so, who, and why do you think so? If not, why not? What books from this era might be read 100 years from now?
Everyone has heard how Shakespeare was considered lowbrow entertainment for the unwashed masses. In the end, the totality of his work had, arguably, the largest impact on literature and the English language of any single person.
I always think of the Bard when considering the potential impact of the passage of time. Be it books, music, movies, or art, what a society elevates today is not a fair indication of the long term value of the work. One of my personal pet peeves is people who seem to live entirely in current popular culture.
Of course, it wouldn't be any fun to answer this question by saying, it is impossible to know which books will be read 100 years from now.
First, I will say, of course there are writers as good as any classics living and working today. If anything, widespread literacy in the western world has made the last fifty years of books better than ever. More people with more varied stories have had the opportunity to write. A percentage of today's amazing writer wouldn't have even learned to write their names two hundred years ago. A working class kid like Stephen King would have likely not have gotten the education that has allowed him to become one of the greatest living storytellers. He would have woven his yarns for the boys at the pub or his children, but writing them down would have been beyond him. What a tragedy.
One quality I see as essential for a book to stand the test of time is relatable characters. Technology and tastes change. People do not. Moving from caves into manufactured homes has not changed the human condition as much as we like to think.
I present as evidence the Bible and classic mythology. Both are widely read today (total understatement). The Bible is, of course, read for religious reasons, but the same argument cannot be made for myth. No one worships Zeus, yet the pantheon of gods make for compelling reading. We can see ourselves in the stories. Classical themes are classic because contain the emotions of everyday life.
Now, that is a very general answer. I've decided to review my reading list for 2009 and 2008 to pick a handful I would guess to be in print in one hundred years. I have limited myself by defining "this era" to my lifetime, so only books published after 1980.
Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
With such a group of well written and varied books, I'd like to think I'm right on at least one. I can't wait to see what great books the other Booking Through Thursday participants endorse for future classic status.
It's amazing how many people can present list of books for this week BTT...just like you.
All I can think was an author that will be remembered
Reply to this
Don't feel bad. I couldn't have done it without my reading lists from the last couple of years.
Reply to this