What book(s) that have been after 2000, do you think will be considered a classic in the years to come ?
What book(s) that have been after 2000, do you think will be considered a classic in the years to come ?
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Harry Potter
Yes, I think there’s a good chance of that.
@Sean a children’s classic though much like peter rabbit and Peter Pan
It’s definitely more than a children’s classic… At least in my opinion…
@Jesus nah compare to Atonement etc books like that, even Tolkien …nope, she is a children book writer while the themes of course transcend. But her writing per se … not really up there with the greats. Her imagery and writing is not compelling enough while her stories I find very entertaining. Harry Potter didn’t make me think, i enjoyed it thoroughly though, bc it is engaging. But that’s my opinion, I would rank Stephen King too, much higher than her.
I can’t wait to go to a Harry Potter theme park though ?
Well… I have read a few classics… But among those, in my opinion there are only four books that surpass HP… Gone with the wind, pride and prejudice, far from the madding crowd, to kill a mocking bird
@Jesus maybe you are one who cares mostly about an entertaining story. Then Harry Potter is very good. Very nice twists and turns. Much like in the books you quoted. If you look for abstract thought, undercurrents etc though … imagery resembling poetry…
Well… Maybe I am…. But isn’t it what books are meant to be… Entertaining (tragically or comically) and portraying epochs of life
@Jesus they can also focus on people’s inner lives, much like when Joyce used the stream of consciousness, they can be ironic like Austen or iceberg like such as in Hemingway. they can be poetic and metaphor like such as the swimming pool short story by Updike. The story itself is that of a swimming pool throughout the seasons … well. You could also say nothing much happens but a lot does as there is a deeper level. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann is a good example too, not much of a story but boy oh boy lots of psychology in there. Rowling tells it like it is and that’s neat but not intellectually stimulating such as infinite jest by foster Wallace etc try who is afraid of Virginia Woolf … what is said and what is really said … fascinating, that said, Harry Potter deserves its success. It has brought many, me too, much joy to read and my sons will read it too one day! I am sure it will stand the test of time. It’s funny that the characters are born in 1981 like me. I had to wait for the books, as they were written in my childhood.
Ha ha… I get your point… You know Melville’s novella Bartleby, the Scrivener is the best example of it and I loved it… The point I am trying to make here is that HP doesn’t lack depth… The protagonist is merely a boy.. Gets lucky, gets helped, misjudges people, gets angry… Well what I mean is no character is unflawed and in some ways this puts it one step ahead of Austin’s ideality… Though it may not be as deep as a George Eliot or Hawthorne, it certainly is not without depth…
The thing I like most about it is that it is both romantic and didactic…
@Jesus it has depth in terms of themes, death, love etc. I just don’t think her writing style puts her among the giants of literature. Snape was a deeper character yes. That’s true too. The characters are complex to a certain point. The earlier books are really children’s books, she got darker with Harry’s age and that’s neat too. I once taught moral development at university with Harry Potter as they are all on different levels. There is a paper about that. You like GRR Martin. I love game of thrones. It’s so clever.
@Jesus https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233285316_Harry_Potter_and_Moral_Development_in_Pre-adolescent_Children you are right, it’s didactic
I don’t want to be a know it all, as I don’t know everything at all, but as you can see it’s regarded as children’s literature among scholars. I think it fits too. Because it’s a coming of age story like dickens, a children’s classic beyond any doubt though.
Writing style.. Well sometimes being simple works… Alchemist, to kill a mockingbird…
I like GOT.. But to this I gladly agree it was for twists ?… Actually after watching the series I took up the first part, only to give up after around 20%… There after knowing twists it doesn’t hold one’s attention… Because characters are one dimensional.. With awesome one liners of course ?… But HP I read only after watching the movies.. Yet it kept me so riveted.. The only other book to indulge me so was the first half of wuthering Heights
@Jesus I think you don’t do GOT enough credit, as the characters have so many sides to them and so many themes, he is a great fantasy writer. Cersei one dimensional? Lol nope really not. Wuthering heights is probably my favorite book in the world, so dark and touches upon every theme that matters, belonging, love, prejudice, addiction etc wealth, power, loss, hope, despair, education to this day I don’t know how she did it … writing a book as this.
Cersi – selfish mother, Jon – adamantly righteous, Arya – ruthless, tyrion – bookish one liner ?, Jamie – undecided and brave….. Well, what I mean is we can surmise them in a few words… I have heard the interviews of a lot of cast members… All of them say this character or that shouldn’t do this, but they do it because it is their trait… Real life is not allegory…. ??
Y should Its being a coming of age story make it a children classic?
Anne of green gables, the little prince, catcher in the rye.. Rnt these classics!!! I think the only thing going against HP is it’s relative newness ?
@Jesus LOL you don’t talk about the books then. But about the series, yes. See the mother thing alone would fill a whole psychology class in regard to Cersei …
As I said I tried reading it.. But it’s a plot driven story… I like character driven ones… Not at all saying GOT lacks characters.. Only that character helps the story and not the other way round
@Jesus no it’s how scholars list it. That’s all. That won’t change I think. It has too many classic features of s children’s book. See catcher in the rye is not quite the same, it is listed as adult book but attracts adolescents bc of teenage Angst and alienation themes. Nothing much happens in catcher in the rye, while we see harry through the ages and events. I don’t think harry potter is character driven at all, Dumbledore used harry as a pawn in his game, luckily harry was the boy he was. But he would have had to used him anyways.
@Jesus it is plot driven, but what a great plot it is, I miss it so much.
Sherlock Holmes would never have been considered a classic in it’s day… Certain works are like wine ??… And definitely teenage angst is a component of Harry Potter…
Anyway I am a scholar neither.. Just a layman with his views ?
@Jesus I am a Scholar, but not in Literature, but teenage angst, no, that’s where I as an expert disagree, harry is a normal teenager, Holden is neurotic and rebellious and stands out more. But Rowling addresses teenage development and first love etc … awww i rooted for Ron and Hermione and suffered though his fling with lavender …
I am in no way going to counter an expert ?
All I can say is I was a teenager until just 3 years ago… I could relate more to HP.. That is see myself having complexities like them…
@Jesus Lucky you, I as a psychologist say you are pretty normal then. I on the other hand am neurotic to the bone and could identify with Holden. Lol Harry is very sane. I love how he despairs over the Ron/Hermione absurdities. They are both more troubled than him psychologically. Oh the irony given what he has been through.
Well… Thank God for that ?… I agree I have had an awesome normal life
@Kristen I went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter last month and as an avid fan of the books I was geeking out IMMENSELY. My family who’d seen the movies but weren’t as deeply in love with the story as I was were also impressed and loved everything about it! I recommend it for anyone who’s a fan of the books and theme parks in general.
@Rita awww … you were there! That’s great ?. Is it suitable for small kids and to take babies with you? I have a 3 year old and will soon have an infant.
Oh, yes Kristen Sunny. They have few rides for children but enough that they’d enjoy it and as long as someone can watch the babies when you go on the adult rides you should be fine! Plenty of people with children go to the parks!
@Rita thanks, i can’t wait!
I think The Road by cormac McCarthy (2006)
Yeah he is the kind of writer that is a classic, Rowling created a nice universe which I absolutely love, but she is not a great writer in terms of style etc, sometimes I have to laugh how she describes Hermione and Harry and about the dialogue. But I like her books emotionally.
@Kristen I’m a big McCarthy fan?
@Sean me too, what a writer! The Road is already a classic in my book.
Only a handful of authors will be known by everyone from this era 100 years from now. Top of the list? My prediction: Stephen King.
His fan base is huge so it could be the case. I’m new to the king scene and have only read 3 so far but have more planned on my tbr pile.
Chris Campbell:
I also enjoy Stephen King’s books, but then I love crimes, spy stories and mysteries. King’s next book will be out 5/22/2018.
I also have a major.interest in Islamic literature (Rumi) , Judaism , antisemitism
As a scientist , I also read numerous Journal articles in
chemistry, .molecular biology, and biochemistry.
Thus, because of time, I read fiction merely for entertainment and.not as an academic exercise.
HARRY POTTER.
Nah, Ian Mc Ewan, Zadie Smith, Jonathan Frantzen, Tom Rachman, Eugenides, Chabon, Foster Wallace, ok in this case 1996, , Julian Barnes, Cormac McCarthy, Martel, John green, David Roth had all great books after 2000. I think Houellebecq, Adichie etc all classics already by now. TC Boyle too is just great. I think the beach by Alex garland is a classic too, released in 1996.
I’ve got the beach and atonement on my tbr shelf at home , hopefully get around to reading them soon ?
@Sean both chilling but great! I envy you for being able to read them for the first time.
@Kristen I really liked the movie the beach
@Sean so it’s not completely new then. ?
@Kristen nope ?
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Twoles.
I read that that last week , I really enjoyed it ?
The Help
The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah was the first to come to mind (outside of Harry Potter) because anyone I know who has ever read it has come away loving it and feeling impacted by it. I don’t see how it couldn’t be!
There are some obvious picks based on the popularity, like Harry Potter, Games of Throne, Twilight etc. But I would choose William Boyd’s “Any Human Heart” (2002) over any of the above. It’s a story of the craziness that was the 20th century told through the private diaries of a (fictional) man born in 1906 who lived through all the events of the century and died in the mid 90s. It’s funny and scary and devastating and engaging and terrifying and “unputdownable” as it was described in the press. And what I love the most is that it reads like different genres as the character moves through his life: it’s a kid’s story first, then it’s a young adult novel, then a romance novel, then a spy novel set during the WW2, then a family drama, then a drama about a midlife crisis, then a tragedy, all the while being also a memoir.
Twilight won’t be a classic. I am not sure what we consider classic now was all popular back in the day. But maybe it’s a criterion now.
@Kristen unfortunately, I think it will. Based on the sales numbers alone. (Don’t get me wrong, in my opinion it can barely be classified as “literature”, but it really is popular).
@Natalia oh my, yeah I see