I know predicting the future is always a challenge and full of uncertainties, but I’m still curious to see if you have any predictions of any modern books that might one day be regarded as a classic.
I personally haven’t read any that falls under this category. When I think of classics like To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm, or even childrens classics like The Velveteen Rabbit, it’s difficult for me to see exactly what actually made them classics. But maybe you’re better at this than I am. And I would love to hear your guesses on which you think will be a classic one day.
If I had to choose one, I’d hesitantly say The Hunger Games, as it’s easy to read but also has a lot to say about challenging a Communist regime. It was assigned in high school back in 2010. So at least one English teacher saw some literary value in it.
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Predicting which modern books will become classics is a challenging task because it often takes time for a work to be recognized as a classic. However, as of my last knowledge update in January 2022, there were several books from the late 20th and early 21st centuries that were receiving critical acclaim and seemed to have the potential for long-lasting significance. Some examples include:
“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy (2006): A post-apocalyptic novel exploring the relationship between a father and son as they journey across a desolate landscape.
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini (2003): A novel that spans decades and continents, exploring themes of friendship, betrayal, and redemption against the backdrop of the changing political landscape in Afghanistan.
“The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen (2001): A family saga that delves into the complexities of contemporary American life, addressing issues such as identity, relationships, and societal expectations.
“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz (2007): A multi-generational novel that weaves together themes of love, family, and the impact of dictatorship on the Dominican Republic.
“The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt (2013): A coming-of-age novel centered around a young boy who survives a terrorist attack at an art museum and becomes entangled in the world of art forgery.
“The Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead (2016): A historical novel that reimagines the Underground Railroad as a literal railroad, exploring the horrors of slavery in a unique way.
Remember that literary tastes vary, and what might be considered a classic is often subjective. Additionally, new books may have gained acclaim or become influential since my last update, so it’s worth checking more recent sources for the latest perspectives on potential modern classics.
If you think the hunger games are a critique of communism… Your English teacher did not do a good job.
The Martian is Andy Weir’s most famous book, but I believe in 50 years Project Hail Mary will be regarded as the better work. Unless he writes something that surpasses both.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.
100%
The govt in the Hunger Games is not communist; it’s very obviously a critique of capitalism and the overconsumption and huge class differences that come along with it.
If I had to choose one, I’d hesitantly say The Hunger Games, as it’s easy to read but also has a lot to say about challenging a Communist regime.
Um, what? You looked at that regime and thought communist? Lol. That is not a communist regime, it’s clearly capitalist.
To me it just seems like a vague, authoritarian aesthetic. Like clearly the “you live in a district and can’t leave” is inspired by the soviet union or communist China, but the “people in the capital are entertained by bread and circuses” feels more like a capitalist critique imo.
It’s a YA novel and I don’t think it is really a critique of anything except authoritarianism / “the man”
Living in a mining town can (and in this case, was) absolutely a critique of capitalism.
Totally agree, I’m no apologist. But the USSR had coal mines as well, with similar levels of exploitation and poverty. So to me it always felt more like a comment on poverty rather than “this is a coal mine in West Virginia”.
Too many mixed aesthetics in HG to be a critique on capitalism alone imo
Yeah, I did a double take at that. It’s a book about the evils of capitalism, OP. You might want to re-read it.
It might be the conservative mythos that capitalism = freedom and that capitalism and communism are exact opposites, so that no-freedom = communist.
The mid-century Ayn Randian individual vs. collective schema lingers still. How someone who attended high school in 2010, and also cares to read, still hasn’t reasoned his way out of that remedial economic/moral view is sort of concerning.
The Expanse saga, at least in the scifi circles. It’s just a really good scifi/space opera and the TV series will boost its popularity even further.
Your English teacher didn’t do a very good job if you came away from The Hunger Games thinking it was a critique of communism!
The hunger games is more about reality tv and child soldiers. Nothing to do with communism lol. Plus the differences in class
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life and left me thinking about it and its characters for months afterwards.
Demon Copperhead is the quintessential Appalachian Novel. However, the one thing that’ll make it harder to become a classic is that it won’t be taught in schools, due to the R rated content.
The Hunger Games, as it’s easy to read but also has a lot to say about challenging a Communist regime. It was assigned in high school back in 2010. So at least one English teacher saw some literary value in it.
Incredible.
It’s impossible to say - what we love now may fall out of favor and then come back strong or simply disappear … and who knows who will be “rediscovered” 100 years from now.
The Midnight Library
Underground Railroad no doubt. I suspect My Year of Rest and Relaxation may also achieve “classic status” but that one’s a bit more up in the air
Have you read " Hidden in Plain sight" ? … I have been looking for these books for a while and I heard hidden in plain sight was good. ( I’m.super into quilts, sewing… so it’s up my alley)
I could see game of thrones becoming a classic in the same way LLTR is at least for fantasy lovers, Its already somewhat in that realm and fairly new with the earliest book being from the early 90s
Until GRRM finishes the series it will NEVER become a classic.
What about Canterbury tails? That was never finished
It’ll be Brandon Sanderson because he finished it lol.