What contemporary authors / novels will be future classics?

[drofgnal]

Geraldine Brooks, The March. People of the Book was also a great read.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by caleb72

There are a couple of books that I put on the masterpiece list that may not quite get to school text lists. I'm wondering if others agree:

Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon

The reason I haven't included them, is that I wasn't sure what teachers would get out of the books to teach other than that they are brilliant.

I don't believe Martel or Haddon could be classed as masterpieces, personally, though both are excellent (if simple) reads. But maybe as I get older I am too demanding, and rarely come across a modern book I would class as classic material.

Haven't read Patchett, so I can't comment on that.

[Ransom]

I think Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell will definately be a classic, but that's one of only a small handful of books written since 1960 or so that should be.

I don't know if you consider 1960 to be contemporary or not, but if so, another that comes to mind is A Canticle For Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

Before 1960 I'd have to go back another decade or so to some of CS Lewis' books, most of which are already classics.

Another possibility for something more contemporary might be Orson Scott Card's Ender Quartet.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by orlok

Haven't read Patchett, so I can't comment on that.

I haven't read any of her other books, but if you ever have a copy of Bel Canto lying around, do yourself a favour and give it a read. I loved this book.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by caleb72

I haven't read any of her other books, but if you ever have a copy of Bel Canto lying around, do yourself a favour and give it a read. I loved this book.

Thanks for the tip. Funnily enough, I do have a copy, but have never been tempted to read it before.

[Joonbug1]

Bill Watterson - Calvin & Hobbes Collection

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by caleb72

I haven't read any of her other books, but if you ever have a copy of Bel Canto lying around, do yourself a favour and give it a read. I loved this book.

I second that. Bel Canto was an excellent read. I don't know that I'd say it will be a modern classic, but it is well worth the time to sit down with it.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

I've always wished people would take note of some of John le Carré's novels, other than simply The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. He's written some great stuff, especially for anyone interested in the literature of the Cold War. A Perfect Spy gets my vote has his magnum opus. Pretty much anything he wrote from the mid-70s to the late-80s is brilliant. He's actually a very good stylist.

I've read all John Le Carre's novels. The one I like most is Absolute Friends. IMO, his masterpiece.

[tubemonkey]

Jacqueline Susann

[RichL]

Richard was talking to me last night and told me that his books 'In Watermelon Sugar' and 'Trout Fishing In America' really needed to be added to this list.

[James_Wilde]

Originally Posted by SlowRain

I've always wished people would take note of some of John le Carré's novels, other than simply The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. He's written some great stuff, especially for anyone interested in the literature of the Cold War. A Perfect Spy gets my vote has his magnum opus. Pretty much anything he wrote from the mid-70s to the late-80s is brilliant. He's actually a very good stylist.

"The Little Drummer Girl" (I think it was called). An absolute masterpiece.

[SlowRain]

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

"The Little Drummer Girl" (I think it was called). An absolute masterpiece.

Yep, a great read; one of his best. I like how he handled the training in the first half of the book. If he hadn't done it that way, it would have been extremely dry. I haven't seen another author use that technique.