EmilyQ:
In my befuddled 40 something brain I seem to recallthat you were writing a novel with a weighlifter as a character. How did that turn out? Do you have any published books? I'm curious as to what would be on your list (not necessarily "future classics" but relatively recent stuff you like).
I feel like there are probably a number of new classics. Two, that are worthy of consideration are Saramago’s “Blindness” and Kundera’s “Unbearable Lightness of Being”. Also Cormac McCarthy’s trilogy should be counted among new classics.
[quote]sen say wrote:
Some authors I recommend (that haven’t already been mentioned) that may (imho) become classics:
Tom Robbins
Salman Rushdie
Don DeLillo
John Kennedy Toole
Kurt Vonnegut
Raymond Carver
Jose Saramago
[/quote]
Whoops, well I have already named Saramago. But I second Don Delillo, especially his “White Noise”. JK Toole’s “Confederacy of Dunces” is the funniest novel ever written. I personally don’t like Tom Robbins.
[quote]pushharder wrote:
LUEshi wrote:
…Pretty much anything Cormac McCarthy’s ever written…
Bingo.
Reading Blood Meridian now. Just finished All the Pretty Horses.
Others have ranked him with Melville and Faulkner. I can see why. The guy can write like a champion.
Never read a more descriptive author.[/quote]
I couldnt agree more push. I just started Blood Meridian; Ive finished The Road and No Country for Old Men, both excellent books in my opinion. I dont read all that much but I do like McCarthy!
[quote]pushharder wrote:
deputydawg wrote:
EmilyQ:
In my befuddled 40 something brain I seem to recallthat you were writing a novel with a weighlifter as a character. How did that turn out? Do you have any published books? I'm curious as to what would be on your list (not necessarily "future classics" but relatively recent stuff you like).
Good question. I don’t recall any updates from her on that book.[/quote]
Thanks for asking. deputydawg, I’m unpublished. The book that brought me to T-Nation is my first completed novel.
I’m not really sure how it’s going. It’s hard to tell. I’ve been messing with it for right at a year now. In that time I’ve been going to writing/critique groups and trying to learn the business of writing books. I’ve got a mentor who vets manuscripts for her small publisher, who’s told me her publisher will print it if I decide not to pursue “New York.” But I want New York. I want to see my book on a shelf at Barnes and Noble. Still, it’s exciting to think I can at least be an obscure published writer.
I’m currently in a desperate rush to get the thing organized and printed and shipped off to an agent who requested the entire manuscript two weeks ago. It’s kind of a big deal to me because I’ve gotten only form rejections until recently. Which means my query letter and synopsis are getting tighter, as is the book itself. The book was 50% longer than was salable when I finished it and sent out the first batch of queries. The second batch have actually garnered some more personal/positive response. It’s still 20% too long, so the requesting agent will ultimately reject it. I’m still trimming.
So…good, I guess! Even if I don’t get far with this one (but I hope I will), I’ve learned enough over the course of this year to make the next one much easier.
It’s chick lit, btw, so not a future classic. But that’s okay. I don’t aspire to that sort of immortality. I’m happy to be a rich, famous lowbrow.
I’ll have to think of my book list later. Honestly, I hate to do “favorite books” or “favorite movies” lists. It depends on my mood at any given time.
Just a few of my favorite contemporary authors are Philip Roth, Gunter Grass and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Representative works are Portnoy’s Complaint, American Pastoral, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Autumn of the Patriarch, the Danzig Trilogy (some of these books are approaching 50 years old).
[quote]pushharder wrote:
BTW, I thought Blood WAS the second of the Trilogy with The Crossing being the third. ???
[/quote]
The Crossing is the second. The third is Cities of the Plain.
Not to nitpick but how can something be both modern and classic at the same time? Isn’t the label classic something that has already withstood the test of time?
If we are going to prophesies about what future classics may include I would stay away from popular fiction writers which pretty much equates to populist drivel. Checkout the banned books list for a better and more revealing indicator.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Not to nitpick but how can something be both modern and classic at the same time? Isn’t the label classic something that has already withstood the test of time?
If we are going to prophesies about what future classics may include I would stay away from popular fiction writers which pretty much equates to populist drivel. Checkout the banned books list for a better and more revealing indicator.
Lists of banned books - Wikipedia [/quote]
So, by your logic, ‘Slaughterhouse Five’ is ‘populist drivel’ and ‘Mein Kampf’ is a classic.
Commercial success does not equate to a lack of artistic merit – in literature, music, or any other artistic medium. I remember thinking that to be the case when I was really hip (and about 22 years old) but it’s just not the case.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Not to nitpick but how can something be both modern and classic at the same time? Isn’t the label classic something that has already withstood the test of time?
If we are going to prophesies about what future classics may include I would stay away from popular fiction writers which pretty much equates to populist drivel. Checkout the banned books list for a better and more revealing indicator.
Lists of banned books - Wikipedia [/quote]
William Shakespeare was a popular playwright in his time. Jane Austen wrote light romance. Henry James made me blush when I read it as an adolescent. Mark Twain? Populist drivel sometimes goes the distance.
However, I’ve been puzzling over the term “classic,” too. Because yes, we’ll have to wait to see what can withstand the test of time.
[quote]SinisterMinister wrote:
LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Not to nitpick but how can something be both modern and classic at the same time? Isn’t the label classic something that has already withstood the test of time?
[/quote]
I’m sure even the widely accepted classics were recognized for their potential when they were first published.
My English professor was saying that Cold Mountain is a novel that comes once every 20 or so years; definitely going to be a classic, yet is a modern piece of work.
Oh, and Em:
Oscar Wilde > Shakespeare
Nobody mentioned Catch 22? The more I read that book, the more I appreciate Heller’s genius.
Oh yeah, and 1984 is one of the most though-provoking pieces of literature ever written. The movie was excellent as well.
[quote]SinisterMinister wrote:
LiftSmart wrote:
Why new classics? Have you read all of the old classics worth reading?
There are classics out there being written, but my initial reaction was the same – there are plenty of great books already written to keep us busy for awhile.
Steinbeck’s first chapter of ‘East of Eden’ is my favorite piece of descriptive writing I’ve yet come across. It gives me the chills every time. Big fan of ‘The Adventures of Augie March’ by Saul Bellow as well.
By the way, OG, Stephen King has never written a book called ‘Stand By Me’…
[/quote]
It was a short story titled “The Body” but I figured most folks probably didn’t read it, but they did see the movie.
Thanks for letting me clear that up if there was confusion.
[quote]Cimmerian wrote:
Natural Nate wrote:
I was just making an obscure quote. Come on, someone get it!
Nietzsche?
[/quote]
Ghostbusters!
This isn’t quite modern-classic literature, but I truly think it bridges the gap:
Hannibal -Thomas Harris
Sorry OG. I had to put this in.
[quote]Makavali wrote:
Sorry OG. I had to put this in.[/quote]
I would completely freak out if I was walking down the street and I saw that
[quote]
LUEshi wrote:
…Pretty much anything Cormac McCarthy’s ever written…
pushharder wrote:
Bingo.
Reading Blood Meridian now. Just finished All the Pretty Horses.
Others have ranked him with Melville and Faulkner. I can see why. The guy can write like a champion.
Never read a more descriptive author.[/quote]
Some quotation marks would be nice. I’m just saying.