Modern Books That Will Become Classics
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Have you ever wondered which books school children will be forced to read in 50 years? Which modern novels will stick around, and which will fade to out-of-print obscurity? That's what we're talking about today. Here are 10 modern novels that I think will become classics.
Before starting this list, I had to define "Modern novel." My college professors defined it as "Any book published after WWII." I don't think that definition will work for this post because it's too big of a timespan. The Catcher In The Rye and To Kill A Mockingbird were both published after WWII, and we already consider them classics.
For this list, I'm going to choose books that were published between 2000 and 2010. Those books have been around long enough to become beloved by readers but not long enough to be considered classics (yet).
Also, this list is going to be very USA-centric. Sorry about that. Different countries have different classics. I don't think I could make a list of classics for the whole world. My brain would overheat.
Okay. Enough blathering. Let's get into it.
Modern Books That Will Become Classics
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Young Adult Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.
Why I think it will stick around: Were you forced to read Lord Of The Flies in school? I was. The Hunger Games is like an updated version of that book. Same murderous vibes; more relevant to life in the current century.
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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Young Adult Historical Fiction
HERE IS A SMALL FACT—YOU ARE GOING TO DIE.
1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.
SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION—THIS NOVEL IS NARRATED BY DEATH.
It’s a small story, about: a girl, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter and quite a lot of thievery.
Why I think it will stick around: I love this book. It's one of my all-time favorites. I hope it'll never go out of print. I love it because of the character development and the unconventional writing style. If your schools were like mine, then you were forced to read a ton of war books. (Night, All Quiet On The Western Front, The Things They Carried, Catch-22, etc.) Why not include a war book that's a bit untraditional?
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The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Adult Science Fiction / Romance
A funny, often poignant tale of boy meets girl with a twist: what if one of them couldn't stop slipping in and out of time?
Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity in his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.
The Time Traveler’s Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare’s marriage and their passionate love for each other as the story unfolds from both points of view. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals—steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.
Why I think it will stick around: I don't think this book will be taught in schools. I think it'll be kept alive by its fans. Even though it came out in 2003, I still see it popping up on "best romance" lists. I think readers will pass it along until it becomes a classic.
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The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Adult Historical Fiction
Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to gain the approval of his father and resolves to win the local kite-fighting tournament, to prove that he has the makings of a man. His loyal friend Hassan promises to help him—for he always helps Amir—but this is 1970s Afghanistan and Hassan is merely a low-caste servant who is jeered at in the street, although Amir feels jealous of his natural courage and the place he holds in his father's heart. But neither of the boys could foresee what would happen to Hassan on the afternoon of the tournament, which was to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realizes that one day he must return to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.
Why I think it will stick around: This one is similar to The Book Thief. If I hope it'll stick around, maybe it will. It's a memorable and beautifully written "war" novel that would be a relevant addition to the (very long) list of war classics we have to read as students.
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The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Adult Historical Fiction
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
Why I think it will stick around: I was trying to think of an ultra-popular modern book that would fit on a list with Gone With The Wind and To Kill A Mockingbird. I wanted a book set in the southern US that talks about race, womanhood, and class. It would be awesome if the modern book was written by a southern Black woman, but unfortunately, I have a feeling The Help will stick around and become a southern classic. It's a tense, funny, quick-to-read novel that's just too popular to ignore.
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Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Young Adult Paranormal Fiction
About three things I was absolutely positive.
First, Edward was a vampire.
Second, there was a part of him—and I didn't know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood.
And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.
Why I think it will stick around: Putting this book on my list is painful! It's a terrible book in every way! The characters are cringeworthy. The writing is amateurish. The plot is melodramatic. Personally, I never understood the appeal of this series. I think it'll stick around because of nostalgia. The teenagers who loved these books when they first came out are now adults who'll pass the books to their children.
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Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
Adult Historical Fiction
When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.
Why I think it will stick around: This is another book that often appears on "best historical fiction" lists, even though it's been out for over a decade. I don't know why, but circus books are extremely popular. I've read a few of them. If I had to choose a favorite circus book, it would be this one. Because of its vivid setting and loveable characters, it's a great introduction novel for readers who are new to historical fiction.
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Life Of Pi by Yann Martel
Adult Fantasy / Magical Realism / Adventure
The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea.
Why I think it will stick around: That plot twist at the end. It was so shocking that I still remember where I was when I read it. I thought about it for days. This book is a work of art. It's beautifully written with a harrowing ocean survival plot. It's the type of book you give to your friends and say, "You have to read this right now!" That's why I think it'll stick around.
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The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Adult Thriller
While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.
Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.
Why I think it will stick around: Another book that pains me! Dan Brown is not a good writer, and this is not a good book. However, it's a fun book. The pacing is lightning fast. There are plot twists you won't believe. When it first came out, I was a high school student in a conservative Christian part of the US. The book caused an uproar. Adults were mad about its spin on religion, so of course the kids read it and passed their copies around. Even my non-bookish friends read it. I think this book will stick around because Dan Brown's terrible prose is a gateway drug. This is the type of controversial fun that gets teens into reading.
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The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Adult Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.
Why I think it will stick around: Do you remember those relentlessly depressing dystopias you had to read in school? (1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, etc.) What's the bleakest modern dystopia you've read? For me, it's The Road. It's well-written, but you won't feel better about the world after you read it. I think it'll stick around because ultra-bleak dystopias have been popular for generations. This book is part of a proud tradition.
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Which modern book do you think will become a classic?