Writers Who Will Stand the Test of Time? 843
Embedded Geek asks: "Every year, the online version of Locus (a trade magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy) asks the question: "Name the 5 deceased 20th century SF & fantasy writers you think will still be read 50 years from now." The results favored some of the bigger names (Heinlein, Asimov, Tolkein) as well as a few lesser known figures (Simak, Bester). I would like to ask a broader question: What authors (in any genre, fiction or nonfiction) alive today will still be read (hard copy or online) in 2051?" If I had to answer off of the top of my head, I know William Gibson, Charles Sheffield, and Orson Scott Card would be in my list, but that's not all of them. A few authors who I thought would be classics have since vanished (whatever did happen to Daniel Keys Moran, anyways?) aand of course there are a few iffy ones which I could be convinced on (C.J. Cherryh, anyone). What authors do you feel will stand the test of time? Yeah, these are sci-fi authors, but that's about what I read these days.
William Gates - The Road Ahead (Score:2, Offtopic)
Re:William Gates - The Road Ahead (Score:2)
Terry Pratchett (Score:4, Insightful)
But the Discworld books are actually quite sharp, and ideas based: Small Gods and Jingo, for example.
And, more importantly, they are very very funny. The sort of books you keep to read to your children one day, in the hope they'll want to read on their own. I guess like Douglas Adams did for me when I was 11.
Re:Terry Pratchett (Score:2)
Two people folks missed... (Score:3, Insightful)
Also H.P. Lovecraft. I predict people will recognize him for the genius he was sooner or later, although he was dismissed as a pulp author by most of the literati in this century.
They're both DEAD, you ninny! (Score:2, Informative)
Lovecraft, on the other hand, has been dead for well over 50 years and is already regarded as a classic horror writer, and his works have been in print almost continiously since the founding of Arkham House in 1939.
Since the original question asked for LIVING authors, your choices don't fit the criteria.
George Orwell (Score:2, Interesting)
Neal Stephenson (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Neal Stephenson (Score:4, Insightful)
While not at the grandmaster level of Asimov, Heinlen or Herbert, he will probably reach that level. I would like to see more books by him, but only at their contined level of excellence.
Stephenson is obviously destined for greatness. His current works already guarentee his place among the SF pantheon. He is also infinitely more readable than others in the cyberpunk genre.
Gene Wolfe (Score:2, Interesting)
Daniel Keys Moran... (Score:2)
To that list of writers, in the SF category, I'd have to add Neal Stephenson, one of my favorites.
Re:Daniel Keys Moran... (Score:2)
His older works are available from QuietVision [quietvision.com], and they will hopefully be publishing new work by him in the not-too-distant future. Fans of his work should also check out The Continuing Time Mailing List [ralf.org] for more information on DKM's ongoing projects.
Re:Daniel Keys Moran... (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm skeptical Gibson will be read in 50 years -- I suspect anyone writing computer-themed SF is going to seem awfully quaint by then. (Yeah, yeah, I know.)
Who will be read who's being published today? Larry McMurtry, if only because of Lonesome Dove. Terry Pratchett. John D. MacDonald isn't publishing today, technically, but people will still be reading him in 2051. Based on my children's response to Harry Potter (never mind the rest of the world's) J.K. Rowling will still be read in fifty years.
Finally, Ray Bradbury. New novel out at 80. He's my hero.
Terry Brooks (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Terry Brooks (Score:2)
Immanuel Kant (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Immanuel Kant (Score:2)
As far as 20th century intellectuals go, Noam Chomsky will be up there for his linguistics work, at least. Bertrand Russell also springs to mind. I wonder if Foucault, Derrida, Baudrillard, et al, will stand the test of time, though.
Robert Jordan (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Robert Jordan (Score:2)
Now if only he could shrink them down from book-size to book-sleeve size, I'd be able to keep up.
Re:Robert Jordan (Score:5, Funny)
Any printed webcomic author (Score:2)
A short list:
Re:Any printed webcomic author (Score:2)
Re:Any printed webcomic author (Score:2)
WAY too topical (Score:2)
Douglas Adams (Score:5, Insightful)
I also find it interesting that, of all the names listed in the body of this article, I had only heard of Heinlein, Asimov, and Tolkien...
Re:Douglas Adams (Score:4, Interesting)
No, that dubious award goes to the also silly (but in an entirely different way) Xanth trilogy by Piers Anthony. How many books in the trilogy? 18? All I know is that they make good airplane reading; reliably entertaining, and you don't feel you *have* to finish them.
--
Evan
Re:Douglas Adams (Score:2)
George Orwell, 1984 and Animal Farm
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
Ray Bradbury, several novels...
Bloody Huxley (Score:2, Interesting)
Douglas Adams is in my top five.. (Score:2)
Re:Douglas Adams is in my top five.. (Score:3, Informative)
I used to think so. But on a complete whim, I picked up the belgariad a few weeks ago and reread it. It was not at all as rich and complex as I had recalled. The plot was plodding, the characters dull. (*)
I guess it is a superbly written fantasy series for young adults, but it is NOT adult fiction.
For that, I prefer the Magician trilogy (first three books only, after that it becomes a franchise) by Raymond Fiest. I mean, a hero called "Pug". What name is less heroic than Pug?
(*) I failed to find the second quintology, so it could be that the depth I recall the series having was mainly taken from those books.
Re:Douglas Adams - literature (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm wondering what their thought process was on this one? 'Science Fiction/Fantasy' is not 'serious' enough? He's dead now, so his writing is classic literature?
Easy answer (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Douglas Adams (Score:2)
the first time i read a PKDick book (Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch) was a year after my first Gibson (Count Zero). At first i thought Dick was one of the many Gibson copycats (hi Stephenson!), then i looked at the publishing date of the Dick book - it had been written some 20 years before Gibson's - and realised how much the genre owes Dick's genius.
Sometimes i wonder how many gray dust dystopic worlds i can read about, but PKDick always brings enough innovation, wit and satirical hope that i can never put one of his books down.
If there had never been a Philip K Dick, it would almost have been necessary to invent him.
Ray Bradbury (Score:2, Insightful)
He was *way* ahead of his time and I think Fahrenheit 451 will be read some time in to the future and hopefully some of his other works as well.
"Classics" (Score:2)
However, it would pain me to see some of this work be declared "Classic," for I find this a segregatory (is that a word?) and unfair label for works. It is one of the things that has bothered me the most about my public education - the venerated pantheon of elderly literature labelled "classics," whose members are taught to be the only things really worth reading. This is a distrubingly static literary world that has left, in my experience, no tolerance or room for less well-known and/or more modern work of equally masterful quality.
I have liked many "classics" and disliked as many. I see that such a label may be the inevitable result of "standing the test of time." But when incorporated into curricula, it becomes (in my far from humble opinion) a dangerous and unfortunate thing.
History is not always kind (Score:2)
This is a very similar same issue.
Now you also have the favorites of particular professors, perpetuated because that is what some doctorate candidate wrote their thesis on. So most writers depend on the mercies of the college professors, unless they have some large estate to keep promoting them, republishing the works, etc.
There was a special on PBS recently on the author of the original sam spade detective novels, well known today from Humphrey Bogart movies. But most folks have probably never read the original stories.
Finding out who that was is left as an exercise for the reader ;-)
Stephen King / Dr. Seuss (Score:2)
Stephen King: I think he's likely to fill the same niche in future centuries that Edgar Allen Poe does today. He also has the advantage of having written both god novels and short stories so he'll be easy to fit into an academic curriculum.
Dr. Seuss: This is limited to the English speaking world (although I've seen translations) but I'm sure kids will be reading his books for a long time. Perhaps J.K. Rowling for older kids. Maybe Tintin, also, given its international range.
On the science fiction front, I'd say Neal Stephenson, if only because I have a feeling that Snow Crash is going to seem really prescient.
As long as we're broadening the question, what about other fields? I'm thinking Bob Marley (musically and for sociopolitical significance), Roy Lichtenstein,...
I'm sorry, but I doubt King will last that long (Score:2)
No go read a Stephen King novel, novella, or short story. Is he a talented writer? Are his stories and characters engaging and thought-provoking. Absolutely, on both counts - I really do like King. But the problem is that his works very often comment directly or indirectly on our modern society, mores, and values. "The Long Walk" was one of the best pieces of short fiction I've ever read - and I did empathize with the protagonist - but it plays to a large degree on twentieth-century values and ideas.
Poe, on the other hand, is timeless. "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a story about a descent into madness. Nothing more or less. Very little setting is given, and the story is short enough that you really don't get a feel for the society of the day - but that is what makes it so universal - all the extraneous stuff is cut out.
Does this make any sense, or am I full of it?
Daniel Keys Moran (Score:2)
Apparantly, a small press is publishing all his existing Continuing Time books. I'm just really upset that new ones aren't being written (at least not reported on the web site).
For those who don't know what Continuing Time is, picture Neuromancer written by Zelazny, with his "practical gods" approach (toss in heavy genetic engineering and a bit of "is it science or magic?"). Make a plot that spans across not only all of time, but across all possibilities (from chaos to order). From the website (and from The Long Run): "Sixty-two thousand years before the birth of Yeshua ha Notzri, whom later humans knew as Jesus the Christ, the Time Wars ended, for reasons which no sentient being now knows. With that ending, the Continuing Time began.".
Armageddon Blues and Emerald Eyes are two of my favorite books - they are great reads. Last Dancer would be better if the rest of the books would get written. As it is, it leaves too much unanswered.
Incidently, for a quick calibration, Stephen Brust is my favorite fantasy author (barring Paksenarrion), Heinlein my favorite speculative fiction author, and science fiction varies, but I like Asimov, Simak and Clement (who, bless his soul, is one of the nicest people to sit and chat with at a con).
--
Evan
Re:Daniel Keys Moran (Score:2)
See you on the list!
ttyl
Farrell
Jordan and Zelazny (Score:2, Informative)
Zelazny's blend of dry humor, sarcasm, and underlying amusement with life in general are, unlike any other author I can think of, absolutely unique.
Jordan's Wheel of Time series, now up to 9 novels, has been, IMHO, more definitive of the modern fantasy genre than even Tolkien.
Also, the rumor is that Book 10 is being submitted in early 2002, and will be published later in the year! Not sure why such the long turnaround time.
Re:Jordan and Zelazny (Score:3, Interesting)
This is true, in the sense that it is overlong, not well designed, written repetitevly and childishly, and seems to have a financial motivation only. So yes, it is definitive of modern fantasy.
Tolkein is definitive of all fantasy, modern or not. Not only did his book define the fantasy genre (a genre heavily influenced by mythology and ancient cultures) it is a ripping good read as well.
Writers Who Will Pass Through the Singularity... (Score:5, Informative)
As we approach the Technological Singularity [caltech.edu] described so awesomely by that awesome science fiction writer Vernor Vinge, it dawns on us that not only we humans but also our emerging fellow cyborgs will be the readership of classic authors from the current time.
Since by definition we can not see beyond the Singularity, we may only list here a few dark horse candidates who will appeal to the AI Minds of the expanded readership by virtue of having written about artificial intelligence:
Orson Scott Card -- Speaker for the Dead (1986)
Joseph H. Delaney, and Stiegler -- Valentina: A Soul in Sapphire
David Gerrold -- When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One
Robert Heinlein -- The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
Frank Herbert -- Destination: Void (1966)
James Patrick Hogan -- The Two Faces of Tomorrow (1979)
Victor W. Milan -- The Cybernetic Samurai (1985)
Rudy Rucker -- Wetware (1988)
Thomas Ryan -- The Adolescence of P1
Astro Teller -- Exegesis
Thomas T. Thomas -- ME: A Novel of Self-Discovery (1991)
Sentient AI readers? (Score:2)
One last point: How the hell do you code something when you don't even know how it works? And can anybody tell me in precise, painstaking detail how sentience works? Well enough to program it?
Clive Barker (Score:2)
Nonfiction (science) picks (Score:5, Insightful)
On the other hand, historical accounts will survive, I'm sure of that. So, for example, The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes will still be read, much like William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is still a must-read. The Atomic Bomb is a fantastic book, a towering and comprehensive work - I recommend it most strongly.
Then, for example, there are biographies: I doubt that James Gleick's Chaos will still be read - there will be other, better expositions of the Feigenbaum Constant - but his biography of Feynman, Genius, will still be read by anyone interested in the mystique of Feynman. (And trust me, with nanotech's rise, his mystique will only grow!)
And of course, I agree with everyone who nominated Dr. Seuss. That, and Alice, and Tolkien, will survive and still be relevant. Harry Potter - it's too early to say, though they are great fun to read...
Anyway, that's my $0.02.
Vernor Vinge/Dan Simmons/Larry Niven/John Varley (Score:3, Interesting)
Vernor Vinge's Queng Ho & Bobble universes are far removed from the day to day tehcnology issues and focus on the role of the individual in changing society in crisis.
Dan Simmons' Hyperion series is a masterful look at religion, technology, and the hubris of humanity.
Larry Niven's Known Universe is perhaps one of the most detailed and consistent future histories created in the last 50 years.
John Varley's Eight Worlds series and Titan/Wizard/Demon trilogy will stand the test of time as examinations of the effects of endless plentiful society on the individual.
While I love Neal Stephenson, William Sterling, and Bruce Gibson, they work is so focused on near future (part of it's appeal!) that they will suffer as technology passes them by.
What about Asimov's universe? (Score:2)
Stephen King (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Stephen King (Score:2, Insightful)
Dickens had much the same quality. Compare Clive Barker; he is certainly a better craftsman -- his prose is tremendously effective -- but his tone can be very icy.
Jack Vance == 1/50th of Heinlein? (Score:2)
How much of the voting will in hindsight show ephermeral trends (eg, the loathsome Hubbard).
Top Authors (Score:2, Insightful)
Pratchett, Spider Robinson, Douglas Adams, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, William Gibson. Also I hope no one forgets the absolutely wonderful J.K. Rowling and anyone who hasn't read the Potter books is missing out on something truly special.
Going digital.. (Score:2)
I'd love to have one of those printers that can print a real book. Imagine when every kid has the ability to read any book in the library of congress online or printed instantly into a paperback. Never shall another book fade quietly into the night.
My current sadness is the difficult time I'm having finding all the books in the very good Son of the Hero series. I hope this is a problem that the future can avoid.
Re:Going digital.. (a bit offtopic) (Score:2)
People should have enough of a sense of pattern recognition by now to realize that in 20 years, Disney will still be around to make sure nothing created after Mickey ever goes out of copyright. So classic works like the Rhapsody in Blue may never be available to the public, and the books you mention may very well fade quietly into the night.
Let's Face It (Score:2, Interesting)
I think it's safe to say that Vonnegut, Heinlein, Asimov, Tolkien, and Bradbury are already widely read in schools and meet those requirements.
Most of the other guys I've seen posted here make interesting science fiction, but don't rank among the best overall writers of our time. I mean, how many science fiction writers from the 1800's are still popular today? H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and not much else. And that's when there were a lot of new sci-fi ideas still left to explore.
The author of Microsoft error messages (Score:2)
Osamu Tezuka (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: Japanese Manga (Score:2)
Interestingly enough, while the last two have had movies and OVAs based on their works, they bear the same resemblance as Dune does to the Dune movie. Shiro wrote Ghost in the Shell about a wisecracking, practical joke playing Major in a mobile AI driven "tank" force (Fuchikomas are far more than tanks). The movie is not quite the same, and the comic goes much farther into the nature of self. Kishiro did 'Battle Angel', and the OVAs stripped out the action for their use. It makes sense; the foreshadowing and plot stuff in the first volume (which is what the OVAs are based on) only come into play later in the series. And once you read the entire story, you'll understand why the name change (Gally/Alita) occured - the westernization was for a decent reason that isn't evident until the last pages of the last book. --
Evan
Lem. (Score:2)
Stanislaw Lem is an incredible author, and, along with Alfred Bester and PKD, probably my favorite SF writer. He will be read - and in circles far broader than the SF fan crowd - when Orson Scott Card is relegated to footnote status.
Also in not-in-English, Adolfo Bioy-Casares should share mention with Jorge Luis Borges; Borges identified him as the best Spanish-language fantastic fictionist of his time.
Lem is seminal (Score:4, Informative)
For those who are unfamiliar with Lem, I'd recommend starting with the Cyberiad, which is a collection of fables involving two robot builders. It's whimsical, witty, and accessible. My favorite, though, is the vastly different Solaris, which in some ways reminds me of Borges. For those unfamiliar with Borges, perhaps Labyrinths or Dreamtigers would be good starts. Borges' prose and poetry are dense, compact, and carefully wrought; fascinating as his themes are, it's his style that is most distinctive.
I don't have the spare brain cycles at the moment to talk much about either author, but you can find some decent Borges resources at Booklist.com [booklist.com]. A google search should net some good Lem sites. Mainly, I just wanted to chime in my agreement with the parent post.
Stephen King (Score:2)
And he's written so much. This man doesn't write because he likes it, he writes because he has to.
Really, I think that one hunred years from now, King's books will be a great insight to what our culture was like at this time. In all of his books, he does a great job of capturing the time period, which is something that is often looked for in classic authors.
William Burroughs (Score:2, Interesting)
he thought that his writing fell into, Burroughs
replied 'Well, science fiction, of course.' I have
to wonder if the interviewer even read any of
WB's books.
I think that _Naked Lunch_ and the Nova
trilogy (_The Soft Machine_, _Nova Express_,
_The Ticket that Exploded_) will stand the test
of time.
Star Trek fans would do well to read _Cities of the
Red Night_ in which commanders insure the loyalty
of their troops by getting them addicted and
supplying them with opiates --like the Founders
and the Jem Haddar of DS9, except that 'Cities'
was written ca. 1974.
A Short list (Score:2)
Umberto Eco
Don Knuth
Saul Kripke
Martin Gardner
(puzzle books have ungodly staying power)
John Cage
(oops, dead)
Does anyone read anything besides science fiction? (Score:2, Insightful)
My nominations:
-Joseph Heller. After Catch 22 he didn't have much inspiration left, but Catch 22 is clearly one of the best American novels ever.
-Michael Chabon. I'm not nearly as confident about Chabon as I am about Heller, but some of his books are great reads and he's still in his 20's (I think).
Benjamin
MHO... (Score:4, Interesting)
Mary Doria Russell.
Okay, she's only written two books (you have read The Sparrow, haven't you?), but if she keeps it up, she'll be regarded eventually as one of the true greats of the genre.
Lois McMaster Bujold. ...
Go on. I dare you, dismiss it as space opera. Okay, it is space opera, but all her books are great, widely read, Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning,
Other have mentioned:
Clive Barker
He deserves to be remembered, if only for writing that rara avis: consistently intelligent, well-written horror.
Terry Pratchett
When I worked in an SF bookshop (that's a science fiction bookshop. In Dublin), Pratchett was consistently our best-sellign author. People with no interest in SF or fantasy would wander in for the latest, and even when spouses/SOs were wandering around, eyes glazed, they'd inevitably find themselves browsing the Pratchetts. I don't think anyone apart from Transworld realises exactly how popular he is.
Neal Stephenson
I'm going to commit heresy here. I think Stephenson is great, but not one of the greats. His books are all eminently readable, but most have been surpassed in their respective sub-genres (Read The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata?). Crytonomicon is an exception, and not just cos it's the first novel I've read with embedded perl.
Aside: I suspect if someone ran the Cryptonomicon manuscript through Acme::Buffy, it'd still be better than all Buffy novels combined.
Re:MHO... (Score:3, Insightful)
I have to concur. The Sparrow and Children of God were two of the most moving books of any genre I have ever read.
And in the genre of the rare female sci-fi writer, I am horrified that nobody has mentioned Ursula LeGuin in any of the highly moderated comments. She has written many excellent novels. IMHO, one of the marks of a great fiction writer is one whose stories carry a ring of truth to them, even though they are fiction. LeGuin's stories fullfil this marvelously for me.
For those of you new to her writing, my personal recommendations for books to get you started are The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, The Telling, and Rocannon's World. IIRC, she has won several Hugo & Nebula awards.
depends on media and copyrights (Score:2)
Given the tendency of some corporations like Disney to keep pushing for extensions to copyright law, I wonder if any of it will be available in 50 years. The only reason for the publishers to keep the works available is to make a buck. If releasing a book isn't projected to meet their desired rate of return, they won't do it. Sure the stuff that's really popular now might be around, but I'm sure that they are vastly outnumbered by the books that were good, but for whatever reason didn't do well enough to go beyond a 2nd printing. These will rot away in the publishers' archives while being protected from 'IP thieves' by copyright law. I've heard about film historians lamenting the fact that scores of early movies have been lost and continue to be lost just because of this reason.
This might not be as bleak if the primary medium for publishing literature remains the old fashioned paper book. They will last for ages if proper care is taken. These stories will live on and will be passed from person to person via ebay, used book stores, gifts, etc. But what if the publishers successfully get the public used to reading e-books and wean them off the dead tree kind? Given that the publishers will want some copy protection scheme, the work will only last as long as the device used to read it and as long as you can keep the original copy. They will certainly try to make sure that you won't be able to make backup copies (even though it's your right) because that will open the door to pirating or sharing of the work. A person won't be able to sell it unless they part with the reading device also and that would still probably violate a EULA. Converting to a new format wouldn't be allowed because that would deny the publisher the profits from doing so, and open the door for the feared IP pirates. All of this will increase the rate at which works of literture will die and be forgotten.
My prediction: People will have the works that are currently in the public domain (ala Project Gutenberg [gutenberg.org]), titles that are available for the standard e-book reader of the time(which will probably be obsolete every 5-10 years), the surviving paper books, and whatever L. Ron Hubbard's Scientologists keep churning out. Everything else will be forgotten by the publishers and will die with the people who loved it. The same will be true for movies and music.
I pray that I'm wrong.
Boy oh boy, solely geek titles (Score:2)
Almost no mention of non-geek writers to be found. Where are William Styron, Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison, Michael Ondatje, Kenzaburo Oe, among many others?
Top 10: Egan, Wolfe, Sterling, Bear, Vinge, Gibson (Score:3, Insightful)
1. Greg Egan
2. Gene Wolfe
3. Bruce Sterling
4. Greg Bear
5. William Gibson
6. Vernor Vinge
7. Dan Simmons
8. Octavia Butler
9. Neal Stephenson
10.Howard Waldrop
Honorable mention: Stephen Baxter, Pat Cadigan, Ian McDonald, Rober Reed, Brian Stableford, Walter Jon Williams. Note: This list really only deals with writers who acheived prominance in the last 20 years or so. There's really little point in listing living legends like Fred Pohl, Arthur C. Clarke, or Harlan Ellison, who pretty much everyone agrees will still be remembered then. (For one thing, they've all won Hugos, and Hugo-winners tend to be reprinted.)
I've stuck to science fiction writers, so Stephen King, Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Sean Stewart and Joe R. Lansdale are all missing from this list, though I expect some of their work to still be read 50 years from now as well.
Another interesting question is which even newer writers do you expect to see make the cut. Some of my predictions: Patrick O'Leary, Mary Doria Russell, Linda Nagata, Ted Chiang.
Remember, science fiction is a genre with a good institutional memory. It's quite possible that one or two works from all the above will still be read, they way that people like Eric Frank Russell, C. M. Kornbluth and Frederic Brown have all had large reprint collections of their short fiction published in the last five years.
Jack Chalker (Score:2)
Very few SciFi Authors (Score:5, Interesting)
I have loved scifi since I was a kid, but I often stand before rack upon rack of scifi novels at the local bookstore despairing of finding anything truly worth the time it takes to read. More and more I have turned to the classics section to find novels that have already proven themselves over time. For obvious reasons there seems to be a higher "signal to noise ratio" in that corner of the bookstore, the writing is better, the stories are less shallow and if many of the themes are sometimes familiar it is because of all the cheap knockoffs I've read before, often from the scifi aisle. I'm sure that there are a few, maybe even a lot of books in the scifi section that would satisfy but finding them is frustrating among so much dreck.
Fear and Loathing? (Score:2)
Hunter S. Thompson - I think better than any other living author he truely understands the dark underbelley of 20th century life and commented on with such style and aplomb that he will become required reading
Kurt Vonnegut - Like Thompson he has a keen understanding of our modern world and is, IMO, the greatist satirist since Voltaire.
Ayn Rand - people either love her, or hate her but no one can argue that her work hasn't had a powerful effect.
Milton Friedman - he's one of the fathers of modern economic thought, someone will be reading him in 50 years
Just to make it a longer list than requested:
Carl Sagan
Stephen Hawkings
Gore Vidal
Non-SF Works: Harper Lee, Heller, Solzhenitsyn (Score:2)
1. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (aka The Great American Novel)
2. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller (aka The Great Funny American Novel)
3. The Gulag Archipelago - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Very possibly the most important non-fiction work of the 20th century. There are many important works documenting the Nazi holocaust, but this brilliantly written work must stand as the first, best, and most comprehensive work to document the Soviet holocaust (which Solzhenitsyn estimated killed some 68 million people) by one who lived through it.)
Not mentioned so far (Score:5, Informative)
I'll start off with the following:
Zadie Smith : White Teeth. I predict this will be required reading in high school by the year 2020. If you haven't checked it out yet, I strongly urge you to do so.
Haruki Murakami : Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World . Really, just about any of his novels would suffice. This particular one is a blowing mixture of magic realism and science fiction.
Gabriel García Márquez : 100 Years of Solitude. He practically invented magic realism. Other than Tolkien, he's probably the most influential writer of the past fifty years.
Kazuo Ishiguro : The remains of the day. His writing is so precise, so exquisite, so flawless, I don't believe there has been an English-language novelist to compare. I actually prefer his The Unconsoled, but I don't think it has the same aura of classicism.
Stanislaw Lem : Memoirs found in a bathtub. I think this will stand the test of time as his most "excellent" book, even though gems like The Cyberiad and The Futurological Congress are undoubtedly greater crowd-pleasers.
Iain M. Banks. (Score:2)
Multi-Genre Picks (Score:2, Informative)
Science Fiction: Neal Stephenson - I know
Fantasy: George Martin - If you haven't read his Song of Ice & Fire books, run (don't walk) to your bookstore right now! He stands almost alone in this god-forsaken genre for snappy dialog and compelling character development.
Satire: Kurt Vonnegut - "I've got doctorates in pig shit, horse shit and chicken shit. If you need me, I'll be out back shoveling my thesis."
Farce: Tom Robbins - Consistently brilliant
Thrillers: Tom Clancy - Now if they'd just stop ruining his books with crappy films.
Popular Science (non-fiction): James Gleick - His "Chaos" is a terrific read.
Physics (non-fiction): J.D. Jackson - You're not a super-geek until you've grokked the fullness of "Classical Electrodynamics"!
Computer Science (non-fiction): Donald Knuth - See Jackson in physics above. Replace "Classical Electrodynamics" with "Art of Computer Programming I - Algorithms".
History (non-fiction): Alvin Josephy - His "Patriot Chiefs" is one of the most interesting books I've ever read.
Cuisine (non-fiction): Julia Child - duh!
Sorry about the limited selection of genres
My vote goes to Stephen King (Score:3, Insightful)
Asimov's books on robots will always be relevant. The authors who use SF to illuminate the human character will be relevant. Orwell will be relevant. All the Star Wars/Star Trek offspring will sonn be forgotten. Most of the dragon and knight sort of fantasy will soon be gone. Too much of the SF/Fantasy litterature is like Barabara Cartland for people who don't care for bodice rippers. Just replace bodice for space suit, and horse-cart with space ship.
Another factor I would include in this, is how much read the author is today.
An old favorite of mine is Dickens. He was wildly popular in his time, but not considered very fine litterature. However, his penny novels have stood the test of time much better than his contemporary's, who wrote flat, boring pieces about the dilemmas of the upper classes. So when trying to pick out the classics of the future, one might want to look for similarities with Dickens.
Agatha Christie is another one. There are better mystery writers out there, but her name might be the only one remembered 300 years from now.
If I have to pick the Dickens of this century, it'll be Stephen King. His short stories are excellent. He writes pure fiction, and is not afraid to break some laws of nature. He is extremely productive, and a best-seller. Teh best-seller part is what surprises me a bit, since I usually try to stay away from the unwashed masses reading habits. I guess sometimes the unwashed masses are right. Or maybe they buy the books for the flashy ingredients, not realizing what gems they are. Some of his books dig deep into the human character. He does not try to please the literature critics and besser-wissers. He just wites and writes. Some of his books have a strange ending, but that was also the case for Dickens.
Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Nabokov, Eliot, Joyce... (Score:3, Offtopic)
So I would say that in fifty years the most widely read authors of the 20th century will be:
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
Vladimir Nabokov
T.S. Eliot
James Joyce
And probably a few others I've missed. This is the way modern criticism is shaping up, and, personally, I like it this way. Then again, a few of these could be dropped and a few added in the coming years. F. Scott Fitzgerald was not overly popular in his own time, and only became well respected when he was rediscovered in the late forties. Likewise, Shelley was practically worshipped as the greatest romantic poet for much of the 19th century, but his standing dropped dramatically with the "new criticism" of the early 20th century. This has already happened to a degree with Hemingway as he is now regarded as a bit sexist.
So yeah, some S/F is worthwhile and will be read in the future (I'd point to Dune and and LotR)...but the above authors will almost unquestionably be read.
Hmmm... (Score:2)
People mention William Gibson- I can see that, primarily for the 'Burning Chrome' stories and 'Neuromancer', but I think Pat Cadigan will stand the test of time better. "Mindplayers" is an incredible piece of work.. I haven't got "Synners" yet, but "Fools" is so much more ambitious that it gives you whiplash, and pulls it off. I don't know anyone else who is able to use _typeface_ for _dramatic effect_, put it that way. There's a moment towards the end of Fools (which uses typeface to indicate narrating personality) that gives you chills when you notice the identity 'slip'. William Gibson doesn't do that, he just wallows in grit, though some of his stuff has formidable intensity.
I think Douglas Coupland will be seen as an important author in the long run. It's very easy to write rubbish that's 'slice of life' and ordinary, but it's very much another matter to set up hidden tensions and suspense, beneath the surface of the narrative, and then finish by resolving them still without obviously calling attention to them: my pet example is in the online version of 'Microserfs' in which the tension has to do with the narrator's dead brother, a conflict never dealt with, and finally brought into the open- what's being resolved isn't about the father's problems, it's the way the narrator's life has led him to his own resolution- concluding with the blinking lights that characterise the narrator's life lighting up the sleeping father. I realize a lot of people will think this is reading ridiculously much into it, but that's exactly my point- this is why he's a legitimately great author. His writing makes very big points in very, very understated ways.
Finally- in an utterly, totally different field, remember Dale Carnegie and "How To Win Friends And Influence People"? The guy writing books like that in the modern day is Harvey Mackay, an envelope tycoon with a lot of basic common sense and honesty. As usual, he's continued to write even after he's said most of what he had to say- not that the sequels are bad, they hold up well- but the primary book by him is called "Swim With The Sharks Without Getting Eaten Alive", and it certainly will stand the test of time- and will also tell you not to buy anything in a room with a chandelier in it ;)
Greg Egan... (Score:2, Informative)
All his novels: a must read!!!!
Samuel Delany? (Score:2)
p.s. - Two up and coming authors that still fall roughly under the sci-fi rubric and that I can recommend are Jonathan Lethem and Ken McLeod. Check them out.
Re:Samuel Delany? (Score:2)
What will really interest people in 50 years? (Score:2, Interesting)
We probably don't read them now... (Score:2, Insightful)
The same with sci-fi. Who knows who will live on? I certainly wouldn't look at the best sellers to tell me. Look back and some old best-sellers lists from the 30's and 40's and see how many titles you recognize. You'll probably say, "who the hell was that?"
Some cases in point: Kafka was barely read at all during his time and directed that all his papers be burnt upon his death. It is only through the "faithlessness" of his executor that we are able to read him at all. Salieri(?) of 'Amadeus' fame. He was by all accounts one of the most popular composers of his day, but who knows of him now except through the play and movie in which he is portrayed as hopelessly mediocre. Bach led a very parochial life, never straying very far from his home town and church, yet wrote volumes of what is now considered to be some of the greatest works of all time. It is really only after his death and through other scholar's research that he has come to be so recognized.
Who will people be reading in 50 years? We probably aren't even reading them now.
Douglas Adams will be read for a VERY long time (Score:4, Insightful)
I would also argue that this degree of absurdist, uniquely british humor in science fiction was really a new innovation of Douglas Adams, although I do know I'm on thin ice there.
As is obligatory in any post about Adams, I would like to close by saying that Douglas Adams most definatly was a man who always knew where his towel was, and his literature reflects that.
I would say... (Score:2)
William Gibson
Kurt Vonnegut
Stephen King
Douglas Adams
That's the Top 5 I think will be around 50 years. hmm, well there are others, five is too short of a list.
Good authors vs. timeless ones (Score:2, Insightful)
In that vein, look at some of the authors people cited as timeless on these posts:
- Dr. Seuss - All his stuff was written in the 40's-70's, yet his messages ring true, even the political ones. (If you've never seen his collection of anti-Nazi cartoons, run out and get it).
- Larry Niven - Some of his technology is dated (mainframe computing) but his stories are still fantastic. The fact that Known Space takes place in the far, far future helps.
On the other hand, Tom Clancy will not (IMHO) "stand the test of time," and not because of the quality of his writting (although some might criticize him for that). No, what I mean is that his stuff becomes dated so dang quickly. Look at his subject matter: politics and technological nuts & bolts details. You'd be hard pressed to find two subjects that have changed more radically in the last ten years. I mean, try to reread Red Storm Rising as anything other than "What may have been" and you bust a gut laughing (On the other hand, The Hunt for Red October works great as historical fiction).Of course, don't weep for poor old Tom: he's laughing all the way to the bank.
So-called postmodernists (and others) (Score:3, Interesting)
Don Delillo (White Noise, Libra, Underworld)
Thomas Pynchon (Gravity's Rainbow, Crying of Lot 49)
William Gaddis (Recognitions, JR)
David Foster Wallace (Infinite Jest, his essays)
Haruki Murakami (already mentioned)
possibly Jonathan Franzen
Kurt Vonnegut (Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-5, Mother Night )
John Barth
Philip Roth
In terms of sci-fi, I imagine selections from Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, and Bradbury will be remembered. All those smaller audience books regular
It may not be the obvious writers that last (Score:4, Insightful)
Going further back (stop me if you're bored), The Mysteries of Udolpho (Mrs Radcliffe) was HUGE at the turn of the 19th century - so much so that Jane Austen wrote a parody of it (Northanger Abby). The parody's still in print, the original is very hard to find (and having read it, you don't want to find it, believe me).
And it's not just literature where this happens. GE Moore was one of the leading philosophers of the early 20th century, a colleague of Russell and Wittgenstein - and now barely rates a mention. Yet you can have someone like Nietzsche who was ignored during his lifetime, and yet is today probably more influential and widely-read than ever in academic circles.
The obvious point is that we just don't know who will be big in 50 to 100 years time (tho its fun to speculate), although it's almost worth betting that it *won't* be someone we've all heard of today. Other times look for other things from their art, and we can't guess what they'll be. As it says in The Go-Between: "The past is another country, they do things differently there." So's the future.
That aside I can't see too many writers around today (living) who'll still be big (and I mean Dickens/Joyce/Proust big) in 50-100 years. Peter Carey, the Australian who's just won another big prize, might do it: you sci-fi fiends out there should try his novel Illywacker, it's crazy. JK Rowling's Harry Potter books probably will. Toni Morrison, maybe. So long as Martin Amis is forgotten as quickly as possible.
Gotta go, it's Clemens v Schilling... Clemens will probably still be pitching in 50 years time.
Writing in this era (Score:3, Insightful)
First of all, my thoughts here are strictly confined to authors who write in English of some form. As for the longevity of current authors I think almost none will be around in 50 years, other than those within the circles of the literati (eg Nobel and Booker prize winners). The problem will be that the volume of content will continue unabated and the new prose (particularly in SF) will drown out that written today.
The problem with SF is that there is little to recommend it as literature, the plots are often excellent (for example I love greg bear and a grandchild of mine would surely enjoy his work as much as I did, but I don't think they will read him) and the ideas great but of this masse, it is only those who famously tie themselves to a point in time in the future that end up being read at that time, particulalry since their lack of literary "quality" means that they will notbe taught in schools. I think we have moved into a phase where the near future offers barren ground for the current author (perhaps current events will alter that) and so few will stand the test of time.
I agree with a previous poster who mentioned Steinbeck (although he too is dead) and I think that Irving Welsh will be read in fifty years because he speaks to/of the chemical generation whose lives will be "interesting" at that time.
One of the great problems is the lack of social comment in "populist" literature. It is difficult to find the Dickens of the late 20th C (in fiction) whose well crafted books critique the wrongs of the society of the day, through metaphor and satire. For it is those authors who are sought out to try and understand a society for ehich we do not have a direct experience. The other problem is that literature is no longer the most accessible vehicle for that form of comment any more. Television and even music is the metaphoric record of today.
Re:mmmmm sci-fi (Score:5, Interesting)
Guy Gavriel Kay [brightweavings.com] might make the list though. He is actually a decent writer, and has mastered the little things most pulp fiction writers miss - characterization, plot, beautiful descriptive language,broad vocabulary, etc. Books like Tigana [brightweavings.com], A Song for Arbonne [brightweavings.com], and The Lions of Al-Rassan [brightweavings.com] have permanent residency on my bookshelf. Kay immerses the reader into his works.
dschl
Anyone who thinks hunting is barbaric should try visiting a chicken farm someday
Re:Larry Niven (Score:4, Insightful)
I see criticism of his style, but I think you could make the some of the same criticism of Asimov and Heinlein. Only because they were foundational to the genera, along with others (Lewis, Dick, Orwell, Zelazny, Sturgeon, Pohl, Ellison), and more modern writers largely follow in their footsteps.
For my money, Niven has some of the very best and most memorable characterizations in the business, and some of the best stories (by-passing dogs like Integral Trees).
Some modern authors focus more on tech or gore or action. But for REAL stories and REAL characters that can provike thought, I'll take Niven.
Then again, maybe in just means I'm getting old and out-of-touch
Absolutely! (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd recommend Consider Phlebas [amazon.co.uk] to someone starting out.
Use of Weapons, Excession, and Player of Games are excellant as well.
Herbert has written some real turkeys (Score:2)
Re:[OT] - Geek reading habits. (Score:2)
Genre is sometimes a meaningful categorization and sometimes a trap. It's meaningful to talk about "Classics of Science Fiction" and "Literary Classics" as two separate but intersecting sets. There are certainly SF/F/H novels which are clasics within their own genres but don't really qualify for that status in the outside world, but there are also a few which are big and important enough to achieve that status overall, both inside and outside the genre. Part of the problem, of course, is that SF really hasn't been around long enough to decide if any of its works will stand the test of time the way Shakespeare has (though I should make the obligatory note that while Shakespeare didn't write SF, much of what he wrote can be classified as either fantasy or horror.)
Re:Philip K. Dick (Score:3, Interesting)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
His most famous novel which inspired Blade Runner. A chilling futuristic story that demonstrates his creative genius.
Ubik
A great story of corporate intrigue where time moves backwards. Intensely psychological with unpredictable plot twists.
The Man In the High Castle
Dick's masterpiece which won the Hugo Award in 1963. A mind-bending novel which takes place in an America occupied by Axis forces. These are some of his strongest characters.
see http://www.philipkdick.com/main.htm
How many authors have an award named after them???
Re:Literary SF (Score:2)
The only Womack I've read is Random Acts. Can you recommend one of the others?
Re:Kurt Vonegut (Score:2, Interesting)
One of the best things about Sci-fi is that it takes reality, tweaks it a little bit, and imaginatively runs with the tweaking, creating a whole new world. I think Vonnegut does this as well, if not better, than many SF authors... his tweaks are tiny, and they make his created realities just a little different from ours, creating extraordinarily believable characters in fascinating situations.
Re:I'd like to see this done with music (Score:2)
On the other hand, the modern classical composers will be remembered by their industry forever (any classical musician will be able to give you a pretty continuous list of composers, from the 1800s up to today)
haha (Score:4, Funny)