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Memorable Authors
onewheelwizzard:
Guys, Clive Cussler is a good writer. I'm not sure what your problem with his book is all about. In fact, he wrote it so well, all you need to do is think up a new way to threaten the world, research another important shipwreck of the past, and come up with a new way to tie said shipwreck into the solution for said threat, and you get to read it again, but for the first time! You could read this book for the first time more than a dozen times, maybe two dozen, before you exhaust what it has to offer. Clive Cussler has written a masterpiece of a novel.
I really like his books, actually. It's not the sort of thing that you read for posterity, but it's still time well spent in its own way.
I would want Tom Robbins to survive, but his legacy will only live on through word of mouth. Unless some revolution in US culture puts his books into literature classes, his work is probably not going to get any public recognition after he is gone. Likewise Robert Anton Wilson.
In terms of sci-fi, I definitely think Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke are going to survive past the 20th century. Philip Dick will, if there's any justice in the world. William Gibson might make it too. Within the sci-fi genre they will be the equivalent of Austen or Dumas for at least a couple centuries, but this is true of other writers as well ... I'm only including these in specific because they wrote books that were important across genres.
J. K. Rowling is really the only fantasy writer I'd put on the list. People will be reading her books 50 years from now for sure, and maybe longer. And Neil Gaiman has an impressive enough portfolio to give him a lasting name.
In terms of current or recent novelists/writers, I'd look at Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison (unfortunately), Alan Moore (yes, I think he counts, and yes, I think he'll stay important), Joseph Heller, Hunter S. Thompson, and maybe Chuck Palahniuk if he's lucky (although his books, along with most I've mentioned, will be as dated as Treasure Island in probably less then 60 years).
Dimmukane:
I think Terry Pratchett and Orson Scott Card will, probably. To add to onewheelwizzard's list. Terry Pratchett hasn't really wrote anything bad yet. Critics keep comparing him to Vonnegut, him and Neil Gaiman collaborated to write one of the best books ever. Orson Scott Card is a little hit-or-miss, but Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow I think are substantial enough on there own to keep him from being forgotten.
Joseph:
I really cannot see Orson Scott Card making it. His books, beyond Ender's Game, are really only read by a very select group of people, and tend not to be talked about much. Even Ender's Game recieves as much criticism as praise, if not more, and even in ten years are so, I think it will scarcely be read.
Another author that I think would be likely to last a good while in Margaret Atwood. She's widely read around the globe, has written a number of books already heavily studied, and will likely continue to write for a good while. She has enough awards to her name, and I would not be surprised if she managed a close shot at a Nobel prize at some point. Not saying she deserves it though.
Dimmukane:
Really? In Maryland, a lot of the school systems are putting it up for suggested summer reading or whatever it's called now right along with The Time Machine, I Robot, and Moby Dick. I'm not saying the school board is an authority on books or anything, but typically that's a sign that's it's memorable.
Lines:
The only problem I think with Ender's Game is that if someone doesn't care for sci-fi, I don't think people will like it, but I guess that could be said about a lot of books. It's not like Fahrenheit 451 or Brave New World, which I can definitely see being read 100 years from now, though. But then again, I only thought that Card's book was okay compared to those two. (I was having chronic headaches when I was reading it, which may have something to do with my not liking it as much.) And Bradbury has been one of my favorite authors for about the past 10 years.
As for horror authors, I can see Palahnuik being more successful than King down the line. King has more work, but Palahnuik's is better and personally I find it more interesting. (I like reading Stephen King every once in a while, especially his older stuff, so I don't dislike him.) Also for horror, has anyone else read The Other by Tom Tryon?
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