Nominations for New Classics

[Pike Bishop]

I didn't say he was. I don't know whether C S Lewis really believed he was either. But Lewis did say that we can never know what works will be hailed as classics in centuries to come. He thought it quite possible that the academics of 2300 would consider Tolkien the great literary genius of the 20th century rather than Woolf or Pound or Joyce. I think his exact words were "this century may be known as the century of Tolkien rather than of Joyce and Pound" Is Ulysses better than The Lord of the Rings? I don't know- Bloom doesn't even include it in his canon!

As for Ballard, well, I have heard several critics say he is yet to reach the status he deserves and that he will be remembered as a prophet of things to come when his contemporaries, like Amis and McEwan, are forgotten.

I never said you said he was. You did however say: "He thought more highly of Tolkien than he did of Joyce or Woolf...and Lewis was a man of dazzling learning." So, you were clearly implying Lewis' evaluation had legitimacy. As to Ulysses being "better" than Lord of the Rings, I will just say it was more of a linguistic, structural, psychological, and intertextual achievement that has had much greater influence on other great writers than LOTR has. Also, if one can't say Ulysses is better than LOTR, one also can't say LOTR is better than Twilight. Also, this century may be known as the century of Fifty Shades of Grey for all we know, that doesn't mean Twilight or LOTR is as good, or as much of an achievement, as Ulysses...Harold Bloom is hardly the final authority on the matter.

Neither are those J.G. Ballard critics you mention. Many critics, including myself, have included J.G. Ballard in the Postmodern literature canon and have also credited him with greatly influencing cyberpunk literature. So, I don't know what your critics expect more out of academic evaluation of Ballard, but it's certainly not poor right now.


P.s. What do you think about Ulysses and LOTR. How would you compare them and which do you think is the greater literary achievement?

[TheFifthElement]

6. The Diamond Age--Neal Stephenson

Is this a good place to start with Stephenson? I'd like to try him out, but daunted by the general 1000+ page size of Stephenson's work (though this one is shorter, I believe). Also tempted by Reamde and Snow Crash.

[Poetaster]

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks seems set to become a classic.

[Iain Sparrow]

Is this a good place to start with Stephenson? I'd like to try him out, but daunted by the general 1000+ page size of Stephenson's work (though this one is shorter, I believe). Also tempted by Reamde and Snow Crash.

The Diamond Age is perhaps the best Science Fiction novel I've read in the last ten years, definitely in the top five... so yes, it is a wonderful place to begin exploring Stephenson's work. The Diamond Age is strictly speaking SF, with a good dash of Cyberpunk and Steampunk, but it actually reads somewhat like a fantasy. I gave a signed Easton Press (leather bound) edition of The Diamond Age to my youngest niece for a high school graduation present... she loved the book too!