Classics of the future...

[fajrdrako]

for Nov. 19, 2009: Do you think any current author is of the same caliber as Dickens, Austen, Bronte, or any of the classic authors? If so, who, and why do you think so? If not, why not? What books from this era might be read 100 years from now?

First of all, I don't think books are necessarily good because their authors are dead and lived long ago. There are lots of reasons books can be popular, and there are lots of different tastes, and the enduring books are those which have appealed to a lot of tastes. I note they didn't list Shakespeare as a classic author - perhaps because no one is of his calibre. But of course there will never be another Dickens, Austen or Bronte - good or bad, every author is unique.

So, who do I think from our era might be read 100 years from now? At a guess: Tolkien (if you'll allow mid-twentieth century authors to be considered of our era, even if they're dead), J.D. Salinger, Robert B. Parker, Terry Pratchett, Bill Bryson, Dorothy Dunnett, J.K. Rowling, Peter Schaffer, John Fowles, Chaim Potok, and Diana Wynne Jones - along with many others.

I think (and hope) that writers will not just be remembered for their books and novels, but also for their movies, TV shows, comics and plays.