[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 182 KB, 600x400, books_0.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1891167 No.1891167 [Reply] [Original]

Dear /lit/

What do you feel are the most important books of the 21st century so far?

A few suggestions:
White Teeth, The Corrections, Against the Day, 2666, The Road, The Pale King (maybe, probably not though)

I rarely read recent literature, and when I do I tend to stick to the most popular titles because I don't know where to start. Mostly because I find it impossible to keep up with new releases.

What have I missed?

>> No.1891170

Wetlands by Charlotte Roche

>> No.1891172

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

and

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

>> No.1891174

Shoplifting from american apparel.

>> No.1891175

All those you listed (except maybe White Teeth, what's that?) are more like spillover from the late 20th century. Normally I like these speculative threads, but they're usually more specific. It'd be a safe bet that none of these (maybe the Corrections if Franzen pulls off something fantastic soon) will be remembered as "21st Century Literature". It's way too early.

>> No.1891184

Didn't mention The Blind Assassin because most Atwood books feel kinda samey.

>>1891175
Mainly I'm just looking for books that I missed in the past ~10 years or so.

>> No.1891192

>>1891184
Oh brah you should've said so. Remainder by Tom McCarthy

>> No.1891193

i have read both white teeth and the corrections and no - inferior to life of pi

>> No.1891199

>>1891170
>>1891174
Listen to these guys

>> No.1891206

>>1891199
But they both have low Goodreads ratings!

And one of them appears to be about hemorrhoids.

>> No.1891218

>>1891206

>And one of them appears to be about hemorrhoids.

Oh it's about so much more. You have no idea.

>> No.1891226

>>1891218
Is that a good or a bad thing?

>> No.1891244

I like White Teeth but On Beauty is streets ahead. I think her best work is ahead of her

>> No.1891251

>>1891206
It's ironic because they're so bad.
A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Yiddish Policemen's Union are good.

>> No.1891259

>>1891244
I haven't read her later books but it's good to hear that she isn't a one-hit-wonder DFW-knockoff.

>> No.1891281

>>1891175

this man is right. the guys you mentioned are all postmodernists from the late 20th century. that's partly our parents generation you've got up there. the rest are Gen Xers who striped the last skin off the bones of PoMo. we're somewhere new now.

>> No.1891288

>>1891281
Care explaining where exactly this new place is?

>> No.1891298

>>1891288

Krebs, Oklahoma.

>> No.1891301

>>1891288

something like this

http://www.philosophynow.org/issue58/The_Death_of_Postmodernism_And_Beyond

or this

http://aestheticsandculture.net/index.php/jac/article/viewArticle/5677

time will tell. but we certainly are finally done with postmodernism.

>> No.1891320

I liked Cloud Atlas.

>> No.1891325

>>1891301
Why thank you.

Excuse me while I go educate myself on the state of modern literature.

>> No.1891341
File: 119 KB, 341x500, Austerlitz_novel_cover.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1891341

Sebald's Austerlitz was released in 2001.

Best book of the 21st century by far. Forget the Pynchon and Bolano and McCarthy.

In terms of poetry it's gotta be Anne Carson. Nox and The Beauty of the Husband are amazing.

>> No.1891346

The Harry Potter series.

You know it to be true.

>> No.1891349

>>1891325

after you read those, read this a.o. scott article on DFW. especially this page (page 2). DFW was aiming to do the very thing that van den akker and vermeulen are talking about, though he couldn't quite get it up.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2000/feb/10/the-panic-of-influence/?page=2

>> No.1891443

>>1891320
me 2 mang

i dunno what's "important" but o well

>> No.1891501

>>1891346

The fucked up thing is, it's actually true. Find me a generation more influenced by one writer's series.

(seriously, if someone can actually name one, i'd like to hear it)

>> No.1891504

>>1891501
yeah it's so central and popular. it's, like, this universal background knowledge. ridiculous. i love it. and i love harry potter.

>> No.1891517

>>1891501
DOSTOEVSKY, DICKENS, TOLSTOY, HUGO ETC

ALL OF THE LENGTHIER WORKS WERE PUBLISHED IN INSTALLMENTS AND LATER PUBLISHED AS SINGLE EDITIONS

>> No.1891527

>>1891501

probably just seems like it's more influential cause it's current