At some point in years to come, certain books will stand the test of time and continue to be commonly read, held above other novels as the best this century had to offer. What makes a book a classic? My guess would be the impact it has had and the overall quality of its writing. But it's probably quite subjective!

One book that springs to mind is Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. It's just unlike anything else I've read, with some beautiful visions of the American landscape contrasted with brutal depictions of the worst humanity has to offer.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] eightpix@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

From the past 10 years, in reverse order (from my Goodreads)

The Passenger + Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy
Ducks by Kate Beaton
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
On Tyrrany by Timothy Snyder
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Edit: a few more from the past 50 years.

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
Post War by Tony Judt
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey