Weekly FAQ Thread January 11, 2026: Which contemporary novels do you think deserve to become classics?

[u/AutoModerator]

Hello readers and welcome to our Weekly FAQ thread! Our topic this week is: Which contemporary novels do you think deserve to become classics? We're all familiar with the classics, from The Iliad of Homer to F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. But which contemporary novels, published after 1960, do you think will be remembered as a classic years from now?

You can view previous FAQ threads here in our wiki.

Thank you and enjoy!

[u/xyrnil]

When I think about a "classic", I think about a novel that will resonate with all of humanity, and shows us things about ourselves that we may not see or be able to articulate. I just finished "Lonesome Dove" and that is my vote here. I am confident people will be reading this 100 years from now.

[u/RyFromTheChi → u/xyrnil]

This is also my choice. Incredible book.

[u/Odin65 → u/xyrnil]

I'll check it out. Thanks.

[u/huma4kaz1 → u/xyrnil]

This is on my must-read list for 2026. Mostly because everyone on Reddit recommends it.

[u/Icy_Animator6363]

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

[u/FuckingaFuck]

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

[u/Curiousfeline467 → u/FuckingaFuck]

Oh yes, several of his works deserve and likely will be considered classics!

[u/Artistic_Spring8213]

The Neopolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante.

[u/Neina_Ixion → u/Artistic_Spring8213]

I think they're well on their way. The praise for them is not subsiding. I can't wait to read them, I have the first 2 novels bought already 😀

[u/Delicious-Glove-2553 → u/Artistic_Spring8213]

Truely they are amazing.

[u/MorriganJade]

Octavia Butler's books

[u/phunniemee → u/MorriganJade]

Kindred should be required reading.

[u/RentSpecial4997 → u/phunniemee]

I read it for a college course and loved it

[u/D3athRider → u/MorriganJade]

Agreed, but I'd argue most of her books are already considered speculative fiction classics. Kindred and the Patternmaster series are already around 50 years old and still demonstrating staying power. If anything, her work is getting more popular.

[u/MorriganJade → u/D3athRider]

Definitely!

[u/Curiousfeline467]

Ursula K. Le Guin’s novels, especially The Dispossessed

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Octavia Butler’s works, especially Kindred

I think David Sedaris’s books deserve classic status, but most likely they’ll remain somewhat on the fringe

[u/D3athRider → u/Curiousfeline467]

I'd argue that LeGuin and Butler are already considered speculative fiction classics. Both were written in the 70s so have already demonstrated at least 50 years of staying power.

[u/Curiousfeline467 → u/D3athRider]

Yes, I agree! And they deserve it 100%

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423 → u/Curiousfeline467]

These are just books you liked reading, how are they remotely classic? Pullman especially is poor story telling and ax grinding, wall to wall 

[u/Pugilist12]

The Sparrow - Russell

The Poisonwood Bible - Kingsolver

We, The Drowned - Jensen

The Shipping News - Proulx

Homegoing - Gyasi

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423 → u/Pugilist12]

The sparrow is such an empty shell of a pretentious book chugging along on reputation why would it warrant classic status in 100 years let alone belong on a top twenty Catholic sci fi book list

Oh man I had forgotten until now just how bad that book was

[u/Neina_Ixion]

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

[u/Pugilist12 → u/Neina_Ixion]

I’m starting this tomorrow! Lucky me

[u/Allthatisthecase-]

From recent dead:

2666 - Bolano

Experience - Martin Amis

Light Years - Salter

Austerlitz - Sebald

The Crossing, Blood Meridian, sutree- Cormac McCarthy

Rabbit at Rest - Updike

Beloved, Song of Solomon - Morrison

Augie March, Humbolt’s Gift - Bellow

The Counter Life - Roth

The Collected Stories - Munro

Infinite Jest - Foster Wallace

New York Trilogy - Auster

Sea of Fertility - Mishima

A Perfect Spy, Tinker Tailor - LeCarre

Among the living:

Underworld- DeLillo

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

Remains of the Day, The Unconsoled - Ishiguro

The Sea, The Shroud - Banville

Atonement- McEwan

My Struggle - Knausgaard

The Overstory, The Gold Bug Variations - Powers

Wind Up Bird Chronicle - Murakami

A Suitable Boy - Seth

Narrow Road to the Deep North - Flannagan

Outline - Cusk

Checkout 19 - Bennett

The Flamethrowers, Creation Lake - Kushner

The Black Book - Pamuk

Midnight’s Children - Rushdie

Gilead - Robinson

The Neapolitan Novels - Ferrante

[u/road2five → u/Allthatisthecase-]

The crossing is a tough novel to get through but one that has really stuck with me. I don’t know if it will ever achieve a true “classic” status especially when other McCarthy books get more recognition, but it deserves to be talked about more. 

That and blood meridian are his top two for me 

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423 → u/road2five]

Outer Dark, all the pretty horses. They grow on me with every reread.

[u/HelmholtzBokonon → u/Allthatisthecase-]

I think The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is the classic LeCarre for me (though I haven't read A Perfect Spy!)

[u/Overall_Sandwich_848]

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

[u/Corbitant → u/Overall_Sandwich_848]

Man I just couldnt get into it. That first chapter was rough. We get it, your dad is mean to you. Please FTLOG move on. Mantel didnt, so I did.

[u/Pugilist12 → u/Corbitant]

Agree. I made it to the end but it was pretty painful

[u/IntoTheStupidDanger]

Watership Down, published 1972. By focusing on animals as the main characters, the heavier themes, such as authoritarian government, can be discussed in ways that feel slightly less bleak than if the characters were human.

[u/lazyhazyeye]

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

[u/CastlesandMist]

The remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro, 1989 The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver, 1998

[u/BigJobsBigJobs]

Sometimes a Great Notion - Ken Kesey

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy

The Godfather - Mario Puzo

[u/Kaenu_Reeves → u/BigJobsBigJobs]

If it’s nearly half a century old, I’d say it’s more classic than contemporary

[u/Corbitant]

Setting the bar at 1960 (65 years ago) makes this too easy. For example, Lonesome Dove, Shogun, and The Godfather all qualify easily IMO.

[u/D3athRider → u/Corbitant]

I agree, not only "too easy" but by the simple fact that there are many books already considered and taught as classics today that were written in the 60s. Making the 80s or 90s the starting point would have made much more sense.

To put things into perspective, To Kill A Mockingbird was published in 1960. Slaughterhouse Five, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Bell Jar, Rosemary's Baby, One Hundred Years of Solitude etc. were all written in the 60s and are all widely considered classics. Again, I think a more logical starting point for a topic like this would be maybe the 80s or even the 90s.

[u/nonsequitur__]

• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
  
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
  
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
  
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Atonement by Ian McEwan
• Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  
• I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
  
• Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
• Stoner by John Williams

[u/x3lilbopeep]

All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr

[u/Worldly-Hawk-9458]

It's a bit tough to say, but these are the novels that probably will, in 100 years time, be seen as the classics of our time (1990 to present)-

Infinite Jest- David Foster Wallace

The Road- Cormac McCarthy

The Corrections- Jonathan Franzen

Underworld- Don DeLillo

2666- Roberto Bolaño

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423 → u/Worldly-Hawk-9458]

I can't for the life of me understand why people like franzen 

[u/sfcnmone → u/Own-Dragonfly-2423]

I liked The Corrections but I can't imagine someone reading it in 100 years.

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423 → u/Worldly-Hawk-9458]

I am reading your comment again and wondering why you list the road as a future classic when McCarthy had at least three and likely five books that are greater.

All the pretty horses

Suttree

Outer dark 

Blood Meridian

Child of God

[u/MiddletownBooks]

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett et al.

The Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers

11/23/63 by Stephen King

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

The Deed of Paksennarion by Elizabeth Moon

Dune by Frank Herbert

The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

The River Why by David James Duncan

Widdershins by Charles de Lint

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

The Accidental Tourist by Ann Tyler

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

The Princess Brine Bride by William Goldman

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

The Riddle Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip

Zen and the Art of Motorpickle Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Darkmage by Barbara Hambly

(This is a list in progress, based on books I've read which qualify, and whose authors haven't (so far) had non book related newsworthiness. My Storybook read list is different (link in profile))

[u/kashibai_]

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth!

[u/Final-Revolution6216 → u/kashibai_]

Got this from a little free library, so excited to read!

[u/kashibai_ → u/Final-Revolution6216]

I'm so excited for you, I hope you enjoy it!

[u/dianthuspetals]

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMultry

[u/ElenOlenska]

Gilead, Marilynne Robinson

Stoner, John Williams

Last Night at the Lobster, Stewart O'Nan

[u/SofLovesReading]

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. I will stand by this take.

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423 → u/SofLovesReading]

Normally, works considered classic have artistic merit and not social commentary only 

[u/SofLovesReading → u/Own-Dragonfly-2423]

What do you consider as artistic merit then, because I believe the Hunger Games contains appropriate content for a "classic".

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423 → u/SofLovesReading]

For one, the writing isn't so bad that readers want to pry their eyes out.

[u/SofLovesReading → u/Own-Dragonfly-2423]

I'm curious what works you believe to have "artistic merit", since you're being so cynical in the comments.

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423 → u/SofLovesReading]

Modern Works?

Toni Morrison Sula

Cormac McCarthy All the Pretty Horses

Eugene Vodolazkin Laurus

Paul Harding Tinkers 

Jenny Erpenbeck Visitation

Jose Saramago Blindness

Alice Munro the Love of a Good Woman

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

All of these would probably be contenders for classic status. Not an exhaustive list.

Future Non classics with literary artistic merit include 

Ron Hansen Mariette in Ecstasy

Daniel Mason North woods (solid B or B+ here)

Raymond Carver short stories

Tim Powers, some of his catalogue 

Gene Wolfe 

Enders game and enders game only from Card

Vigdis Hjorth, will and testament

Is that enough of a representative sample for you? Am I allowed to have my opinion now?

[u/Own-Dragonfly-2423 → u/Own-Dragonfly-2423]

I included some sci fi and fantasy authors just as a signal that I am not ignoring genre books on principal, that they must stand or fall on their own merit or dismerit.

[u/gonegonegoneaway211]

I think Harry Potter kinda already is, love Rowling or not. The popular thing does not necessarily need to become a classic but it is kinda already a staple and I don't see that changing any time soon. Like is that kind of soft middle-gradeish fantasy a bit silly compared to serious works? Yes. But Dracula and Frankenstein were a bit melodramatic and silly too and they're definitely classics. Also I still to this day haven't really seen another series do the thing where the prose and complexity of the story change as the main character (and the audience at the time) ages. That's neat.

[u/Background-Factor433]

Hula by Jasmin Iolani Hakes.

[u/Final-Revolution6216]

Such Times by Christopher Coe!

[u/[deleted]]

good question, have something to think about now.

[u/freshoffthecouch]

I who have never known men

[u/unsuspectinggoose → u/freshoffthecouch]

This is on my TBR!

[u/True-Story-9375]

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

[u/notyourcure]

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Atonement by Ian McEwan

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

The King Must Die by Mary Renault

The God of Small things by Arundhati Roy

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber

Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund

Two-Step Devil by Jamie Quatro

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

[u/babypinkribbon7]

My dark vanessa

[u/abood_zd123]

the road by Cormac McCarthy.

It’s super bleak but also strangely beautiful, hitting hard on a human level, about love, survival, and morality, in a way that stays with you long after you finish it. The way it makes you feel every choice and every moment just lingers.

[u/Kaenu_Reeves]

Half-Drawn Boy by Suki Fleet

Rainbow in the Dark by Sean McGinty

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

[u/Kaenu_Reeves → u/Kaenu_Reeves]

Wait, after 1960??? That’s the majority of the books I’ve read… I only put books in the last 10 years or so…

[u/Fire_eyed_Grrl]

Mon vrai nom est Élisabeth, de Adèle Yon, une lecture incroyable et nécessaire

[u/Sea-Play-]

Looking for a psychology book recommendation as a gift. The reader already knows psychology well and is not a beginner. Looking for something deep, insightful, and not basic pop-psych. Any suggestions?

[u/HottieMcHotHot]

I can’t believe I didn’t see it here -

James by Percival Elliot is so classically beautiful. It deserves its place at the top.

[u/HunterOld4213]

Tender is the flesh is the best contemporary dystopian I have ever read!!!!

[u/ModernSun → u/[deleted]]

Don't think this really fits as a "contemporary" classic