Future classics?

The only test is whether they are still in print now. That means they continue to be profitable, and so continue to be profitable. Any book published less than 10 years ago and more than 5 years ago - between 1999 and 2004, that is - which is still in print in 2009 is likely to be seen as a classic 25 years from now.
 
Has the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy be mentioned yet?

Surely that series is an instant classic?
 
Morning AE.

I'd like them to, but i don't feel that they will now. Still that said, this is one of those things that keeps popping up and will hopefully never go away.

Isn't there are follow up novel coming out this year?
 
iansales said:
The only test is whether they are still in print now. That means they continue to be profitable, and so continue to be profitable. Any book published less than 10 years ago and more than 5 years ago - between 1999 and 2004, that is - which is still in print in 2009 is likely to be seen as a classic 25 years from now.
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If I'm reading that right it seems you're saying any book out of print can't be a classic? So the likes of Oliver Twist, Gullivers Travels and the Sherlock Holmes books can never be called a classic!
 
They're all in print. OTOH, many books from the 19th century are not and have languished in obscurity. They're not classics.

But, if a sf novel first published in 2000 is still in print in 2025, then it's good bet it'll be considered a classic.
 
iansales said:
They're all in print. OTOH, many books from the 19th century are not and have languished in obscurity. They're not classics.

But, if a sf novel first published in 2000 is still in print in 2025, then it's good bet it'll be considered a classic.
Click to expand...

In print isnt always proof ot that. I mean only a few years ago several PKD was out of print. His famous books wasnt in obscurity before that.

This Immortal is out of print. There are several books that are seen as classics that was out of print when i bought them.

Although just afterwards several got reprinted was annoying,typical.
 
What are considered classics now are the result of a relatively homgeneous group of readers who used magazines and fandzines to create their community. That's gone. Many of the books considered classics now first appeared serialised in magazines, which is partly why they became so popular. Don't forget the magazine version of Dune - 'Dune World' - was shortlisted for the Hugo in 1964, but it was still rejected by 16 publishers before Chilton bought it.
 
That's not the point. A classic has to be accepted as such by the community of fans/readers. If three people think a book is a classic, then they're deluding themselves - the book may be very good, it may be one of their favourites... but it's not a classic. Because the vast majority don't accept it as such.

However, if those three people manage to change everyone else's mind... And I don't doubt such things have happened in the past. Especially back in sf's earlier days when magazine editors had so much influence...
 
Thats being a bit pedantic tho. True the book may not be considered a classic in a Sunday Times 100 Classic Books poll but that doesn't mean it can't be considered a classic per se. I guess its a personal thing,a subjective view.
 
I'm not talking about a Sunday Times poll either. I'm talking about a book considered to be a classic by the community of sf readers and fans. Some people don't think Dune is very good, but a great many more think it is a classic. It won awards, it is still in print - 45 years after it was first published! and in multiple editions! If Joe Bloggs thinks is some obscure out-of-print sf novel is a "classic" and he's the only one who thinks so... then he's wrong. It's that simple. Classic status is not one person's opinion, it's a consensus.
 
Of course it's black and white. When there's an election, one party gets into power*. Just because one person voted for the Monster Raving Loony Party, it doesn't mean they get a seat in parliament.

If someone wants to call a book a classic, for the label to mean anything they have to persuade others to share their opinion.


(* and yes, there can be hung parliaments and coalition governments, but you know what I mean.)
 
Well lets say I just read a book and after finishing it I proclaim,wow,thats a classic! Then someone comes along and says actualy no its not because you're the only one in this town that thinks so,therefore it can't be a classic! So his word is law?
Oh and i wish more people would vote Monster Raving Loony party! Might get some sense that way ;)
 
If you said, this book should be a classic - then that's a different thing. But if said "is", and you're the only person who thinks it is, then the label is completely meaningless. There's no evidence for the book's classic status beyond your own opinion - there's no consensus, no pundits or genre commentators have proclaimed that the book is a classic, it's not taught in schools and universities as a classic of the genre, it hasn't been reprinted in a masterworks series or the like...

For the word "classic" to be of any use, it has to mean something.
 
The Ford Pinto is a classic car.
Gigli is a classic film.
Carrot Top is a classic comedian.
Vin Diesel is a classic actor.
Paris Hilton is a classic actress.
The Jonas Brothers are a classic rock band.
Rocks are soft.
Light is slow.
The sun is cold.
Michael Jackson is black.
The Wheel of Time is short.
Terrell Owens is humble.
Yao Ming is short.
 
Does anyone have any thoughts/opinions on Ian McDonald? I'm curious because he's from the north of Ireland, like me. We've produced two great SF writers - Bob Shaw and James White - McDonald is being touted as a third. I tried to read Brasyl but couldn't get very far in.
 
Personally, I think in Ian the north of Ireland does have it's third 'great'.

Like you, blacknorth, I've had trouble getting into Brasyl, though I know many who rate it very highly, but I thought River of Gods was a fabulous novel, which deserved to win the Hugo (it was pipped by Susanna Clarke's Strange and Norell).

A good place to start with Ian is his debut novel, Desolation Road, which is a truly wonderful, strange and delightful book. It converted me to his writing immediately.

As an aside, the first time I met Ian, at a convention, I presented him with a copy of the sequel, Ares Express, asking him to sign it. Before doing so, he paused, waved the book at me and said, "Now this is a strange one; probably not my best."

Perhaps because of that, I've yet to read it, but I have to admire his honesty!
 
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