Bout of Books 13: From Modern to Classic Challenge

Day four's challenge is being hosted by Rebecca at Ranty Runt of a Reader.

Her challenge is for readers to name one book, published after 2005,  that they expect to be a classic in 100 years and give two reasons why.


I thought about this for quite awhile, going over my Goodreads shelves and my physical shelves.  I didn't want to choose the obvious ones or just name one that I like.  There are plenty that I love that just haven't received enough recognition to be hailed as classics and will most likely slip into obscurity, as sad as that is.

Here are my criteria:

1) It has to be well-written and stand out in terms of themes, style, impact on the genre, subject matter, etc.
2) It has to be critically acclaimed. This doesn't necessarily mean popular because many popular books are just not very good and many books the average person doesn't like are excellent.

Ultimately, I decided on Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  All of Jonathan Safran Foer's works are acclaimed, but I chose this one because of its historical context.  Foer barely mentions September 11 in this book, but it looks there throughout.  However, he took an event that has been dramatized over and over again and told a story that was less about the tragedy itself and more about how the lives it touched were changed forever.  This book is about Oskar, and in exploring his life, Foer made September 11 seem all the more personal to me.

Secondly, I can definitely see high school classrooms reading this in the future, not only because of the setting, but also because of Foer's style and the themes the book explores.  Moreover, this book would generate great debate, as many think it genius while others find it precocious.

That is my choice for the modern classic I see lasting for the next hundred years.  Do you agree?  If you participated in this challenge, what did you choose?  

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Happy reading!