The phrase “the classics” might bring several different books to mind. Maybe it’s reading To Kill a Mockingbird in a high school English class, one of Jane Austen‘s period dramas, a Russian literary staple by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, or the British literary phenomenon Oliver Twist.
But when it comes to the 21st century, what books will be read in literature classes of the future?
The New York Times took on the challenge to answer this question. To celebrate the turn of the 25th year of the century, The New York Times Book Review asked 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics, and other book lovers which releases of the last 24 years they consider the “best.” Those asked by the New York Times included James Patterson, Stephen King, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Marlon James.
From July 8 through July 12, the newspaper slowly started releasing titles, beginning with numbers 100-81 on the list. The 100 Best Books of the Century included Demon Copperhead, The Goldfinch, and The Year of Magical Thinking, with My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante taking the number one spot.
The general response from New York Times readers and book lovers on social media was not positive. Literary Hub even made its own list of books the New York Times excluded.
Comments on the New York Times Instagram post about the article largely discussed what books were missing. Many noticed the list was mainly American titles, and one large complaint was the “misleading” title, as the 21st century still has three-quarters of the way to go.
Others defended the list, pointing out that by asking a handful of selected critics and authors, the selection of “best” books was bound to be a subjective list.
The New York Times responded to criticism by polling their general audience about their choices for the 21st century’s best books.
“One of the best things about working in books is just this: the passion of our constituency,” the New York Times Books Instagram wrote. “No way would we deprive readers of the chance to vote for their own list and make their voices heard.”
Top commenters on the Instagram post were appreciative of the results.
“Can we cancel last week’s list y’all did and keep this one?” one Instagram user wrote. “Because not including books like ‘The Kite Runner’, ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, ‘Circe’, and ‘Hunger Games’ was a literal crime.”
And yet some readers were still disappointed. Many criticized that the list still lacked translations from other countries, and some were appalled by which books made the top 10.
What makes a book the “best”? Clearly it’s not popularity, or even books acclaimed by award-winning literary critics. Deciding on the “best” of anything might be impossible. The word implies natural subjectivity.
The demand for a list of the “best” isn’t limited to books. ESPN ranked the best 100 professional athletes since 2000 (note the difference in title) just 10 days after the New York Times began sharing their list. But even that article calls out the absurdity of picking just one athlete as the “greatest of all time.”
In a world of constant choices, people are desperate for someone to tell them which is the “best.” But with social media giving everyone’s opinion authority, it’s hard to give just one, or 500, celebrity’s selection any weight. In the next century, the choice may be obvious. The Charles Dickens novels of today might be the Zadie Smith books of the future. We’ll see in 76 years.
