what are our cultural gems?

[ashlesha]

lungs : you know how there are good books from the past were those books popular then or was it like twighlight equivalents that everybody forgot about later
lungs : like..is twilight forever the voice of this generation is kinda what i'm getting at ?
mfckr : this is what the 2008-? whatever era will be remembered for
mfckr : and as far as good books from the past, no i don't think most were regarded as pop filth
mfckr : i think there's been a genuine decline in mainstream talent
leckysupport : historically not much bad stuff survives
mfckr : ya
mfckr : i considered that aspect ofc. but then it's like, where is today's good stuff?
lungs : exactly lol...
leckysupport : i don't think we're in decline we're just experiencing the shit en-mass
mfckr : i think there's still highly intelligent & talented ppl out there ofc, but more often than not they're like lone voices in the wilderness
leckysupport : but hopefully everything bad will disappear and a few the gems will GLISTEN IN THE HISTORY OF HUMAN THOUGHT
lungs : i hope so i just have no idea what the gems might be
mfckr : lol hopefully
lungs : so you guys don't have any idea either. maybe i'll make a thread and quote some of this convo
lungs : what people think the gems will be

[Galen]

Are you just referring to literary works, or any sort of artistic medium?

[ashlesha]

i'm especially curious about books since stuff like film is relatively modern and it's hard to imagine the significance of like, a tv show being discussed with the same levity as a book (though i guess it already happens)

any sort of artistic medium that comes to mind, though, i'd be curious to hear.

[Absurd]

I don't know which culture you're referring to.

[JWC3]

Today's good stuff, hasn't had time to rise to the surface yet. If you want to find the good stuff you have to take some initiative. Though saying "Today" is a bit... vague? I mean Chuck Palahniuk is a modern writer of some acclaim, I doubt anyone will be forgetting 'Fight Club' anytime soon. Plus you have your F. Scott Fitzgerald. 'Brave New World' is one of my favorites by Aldous Huxley. I hear Huxley has a lot of other great stuff too I have yet to explore. Does Steinbeck count as modern? He won the noble prize in literature but I haven't read any of his stuff yet

[mfckr]

Today's good stuff, hasn't had time to rise to the surface yet. If you want to find the good stuff you have to take some initiative. Though saying "Today" is a bit... vague? I mean Chuck Palahniuk is a modern writer of some acclaim, I doubt anyone will be forgetting 'Fight Club' anytime soon. Plus you have your F. Scott Fitzgerald. 'Brave New World' is one of my favorites by Aldous Huxley. I hear Huxley has a lot of other great stuff too I have yet to explore. Does Steinbeck count as modern? He won the noble prize in literature but I haven't read any of his stuff yet

I think she's referring to the last 5-10 yrs.

[GuavaDrunk]

I think Neil Gaiman will be remembered. He might be outwith your time parameters though.

[ashlesha]

I think Neil Gaiman will be remembered. He might be outwith your time parameters though.

perfect

[Hot Scalding Gayser]

The core problem is a lot of books thought to be classy and well written are also dry and boring to people.

I have mixed feelings hating on twilight. I feel sorry for anything when it's made fun of too much, which is ironic I suppose because I find the actual book (not movie) condescending as hell. The movies aren't that bad, just too heteronormative or something - like there was this one part where they could at least made a funny 'haha gay joke' but then decided to have the other guy say 'I would never forgive you' or something. That one line proved without a shadow of a doubt "homophobia" isn't what is wrong, heterosexism is.

It teaches men that our only goal in life is to constantly be antagonistic to each other over women, and women just sort of be dumb and giggle tee hee over cute guys without any thought of their own. So yeah, it is offensive. Does it deserve all the abuse? Probably. But I guess I'm just against martryizing-everything.

People confuse my agenda. I don't want sex with men 24/7 or everybody be gay. It would be just nice to live in a more brotherly envrionment, where two men could even hold hands like in other countries without people thinking it's wrong. I just hate this ... fucking suburban american ish twilight burger king mentality that so many people have. It's so dumb.

sorry I know your thread wasn't about twilight specifically blah blah.

[GuavaDrunk]

Another one occured: Lionel Shriver (wrote We Need To Talk About Kevin.)

And Kim Whatshisname, wrote "Years of Rice and Salt."

[Aquagraph]

Books are now competing with many other cultural mediums. Books can never be completely replaced but sometimes watching the Daily show is time off from reading Harry Potter.

Globalization of information has also made it hard for the Great Classics to stand out from the Awesome Ones.

At times I feel like it has been a golden era of animated comedies after the Simpsons.
It maybe even a golden era for TV series, personally I've never been into so many TV series as I'm into now.
Video games are not in their initial boon but still getting more fantastic as the computer technology rapidly increases.

In a way, these other mediums have a way of synergy with books. Most common instance might be when a book is made into a movie.

Here's a few which might be remembered:
Chuck Palachniuk, Paulo Coelho, J.K Rowlings, Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown, Neil Gaiman, Mark Haddock, Cormac McCarthy, Susannah Clarke.

Somehow I tend to think that the great ones will first be underrated. I don't know why would it actually be so.

[GuavaDrunk]

Maybe because their value is so seminal they seem only evidently decent until the passage of time flags up their timelessness.

[mfckr]

Somehow I tend to think that the great ones will first be underrated. I don't know why would it actually be so.

Contemporaneous popularity tends to be attained by those who make concerted self-promotional efforts at just that—to become popular. Meanwhile, the ones out there doing real & interesting work are too busy to play PR games, thus often going unnoticed in their time for lack of surrounding media buzz.

That's been my theory anyway.

[mu4]

Game of Thrones (Tv show) GRR Martin was a TV writer before he was a novel writer.
The Wire
Breaking Bad
30 Rock (Tina Fey in general)
Sopranos
Justified (RIP Elmore Leonard)

People are missing out that the great story telling that's occurring today is on TV not always in books.

Great works are generally popular(eventually) and have great artistic merit. Without popular support it's only known by the literati or a small group and that's easy to disappear especially during times of social upheaval.

The world isn't just Hunger Games and Twilight, this is just the tween market which big as it might be is very trendy and cyclical. Products here are disposable, and things like this get churned and churned.

[blackburry]

I was going to say me.



Unfortunately I haven't read what I would consider a truly incredible book in ages. (lack of time, motivation..).

One of my favorite authors is Tom Robbins. He's pervy, zaney, all-over-the-place. I've read five of his books and so far I've like them all. He supposedly writes them while he is on acid.

I also like an author by the name of Christie Hodgen... However, that being said, neither of their work is profound or extremely enlightening. I just find them to be a nice mix of dark humor, wit, and really entertaining.

[Radio]

No one mentions Haruki Murakami?

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is as close to perfect as it gets (granted it came out in '97).

[Scapegrace]

Thomas Pynchon and Cormac McCarthy are are the guys who spring to mind.

I'm amused by all the trash people are mentioning as for potential future "classics." It makes me want to kill myself.

[blackburry]

Contemporaneous popularity tends to be attained by those who make concerted self-promotional efforts at just that—to become popular. Meanwhile, the ones out there doing real & interesting work are too busy to play PR games, thus often going unnoticed in their time for lack of surrounding media buzz.

That's been my theory anyway.

[mfckr]

I agree with the above post.

[Galen]

No one mentions Haruki Murakami?

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is as close to perfect as it gets (granted it came out in '97).

I'm a Murakami fan as well, although he doesn't seem particularly well-known outside of Japan. Maybe time will change that?

[Scapegrace]

I'm a Murakami fan as well, although he doesn't seem particularly well-known outside of Japan. Maybe time will change that?

I read some Murakami just because his work was compared to my boyfirend's. Eh. His novels are just too... Emo for me. I like his prose okay though.

[Galen]

I read some Murakami just because his work was compared to my boyfirend's. Eh. His novels are just too... Emo for me. I like his prose okay though.

His short stories are fun little reads. I tried to read Norwegian Wood, but it did end up far too self-pitying to keep my interest going. His works mostly appeal to the young adult market anyway, which I fear I was always too old for to really get into.

[xerx]

i've read mein kampf. other dictator's novels (e.g. gaddafi, saddam hussein) will probably survive and be read (at least in the region, since they don't have the same notoriety)