Literary staying power

One Summer, Bill Bryson's survey of all the wild things that occurred during America's summer of 1927, includes a discussion of the writers at work during that period. These include the likes of William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Eliot and Dorothy Parker, among others.

Harold Bell Wright

Yet as impressive as this list of writers may be, these were not the writers most Americans of that era were actually reading. No, selling many more books than any of those listed above were writers like Harold Bell Wright, Cosmo Hamilton, Arthur Somers Roche, Coningsby Dawson, T.S. Stribling, Hervey Allen, Francis Stark Young, Hermann Keyserling, Warwick Deeping, Thyra Samter Winslow, Knut Hansun and Julia Peterkin. Never heard of them? Neither have I, with the possible exception of Wright, yet in the 1920s they were the authors whose names were found on the best-selling books.

Three authors whose books also sold countless copies during that period may be more familiar. One is Zane Grey, a midwestern dentist who made his mark writing popular western novels, many of which can still be found in bookstores. When my father-in-law was a lad, Grey was his favorite author, and late in his life, when he was nearly blind, my wife read Zane Grey stories to him, giving him a reminder of his youth.

My mother-in-law, on the other hand, grew up reading books by Gene Stratton-Porter, another popular author of the 1920s. At her death she still had a fine collection of Stratton-Porter novels. Smithsonian recently ran an article about Gene Stratton-Porter, calling her "America's unsung naturalist." The Limberlost area this author wrote about, not far from where my mother-in-law spent her youth, is now a nature preserve in eastern Indiana.

Another of the writers Bryson mentions is familiar less for his books than for his most famous character, Tarzan. This is Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Bryson's comments on these writers makes me wonder yet again about which of today's writers will be remembered at all a century from now. Who are today's Hemingways and Fitzgeralds? Who are the Wrights, Striplings and Deepings? And who are the Greys, Stratton-Porters and Burroughs?

On the most recent list of bestsellers I find the names John Grisham, James Patterson, David Baldacci, Jennifer Weiner, Scott Turow and Danielle Steele. Will any of their books still be read, or even in print, in the 22nd century? I doubt it.

There would seem to be two paths to literary immortality (or at least staying power): the popular path and the highbrow path. The former requires a book or a character, as with Burroughs, that will be remembered. A popular movie can help, as in the case of Gone with the Wind or The Wizard of Oz. Some books just remain popular with each new generation, such as Charlotte's Web or the works of C.S. Lewis. It certainly seems possible that at least one of Stephen King's novels or perhaps something on the order of The Life of Pi might remain in print for a very long time.

As for the other path, that taken by Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Eliot and company, that depends upon whom  the professors of literature and literary critics of tomorrow decide is worthy of their attention. Sometimes writers considered minor in their own times are later honored for their greatness. There may be no way to predict what will happen in the future. Those writing today are writing for today, today's concerns addressed for today's readers. Yet some of these books will also speak to discerning readers of tomorrow about concerns that are timeless. Who can say now which ones they might be?