the books we meet

by joe snyder

The sheer number of books out today is impressive and at the same time imposing. Not only do new authors arise each year and publish wonderful books, but venerated and tenured authors continue to publish wonderful books as well. Using John Updike as an example, we find an author so established in his profession that not only has he won numerous awards--including two Pulitzer Prizes--but an author who continues, at the age of almost 70, to publish one or two books each year. Updike is a perfect example of the kind of author who has been the basis and inspiration for new authors who are talented enough to write successful first and second novels. Even someone such as John Updike, gifted enough to receive praise and acclaim for his earliest books, had to start somewhere and look to someone for inspiration.

There are many other authors whose successes and abilities to withstand the test of time have enabled them to reach much the same impressive status as Updike--the only difference perhaps being the quantity of books published and style of writing. Philip Roth, for example, received praise and respect from his earliest works. His satirical prose and perfect ability to capture the essence of everyday life and times in America are indeed quite impressive. The list of course goes on, from authors such as Salman Rushdie and Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving and John Cheever, Saul Bellow and Norman Mailer to Don DeLillo, Jose Saramago, and the incomparable Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

How many others can we name whose successes and abilities are unequaled in modern fiction? The answer is that new authors are just that: new. The freshness, ingenuity, and inspiration of the most modern in fiction are unequivocally the reasons for its success. The question is: Will such authors stand the test of time as have their predecessors? The answer? Well, who can say? Time will tell. The point of all of this is that while there are indeed a wide variety of new authors on the market, their fate most likely lies in their ability to write timeless, memorable, and intelligent literary fiction.

The reality is that writers such as John Updike, Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Paulo Coelho, Michael Ondaatje, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, will withstand the test of time and will always be readable because they have captured humanity to its fullest extent. It is not luck that these authors have reached their level of veneration and success. They have the key.

Yet, there are new authors who have received certain praise and acclaim for the freshness of their works, and these authors should be no more ignored or overlooked than their predecessors. Michael Turner, Wayne Johnston, E. Annie Proulx, Arthur Golden, David Gutterson, Jhumpa Lahiri--all brilliant writers today, yet I wonder if these authors will still be writing at the age of 69 as is John Updike?

When people decide to read a good book, an intelligent book, the truth is that while they may pick up the latest Michael Crichton, John Grisham, or Stephen King novel, they are not doing themselves justice. These authors write novels that are indeed entertaining, but they will never reach the literary success nor receive the acclaim that authors such as Updike, Vonnegut, and Garcia Marquez have and will continue to receive. Next time you decide to read a book, restrain from picking up the latest Grisham or Crichton novel. Instead, do yourself a favor and read a book that will challenge and amaze you with its lyrical and poetic content. Updike can write a novel of this caliber, as can Rushdie, Roth, DeLillo, Irving, Bellow, and their familiars, contemporaries, and literary equals. Through their works, we are personally invited to meet the book and read the person. Is this not better than the other way around?

Copyright © 2001 Joe Snyder. All Rights Reserved.

Joe Snyder is a fourth-year Communications and Business student at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia. Originally from Portland, Oregon, his interests include--but are not limited to--literature, electronic and underground hip-hop music, and non-fiction writing.