Who do you consider to be a classic author?

I'm not referring to the "classics."  Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, or Milton.  I'm talking about modern classic authors.  Authors that have something to teach all of us aspiring authors.

I'm reading Anne Rice's The Wolf Gift, and honestly, it's taking longer than I thought it would take to read.  Not because there's anything wrong with the book, but because it's not written to be read quickly.  Some may say this is a plot-driven story because there is a bit of an unknown element to the book, but I think it's more character-driven.  There is a ton of character development and it's driving the pace of this story.  We don't know anything the main character doesn't know.  We discover as he does.  I find myself pushing the character wanting him to explore another room, walk through the forest, look at one more artifact.  I want to know more.  I want him to be okay.  To be safe.

I feel so connected to this character that it's making me anxious.  I worry that with the flip of one more page something I don't like will happen to him.

I find myself reading this story as much for pleasure as I am for studying how she's tied me to this character so much that I think as he does about the people in his life.  And that I fear what will become of him and his power.

Have you read anything lately that's taken it's time to pull you in and clamped on tight?

(Of course I'll let you know how this one goes.)