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Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:23 pm
My all time favourite writer is (maybe) Thomas Pynchon.
His books are huge, dense seas of prose. They are profane while also being poignant and beautiful. He is one of the few writers who can seemingly do anything with language.
I'm also a big fan other modernist/postmodernist writers, particularly ones with a tendency for maximalism. That is: James Joyce, David Foster Wallace, Roberto Bolaño etc.
Oh, and dystopian writers like Orwell, Huxley and Bradbury.
Interestingly, Orwell wrote a lot outside of the political/dystopian novels he's known for. To me, Homage To Catalonia is one of the greatest nonfiction books ever.
Oh, what about cyberpunk? Some of my favourite sci fi, due to it's tendency to be dense, atmospheric and stylish. Neuromancer by William Gibson, of course, is a classic. And Neil Stephenson!
To a lesser extent, I'm a fan of classic sci fi like Asimov, Clarke etc.
Oh, and finally, I've been into Margaret Atwood's stuff recently.
So, what about everyone else? Lets talk about books.
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RE: Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:29 pm
I read all the Animorphs books by K.A. Applegate. I'm even part of a forum that's still going over ten years after the series ended. Before that I read Goosebumps and fear Street by R.L. Stine.
I read some books by James Patterson, I think, but stopped because he had a tendency to kill off a character just to keep an ending from being a completely happy one.
I've also read LOTR and The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkien.
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RE: Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:33 pm
The entire Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series, by Stephen Donaldson. One of the best fantasy series I've ever encountered, by the only writer who has sent me to the dictionary multiple times in one book. And he managed to make me enjoy the experience. "Revenant," there's a good word.
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RE: Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:35 pm
(This post was last modified: January 18, 2015 at 9:36 pm by SteelCurtain.)
John Steinbeck, by leaps and bounds, is my favorite author. East of Eden is the greatest book of all time.
As far as contemporary stuff goes--love me some Michael Chabon. Wonderboys, Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay are fantastic.
Charles Dickens (Chucky D), Tolstoy, Hugo, Dostoyevsky. 'Nuff Said.
Frank McCourt. King of the Memoir.
George R. R. Martin wrote (is writing) A Song of Ice and Fire, the most sweeping, complex, compelling, and epic series in modern fiction, maybe ever.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:38 pm
I read A Song of Ice and Fire, too, until the five+ year gap. after that I couldn't even remember what was going on and didn't care to go back and reread it. Then this next book is just going over the same timeframe with different characters.
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RE: Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:40 pm
(This post was last modified: January 18, 2015 at 9:58 pm by Silver.)
I have read many books by authors in my lifetime.
To start, I will list the authors I have read but no longer read.
Piers Anthony
Danielle Steel
V.C. Andrews
Stephen King
John Saul
Johanna Lindsey
Anne McCaffrey
David Eddings
Mary Higgins Clark
John Grisham
John Irving
Tad Williams
J.K. Rowling
Stephanie Meyer
Charlaine Harris
I am certain there are others I cannot quite remember right now.
The authors I still read:
Dean Koontz
Anne Rice
James Patterson
Patricia Cornwell
George R.R. Martin
Terry Goodkind
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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RE: Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:43 pm
(January 18, 2015 at 9:38 pm)Chad32 Wrote: I read A Song of Ice and Fire, too, until the five+ year gap. after that I couldn't even remember what was going on and didn't care to go back and reread it. Then this next book is just going over the same timeframe with different characters.
Books two and three overlapped in time frame, so did four/five/six. I enjoy this. There are a lot of websites that give refresher recaps so you can remember everything that happened. But the gaps for GRRM are understandable, even if frustrating. Keeping track of 50+ storylines, making sure they none of them contradict, remembering all the little details so that things make sense and don't defy canon. Still, there is nothing like re-reading these books. They are an undertaking, but we have nothing but time. The Winds of Winter won't be here until 2016. (for now...)
Anyhow, I am just waiting for GRRM to confirm what I already know to be the ending.
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:45 pm
Maybe I forgot that the earlier books overlapped too.
The ending where the dragons defeat the ice zombies? I can see that coming.
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RE: Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:50 pm
"There remain four irreducible objections to religious faith: that it wholly misrepresents the origins of man and the cosmos, that because of this original error it manages to combine the maximum servility with the maximum of solipsism, that it is both the result and the cause of dangerous sexual repression, and that it is ultimately grounded on wish-thinking." ~Christopher Hitchens, god is not Great
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RE: Books/writers that you love?
January 18, 2015 at 9:54 pm
I think I'd have to look that one up. No matter, though. Ice and Fire is a good series. Part of my problem is that I got spoiled on Animorphs coming out once a month. If someone can put out 150 page books every month, a 4-600 page book should come out at least twice a year. Although Animorphs can be a bit inconsistent, with retcons happening from time to time.
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