|
Post by Messiahknot on Jun 25, 2008 2:42:55 GMT -5
Heya. I was wondering are your current fav authors? I read fantasy, but WAIT - I know your all rolling your eyes but hear me out. . I feel like I'm instantly on the back foot with that revelation with the need to defend. I know people have a lot of preconceived ideas about the genre - but they are totally false and outdated. Its not just for kids and nerds ( well... . Some of the best written and structure literature I've ever read is contained in this genre. I challenge anyone to read something like A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (currently the big boy of the genre) and not be impressed. I like well written adult fantasy; dark, gritty, violent. I don't much like High Fantasy (for anyone that doesn't know, High Fantasy is that with trolls, and elves and dwarves - think J. R. R. Tolkien). Anyway, some of my fav authors are: George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire series (A hugely complex, intelligent and dark whirlwind of a series. The best) Guy Gavriel Kay - Tigana, The Lions of Al-Rassan (Very grandly written. Lyrical superb, based on real life history) Stephen Donaldson - Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever series(Great reversal of fantasy conventions. A dark anti-hero leper for a main character with distinct sci-fi meanderings) R. Scott Bakker - The Prince of Nothing Trilogy (Very dense and philosophical. Can be a hard slog but worth it) Steven Erikson - The Malazan Book of the Fallen series (Probably one of my only High Fantasy ventures, but its so good, I can't complain) So, what are yours?
|
|
|
Post by wank_herod on Jun 25, 2008 3:06:30 GMT -5
I haven't read any of the works you mention, although I do know the difference between 'high fantasy' and the type of literature you mention. I totally respect readers of both. These days, the closest I get to fantasy is sci-fi/fantasy/satire literature. By far my favourite of the genre is The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. Written in the late 60s/early 70s, these three novels are very funny and extremely well-observed, dealing with conspiracy theory, how we perceive reality, magic, and the counter-culture from which the novel was born.
I'll pick up a George R.R. Martin novel as you've rec'd him so highly and I've heard good things about him from others.
|
|
|
Post by wank_herod on Jun 25, 2008 6:42:42 GMT -5
Favourite authors....hmmm, I think these fiction writers are the ones who've, over the years, meant the most to me. I'll also list my favourite works by each author. I've included a couple of comic writers as, to me, they are no less valid as writers just because their work is accompanied by artwork.
J.G.Ballard - The Unlimited Dream Company, High Rise, The Atrocity Exhibition. My favourite writer. His imagination and ability to get to the very core of cultural and socio-political issues is unrivalled. A genius. Anna Kavan - Asylum Piece, I Am Lazarus, Ice. Her fiction is amongst the purest literary manifestations of alienation and mental illness. Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment, Notes From Underground, The Idiot, A Gentle Creature Albert Camus - The Outsider, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom. I've always been partial to existentialist literature. Hence my love of Camus and Dostoevsky. Patrick Suskind - The Pigeon, Perfume. Just a great writer. 'The Pigeon' is about how a man's whole life is ruined by a chance encounter with a pigeon at his front door. Great stuff. Pete Loveday - Russell, The Saga of a Peaceful Man. I love the Russell collection as I was Russell in the mid to late 80s. Living and working at hippy festivals like Glastonbury, up to my eyeballs in LSD and mushrooms, on some sort of obscure mystical quest, a regular on the 'protest at anything that the government endorses' circuit, trying to live life 'my way' etc blah blah. 'Russell' sums all this up beautifully, his adventures are very funny and very poignant. Alan Moore - V For Vendetta, Watchmen, Big Numbers, From Hell. The Man. 'Nuff said.
|
|
|
Post by pain93 on Jun 25, 2008 11:40:42 GMT -5
Agatha Christie. I have almost read everything by her. My two favorites are Death comes as the End and And Then There Were None
Stephen King, he wrote my favorite novel ever, Misery.
|
|
|
Post by trentsketch on Jun 25, 2008 13:14:07 GMT -5
There are ever so many. I'll just list a little sampling.
Charles Dickens Anne Sexton (poetry) Kevin Young (poetry) David Ives (playwright) Craig David Henry James Jonathan Franzen Joyce Carol Oates Diana Wynne Jones Lynn Truss Ira Levin Phillis Wheatley (poetry) Thomas Pynchon
And I had to stop myself. I'll give anything a try if the writing is good. And I wonder why I never have any spare cash after visiting a bookstore. When I was in NYC, I went without food for a couple days once because I hit the motherload at the Strand store. There are worse addictions, I suppose, than literature.
|
|
|
Post by obscure437 on Jun 25, 2008 13:28:17 GMT -5
Meh, not big on fiction at all. Chuck Palahniuk, J.K Rowling, Enid Blyton and Roal Dahl I think are the only authors I've read more than 1 book by. I've read a lot of Robert Crumb comics, big fan of him. Also Mike Diana, Johnny Ryan and Jose Angeles. Read a lot of Jim Goads zines and blogs, and his writing is absolutely fantastic. Highly recommended to misanthropes.
|
|
|
Post by obscure437 on Jun 25, 2008 13:31:39 GMT -5
Pete Loveday - Russell, The Saga of a Peaceful Man. I love the Russell collection as I was Russell in the mid to late 80s. Living and working at hippy festivals like Glastonbury, up to my eyeballs in LSD and mushrooms, on some sort of obscure mystical quest, a regular on the 'protest at anything that the government endorses' circuit, trying to live life 'my way' etc blah blah. 'Russell' sums all this up beautifully, his adventures are very funny and very poignant. Twat
|
|
|
Post by wank_herod on Jun 25, 2008 13:38:37 GMT -5
I've read 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves'. Being quite a fan of the comma, the apostrophy, the semi-colon and their kindred, and always eager to learn about previously unheard of ways to use the little blighters, I loved this book. The entire text should be stickied at the top of every internet forum and new members forced to study it before being let loose. After that, one single misplaced comma, one incorrectly used semi-colon, one tiny grammatical error would result in the expulsion of the offending user and perhaps a short prison sentence too.
|
|
|
Post by wank_herod on Jun 25, 2008 13:42:02 GMT -5
Pete Loveday - Russell, The Saga of a Peaceful Man. I love the Russell collection as I was Russell in the mid to late 80s. Living and working at hippy festivals like Glastonbury, up to my eyeballs in LSD and mushrooms, on some sort of obscure mystical quest, a regular on the 'protest at anything that the government endorses' circuit, trying to live life 'my way' etc blah blah. 'Russell' sums all this up beautifully, his adventures are very funny and very poignant. Twat But all that's in the past. These days, if I have a problem, I either kill it, eat it, or fuck it to death. To you, I'll do all three, in any order you like. BTW, I love Robert Crumb.
|
|
|
Post by obscure437 on Jun 25, 2008 13:43:10 GMT -5
Eat me first, then kill me, then fuck me to death.
|
|
|
Post by hardcockzombie on Jun 25, 2008 15:29:21 GMT -5
The only Palahniuk book that I love is Choke. After the disappointments that were Lullaby and Survivor, I've sort of figured that he really isn't for me.
|
|
|
Post by Messiahknot on Jun 25, 2008 23:47:27 GMT -5
I'll pick up a George R.R. Martin novel as you've rec'd him so highly and I've heard good things about him from others. I hope you like him. Try reading a sample chapter off Amazon to see if you enjoy it.
|
|
Jerry Ex
Horror Fiend
You're one spooky motherfucker, man!!!!!!
Posts: 76
|
Post by Jerry Ex on Jul 1, 2008 20:44:22 GMT -5
James Elroy Elmore Leonard Raymond Chandler Mickey Spillane Kinky Friedman William Burroughs H.P. Lovecraft Aleister Crowley Robert E. Howard
|
|