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Post by llanwydd on Oct 12, 2019 19:25:59 GMT
I am just throwing out some of the most notable names. Obviously I had to leave out some. My favorite is Michener, followed closely by Keillor. So what are yours?
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Post by llanwydd on Oct 12, 2019 21:47:57 GMT
I guess I should rank my favorites. In descending order:
01. James Michener 02. Garrison Keillor 03. Ray Bradbury 04. William Faulkner 05. Stephen King (a hack writer, but one of my favorites) 06. London 07. Buck 08. Ellison (I have only read The Invisible Man but I threw him in as a notable writer
I do not like Norman Mailer but I threw him in as a notable.
I would love some comments.
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Post by llanwydd on Oct 14, 2019 22:22:14 GMT
I hope I can get a discussion going. I will start by sharing some comments about my favorite 20th century author, James Michener, who I highly recommend. The style of his novels is semi-historical. In most of his works, he tries to tell the entire history of a specific geographic location. It usually begins with a description of the prehistoric geology, followed by a story about early prehistoric animals of that region, their activities, thoughts and feelings, giving actual names to the animals. Then onward to prehistoric humans, giving names to certain ones and talking about their daily lives. Then forward in time to the recorded history of the place, gradually introducing historical characters interacting with the fictional ones, progressing over many years to the present day. Some place names are real, some are fictional. I began with a book called Alaska. This one tells the story of the life of a woolly mammoth and eventually details the salmon industry and the invention of salmon canning. That is my personal favorite by Michener, but I would be more likely to recommend my second favorite, Hawaii, which is his best selling. Some other excellent books are Caribbean, Chesapeake, The Source and Tales of the South Pacific. The latter was adapted into the popular stage musical, South Pacific. Another one of Michener's best selling novels is titled Poland. This is very well written but I should give a warning about it. This is quite a long book written in the usual James Michener style and form, but apart from one comparatively cheerful story about the Polish composer Frederic Chopin and fictional events in Chopin's life, this book is relentlessly depressing from start to finish, describing the atrocities of the Mongols, the Nazis and other invaders, presenting the entire history of Poland as one long holocaust. Michener had a small output of non-fiction as well, including Iberia, which is an excellent book.
So tell us all something about your favorite author in the poll.
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Post by bravomailer on Oct 15, 2019 3:18:03 GMT
Joseph Conrad straddled two centuries but merits mention. So does Saul Bellow.
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Post by movielover on Oct 15, 2019 3:20:30 GMT
Stephen King
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Post by mrdanwest on Oct 15, 2019 11:30:25 GMT
Of the ones that you have listed, probably only Faulkner and Steinbeck would make my personal top ten.
Of the others, I like both Bradbury and King as masters of the genres, but would not personally rank them amongst greatest writers of the 20th Century.
Ellison only completed one novel during his lifetime and even though it was one of the most important novels of the century, that’s not enough for him to make my list.
For Buck, I have only read The Good Earth (back in high school) and, at the time, I found it boring. Probably should give it another read at some point. Same deal for London and Call of the Wild.
Mailer, I have the Naked and the Dead and The Executioners Song on my to read list, but haven’t gotten to them yet.
I have not read any Keillor and, other the perhaps Lake Wobegon Days, don’t really have much interest.
Haven’t read and Michener either as I have never really been much of a fan of expansive historical epics; but I probably should give him a chance at some point and would love a recommendation on a good place to start with him.
Authors that I would have included on my list that you left off (in no particular order): Kurt Vonnegut, Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, John Updike, Flannery O’Connor, and either Saul Bellow or Ernest Hemingway.
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Post by llanwydd on Oct 16, 2019 2:46:28 GMT
Of the ones that you have listed, probably only Faulkner and Steinbeck would make my personal top ten. Of the others, I like both Bradbury and King as masters of the genres, but would not personally rank them amongst greatest writers of the 20th Century. Ellison only completed one novel during his lifetime and even though it was one of the most important novels of the century, that’s not enough for him to make my list. For Buck, I have only read The Good Earth (back in high school) and, at the time, I found it boring. Probably should give it another read at some point. Same deal for London and Call of the Wild. Mailer, I have the Naked and the Dead and The Executioners Song on my to read list, but haven’t gotten to them yet. I have not read any Keillor and, other the perhaps Lake Wobegon Days, don’t really have much interest. Haven’t read and Michener either as I have never really been much of a fan of expansive historical epics; but I probably should give him a chance at some point and would love a recommendation on a good place to start with him. Authors that I would have included on my list that you left off (in no particular order): Kurt Vonnegut, Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, John Updike, Flannery O’Connor, and either Saul Bellow or Ernest Hemingway. You asked for a James Michener recommendation. I would start with Hawaii, which is Michener's best selling novel and the favorite of most of his readers. The first few chapters are a little slow but it really takes off after that. You get really interested in the characters and the lives they live. The first half of the book was made into a film of the same name in 1966 with Julie Andrews and Max Von Sydow. The second half was made into The Hawaiians starring Charlton Heston in 1970. My own favorite Michener novel, though, for various reasons is Alaska, which is the first of his I ever read back in 1996. I spent all of October enjoying it at a leisurely pace. Of the writers you mentioned in your last paragraph, I have only read Vonnegut and Hemingway. Somehow I have missed Updike all these years.
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Post by amyghost on Oct 16, 2019 14:41:25 GMT
Joseph Conrad straddled two centuries but merits mention. So does Saul Bellow. Same could be said of both Henry James and Edith Wharton for crossing centuries, and both ought to get a nod. Bellow should also receive a ranking, he was among the earliest and probably most influential of the writers expounding on the experience of fully-assimilated Jewish Americans in the mid-twentieth century. Ralph Ellison should get a higher ranking as an extremely important delineator of the Black experience in America as related by an African American, rather than a White--even a sympathetic White--writer, one of the first to receive major cross-racial readership and influence.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2019 17:56:11 GMT
Joseph Conrad straddled two centuries but merits mention. So does Saul Bellow. Same could be said of both Henry James and Edith Wharton for crossing centuries, and both ought to get a nod. Bellow should also receive a ranking, he was among the earliest and probably most influential of the writers expounding on the experience of fully-assimilated Jewish Americans in the mid-twentieth century. Ralph Ellison should get a higher ranking as an extremely important delineator of the Black experience in America as related by an African American, rather than a White--even a sympathetic White--writer, one of the first to receive major cross-racial readership and influence. Shouldn't he be ranked according to his talent and writing? Not skin color.
The writing should speak for itself.
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Post by amyghost on Oct 16, 2019 18:18:38 GMT
Same could be said of both Henry James and Edith Wharton for crossing centuries, and both ought to get a nod. Bellow should also receive a ranking, he was among the earliest and probably most influential of the writers expounding on the experience of fully-assimilated Jewish Americans in the mid-twentieth century. Ralph Ellison should get a higher ranking as an extremely important delineator of the Black experience in America as related by an African American, rather than a White--even a sympathetic White--writer, one of the first to receive major cross-racial readership and influence.Shouldn't he be ranked according to his talent and writing? Not skin color.
The writing should speak for itself.
I'm ranking him on terms of his writing. He was a Black author writing with regard to the Black American experience, and his works on that subject speak for themselves. His skin color had to do with his choice of subject matter, as lived experience. His writing is of first-rate quality, and should rank higher than several of the pop authors mentioned above on the basis of that. Would you have preferred that he write about something other than that? Have you ever read any of his works? Have you ever read any works by any African American author? Don't post simpleton remarks based on your known animus to any and all non-whites. Your reputation is already well known on this site, you don't need to look for ways to add to it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2019 20:55:44 GMT
Shouldn't he be ranked according to his talent and writing? Not skin color.
The writing should speak for itself.
I'm ranking him on terms of his writing. He was a Black author writing with regard to the Black American experience, and his works on that subject speak for themselves. His skin color had to do with his choice of subject matter, as lived experience. His writing is of first-rate quality, and should rank higher than several of the pop authors mentioned above on the basis of that. Would you have preferred that he write about something other than that? Have you ever read any of his works? Have you ever read any works by any African American author? Don't post simpleton remarks based on your known animus to any and all non-whites. Your reputation is already well known on this site, you don't need to look for ways to add to it. To be honest? Yes, I would prefer that he write about something else.
One of my favorite novels is written by a black gay man. I had no idea who he was when I read it. It was a used book club edition, no cover.
I read it and then looked up the author to find out more about him. I have read it a dozen times since.
I didn't read or like it or hate it based on his skin color and/or gender or his life experiences.
I just loved the finished work.
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Post by llanwydd on Oct 16, 2019 21:59:33 GMT
Shouldn't he be ranked according to his talent and writing? Not skin color.
The writing should speak for itself.
I'm ranking him on terms of his writing. He was a Black author writing with regard to the Black American experience, and his works on that subject speak for themselves. His skin color had to do with his choice of subject matter, as lived experience. His writing is of first-rate quality, and should rank higher than several of the pop authors mentioned above on the basis of that. Would you have preferred that he write about something other than that? Have you ever read any of his works? Have you ever read any works by any African American author? Don't post simpleton remarks based on your known animus to any and all non-whites. Your reputation is already well known on this site, you don't need to look for ways to add to it. I wanted to make this thread a pleasant alternative to the unpleasant boards. Please take it elsewhere.
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Post by amyghost on Oct 17, 2019 12:18:15 GMT
I'm ranking him on terms of his writing. He was a Black author writing with regard to the Black American experience, and his works on that subject speak for themselves. His skin color had to do with his choice of subject matter, as lived experience. His writing is of first-rate quality, and should rank higher than several of the pop authors mentioned above on the basis of that. Would you have preferred that he write about something other than that? Have you ever read any of his works? Have you ever read any works by any African American author? Don't post simpleton remarks based on your known animus to any and all non-whites. Your reputation is already well known on this site, you don't need to look for ways to add to it. I wanted to make this thread a pleasant alternative to the unpleasant boards. Please take it elsewhere. You might best address your comment to jamesavalon, who has a habit of 'sardonically' attempting to introduce racial remarks into threads where there's no need. A quick look at his post history can tell you this. I was simply addressing his point that Ellison deserves a higher ranking based on the quality of his work, not on his race, as jamesavalon wished to imply. I have had jamesavalon on ignore for over a week, well prior to his post here. That he appears to be making a point of looking up my posts and following some of them places the onus on him, not on myself. This has been reported to the admin, for what that's worth. That said, I now have him blocked completely, and can no longer see his posts, nor make response to them. I have no intention of disrupting this thread or digressing from its intended content further. Thanks.
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Post by hi224 on Oct 17, 2019 19:21:54 GMT
Am I pretty much the only one not big on London?.
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Post by nutsberryfarm 🏜 on Dec 20, 2019 21:54:58 GMT
reading 'the naked and the dead'---solid!
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Post by chilidoggg on Feb 10, 2021 14:58:30 GMT
I really like Michener. I'm not a big reader, probably not even a book every year. I've read The Covenant, Caribbean, and The Drifters. I just read The Drifters a few months ago. Fascinating. The issues they were talking about in 1969 really haven't changed. I wonder if there is a better book, or something as good, that presents a snap shot of that time period.
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Post by politicidal on Feb 10, 2021 15:48:22 GMT
Bradbury
Steinbeck
and the rest.
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Post by Morgana on Feb 13, 2021 8:26:07 GMT
I would choose among the top who also crossed into the 20th century: E.M. Forster D.H. Lawrence
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Post by Zos on Feb 13, 2021 12:36:26 GMT
All American?
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Post by nutsberryfarm 🏜 on Mar 5, 2021 5:11:24 GMT
John Fante
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