I am an aspiring writer and am always reading a lot and watching a lot of films, both for pleasure, but also in the hope of learning something. I'm wondering what pieces of literature you think a modern writer could learn something from and what specifically do you think a writer could learn from that piece?
I'll give a couple of examples to demonstrate what I mean.
#1 Dubliners
I did not enjoy Dubliners, but I DID get something out of them as a writer. What was instructive in Dubliners was seeing the level of subtlety that you can write on. I don't think I WANT to write with as much understatement, but it did expand my idea of what is possible in that sense and I think there will be instances when I will be able to apply that.
#2 Sweet Smell of Success
This is a film, not literature, but it serves to explain what I mean.
Quite simply, SSoS demonstrated to me how good dialogue can be.