Stephen King is just one of the thirteen writers mentioned in the above list. I happen to disagree with your stance, but have you read, say Ursula Le Guin or Mark Helprin?
Stephen King is just one of the thirteen writers mentioned in the above list. I happen to disagree with your stance, but have you read, say Ursula Le Guin or Mark Helprin?
This is totally subjective. You can't judge which country has the best literature unless you have at least, I dunno, ten languages and have read significant literary works from loads of countries. Now if I was a record holding languages genuis reader then maybe it would be possible. Another problem is that no-one can judge what the 'best' literature is, because that is dependant entirely on each persons individual view. I would, sorry to but in, be inclined to agree that Dostoevsky is better than Ursula le Guin, but then that depends on my definition of Good Literature. I'm willing to bet that Stephen King has sold more copies to modern readers than many of the classic authors, but Im not sure than popularity equals good. BUT ANYWAY Scotland's literature is obviously the best (only cos Ive read most of it!)
Yes, perhaps I am in this case being narrow-minded and elitist, but I put literary influence above all other influences, as I already mentioned such a thing is entirely subjective-but looking at the immense literary influence that Flaubert, Cervantes, Kafka, Dostoevskii etc. exerted I cannot help but think that they are, in their own way, more influential than say Stephen King.'Influential' is an interesting word. What exactly do you mean by influential? A novel like It, The Shining or Salem's Lot has probably entertained more people the whole canon of someone like Rilke put together. In Salem's Lots' case, it pretty much revived the whole horror genre of its own in the United States. Dune is cited by most people as the premier sci-fi work of its era, Hyperion combines all the qualities of the space opera sub-genre with the edigness and ideas inherent in social science fiction resulting in a story which not only packs a huge emotional punch but is thought provoking as well
The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.-Vladimir Nabokov
human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars-Flaubert
what about Islamic literatures ?!!
In my opinion , I think Muslims has produced the greatest literature ((throughout time)) but alot of you have not read about this literatures yet ...
I don't know why ???
it is so nice...
Last edited by thuraiya; 02-20-2007 at 01:24 AM.
Originally Posted by EAP
i havent read most of those but the ones i have are very good. Remember that becoming important in a literary sense is harder as time moves on. Although its still possible. ANd also think about the disadavantage of sci-fi. Sci-Fi is obviously a very different style of writing. authors are making up culture and technology as well as characters.
Still Hyperion and Dune are just as good as some of more classic works in my opinion and they also have many other values that the classics dont.
[QUOTE][In my opinion , I think Muslims has produced the greatest literature ((throughout time)) but alot of you have not read about this literatures yet ...
I don't know why/QUOTE]
I am unsure as to whether by "Muslim" you mean "Middle-Eastern"-I have read "The Children of Gabalawi" by Mahfouz, and I liked it, still have to read his "Cairo Trilogy" though. I guess "Muslim" literature, sadly, is not very famous or available in Europe, which is sad I guess. Could you list some famous books?
The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.-Vladimir Nabokov
human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars-Flaubert
England
Ireland/Scotland
India
Russia
Well, I might say Ireland, for I do feel that the greatest novel that I have yet read came from that country ("Ulysses", by James Joyce. Dublin, to be specific), and the same can be said for all of Joyce's works. But outside of Joyce and a few others, I can't really hold the argument of Ireland for too long.
Greece, perhaps? With the great trinity of philosiphers that came from the country (Socrates, Plato and Aristotle), who could argue? As well as two titans like Homer and Pericles. Russia indeed comes to mind with heavys such as Rand (my personal favorite Russian-born author, although she is generally considered an American author), Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Solzhenitsyn, etc.
France has produced some of the most amazing authors, as well. Victor Hugo, Claude Simon, Gaston Leroux, Alphonse de Lamartine, Voltaire, etc.
It is also hard to deny the power of American literature: Bradbury (One of my favorites ever), Steinbeck, Capote, Fitzgerald, Poe, Lovecraft, King, Frost, etc.
I don't know.
I just appreciate there is so much to chose from!
Last edited by Martian Poet; 02-24-2007 at 10:46 AM.
"No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth." - Plato, Attributed
"Once one is caught up into the material world not one person in ten thousand finds the time to form literary taste, to examine the validity of philosophic concepts for himself, or to form what, for lack of a better phrase, I might call the wise and tragic sense of life." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Well we will all have personal favourites based on what we know and that will be based on what we are capable of reading (Sometimes a bad translation or a weak translation can give us an incorrect appreciation of a writer's talents - translation is an art of its own). Sometimes we take it for granted that 'the canon' is the best but that is not always the case at all and I would agree that if you want to become a good reader then you should 'read out of the box' as I think someone said above. It's good to have a shared body of writers to think and talk about but there are many, many many others.
I am sure that King is a decent storyteller and probably has no false illusions of his own lasting contribution to literature
Britain....hands down! As many scholars have argued there is no great American love novel like the British have. We dont get the gothic (well Poe) and love from any american author like we do with the Bronte's or the ultimate love story, Pride and Prejudice.
Americans do have their shiny places in science fiction and thrillers.
~~~
"Reader, I married him."
"For the rain it raineth every day"
"Sometimes I dream of trees..and the tree of my life.."
"Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast."
Too hard to say. Who's read literature from every nation?
From what I've read though, Russia. Although North America is not too shabby, either. Still, RUSSIA.
Even though I have a burning passion for Brit Lit, one cannot deny that wonderful quality writing has been produced by not only English authors, but also American, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Russian, and French authors! I am just an all around bibliophile, so everything is amazing!
American literature hands down. we can make a bonfire for all that Victorian literature, what a snore.
German philosophers surpassed even the Greeks, period.
"He was nauseous with regret when he saw her face again, and when, as of yore, he pleaded and begged at her knees for the joy of her being. She understood Neal; she stroked his hair; she knew he was mad."
---Jack Kerouac, On The Road: The Original Scroll
Yes i agree that its hard to chose one country over many when one has only read the literature of a few.
Only a few other that Joyce? Really? there are so many good Irish writers out there!
Seamus Heaney
W.B.Yeats
Padraig Colum
Gearge Moore
Patrick Kavanagh
Brendan Behan
J.M.Synge
Lady Gregory
Oscar Wilde
Oliver Goldsmith
Johnatan Swift
Bram Stoker
G.B.Shaw
Samuel Beckett
R.B.Sheridan
Sheridan LeFanu
AE (George Russell)
And Lets not forget Thomas Moore, one of the greatest ballad writers.
Brian Friel
Marina Carr
and this is to name a few!
"Come away O human child!To the waters of the wild, With a faery hand in hand, For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand."
W.B.Yeats
"If it looks like a Dwarf and smells like a Dwarf, then it's probably a Dwarf (or a latrine wearing dungarees)"
Artemins Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
my poems-please comment Forum Rules
And which coutries do you mean?
There are many small and neglected countries and nations. When I was in USA, nobody I met didn't even know where Slovakia is. In Paris, I stayed with one family for two weeks and French woman tried to explain to me how the toilet works. She thought that Slovakia was in Africa (though I'm white) and that I never saw it before. In Italy, people were shocked that in our capital there are "normal, painted buildings". Again, they probably thought we lived in trees... but no, Slovakia is beautiful, but not Lothlorien, I'm afraid.
My country (and almost all other countries in Central, East or South Europe) is almost invisible for people in other parts of the world. People in West Europe and USA don't even know we exist. So how could they possibly know our literature?
But that doesn't mean that we (and all those other countries as well) don't have good literature!!!
It means that today, "world literature" means American and British. With some others like Russian authors of 19th century (as if Russian literature ceased to exist after Tolstoy), and few authors from Frech, German and Italian literature. Occassionally (but that's very rare) authors from other countries.
That's so narrow-minded...
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