Which Author is Most Like...

[Modest Proposal]

So, I was trying to think who the Dickens was of our time, and think I came up with a fun idea for my first thread.

Think of an older author and say who you think is most like them of modern authors. The idea isn't strict they don't have to be living authors versus passed authors, or completely congruous, maybe its just two authors you can't help thinking are very similar in some way.

Anyway, I'll start us off: Something about Saul Bellow reminds me of Dickens. I don't know exactly what it is but something about the scope of his novels and their language recall to me the sweeping and epic nature of Dickens work. I think it also has to do with Dickens ability to seat his events in a very particular time so that the audience feels that what is at stake is not just the characters but the huge cultural forces.

[dfloyd]

Louisa May Alcott.:banana:

[sixsmith]

Well, Tom Wolfe wishes he was Dickens, but anyone who has read the former's novels will know that any comparison is superficial. James Wood wrote a fine article on this very point, however I can't seem to locate it online. In any case, Wolfe trades mostly in cliche and he frequently recycles his metaphors. John Irving's name often gets mentioned, though I'm not familiar with his work. I think it was also Wood who remarked that De Lillo's 'Underworld' is largely referable to the work of Dickens.

As for Bellow, yes, i can see the resemblance. Certainly, both novelists regularly employ a cast of distinct and memorable characters. The evocation of the physical environment, namely the city, is also a commonality.

[Lokasenna]

Dare I make the suggestion of Daniel Defoe and Dan Brown?

[dfloyd]

the writer of Robinso Crusoe, Moll Fkanders, Roxanna, and Journal of the Plague Year, just to name a few, put in the same category as Dan Brown? Dan brown, might be compared to early John Grisham. And Delilo compared to Dickems is even worse.

[The Comedian]

Henry David Thoreau ---> Barry Lopez.