A Balance Between Story and Style.

Basically, a year ago I would have said writing style and prose is one of the most important factors for me enjoying any book (After being knocked out cold by Lolita). While that is still a major barrier to entry for me, I find that - as long as the prose has a clear and distinguished voice - the story is what I am looking for in my novels these days.

Don’t get me wrong, I still need good writing. Anything that seems pedestrian or plain will always be a turn off. But I’m not going out there and looking for the prose masters anymore.

So I guess I’m hoping you guys can offer me some recommendations with this in mind. To get an idea of my tastes and what I’m looking for the following are the books I have read and LOVED recently:

Life of Pi, The Road, Flowers for Algernon, Invisible Cities, Beloved, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

I love grim, and almost hopeless stories, they just get me more emotionally engaged and stick with me for longer. Hope you guys can help add to my to read list. :)

Thanks so much guys.

~
Grech

I would suggest that you just read whatever may seem like a good idea, because there are no good recommendations, because tastes vary. You might look at some of the highly reputed authors and see whether you like them. Generally, the bad authors are forgotten after a few decades, and even some of the good ones are ignored.

Thanks, I realise this might be a wide net,

So instead of recommendations how about the discussion on which end you guys usually fall on. I'm sure story is always a priority, but are their authors and writers that have such a distinct style that resonates wiht you that you could read no matter the content?

I love Thomas Hardy and Scott Fitzgerald's prose. The opening chapter of Return of The Native is lush.

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Originally Posted by grechzoo

Thanks, I realise this might be a wide net,

So instead of recommendations how about the discussion on which end you guys usually fall on. I'm sure story is always a priority, but are their authors and writers that have such a distinct style that resonates wiht you that you could read no matter the content?

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If there is no content, then there is nothing. If it is not presented well, then there is nothing. I think that the style should fit the content; imagine Emily Bronte writing space opera. Many of the recent fantasy writers seem to write only for the style, and it is some of the worst fiction that I have encounteres. That's as bad as when someone takes eight hundred pages for a three hundred page novel; part of that problem is with publishers who think that people buy novels to take up space rather than for reading.

Personally, I prefer authors who find humor in anything. I an finishing Kurt Vonnegit's, jr.s' last novel now, and I have laughed out loud in places. The late, great G. C. Edmondson wrote one of the funniest novells ever, The Aluminum Man.

The two most enjoyable books I read this year,while recovering from an accident were "The God of Small Things." by Arundhati Roy and "The Hare with Amber Eyes." by Edmund de Waal.