I really like Chuck Palahniuk and Irvin Welsh.
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I really like Chuck Palahniuk and Irvin Welsh.
Just win a few Booker prizes, an eventual Nobel Prize or a cult following and any of you budding writers will be classic lit in a few decades time.
So much current writing sounds as if the authors had either the same creative writing teacher or the same shrink. If I read about yet another disfunctional family or coming age I may scream. But there are some more contemporary writers that stand out for me--Michael Chabon, Carolyn See, Louise Erdrich and Eugenides are just a few off the top of my head. But then I go back reread Jane Austen or Dickens. I think you really need both.
Italo Calvino is one of the best "moderns" for me. I'd vote for Eco too and Bruce Chatwin was an Ace for travel writing. But yes, I go back and reread Austen and Co regularly!
well, naomih, i see the value of writing about dysfunction. it's not only a social commentary, it has tremendous therapeutic value. for example, have you never read "go ask alice"? and if i were to write about my road back from 15+ years of bulimia, and do it well, it would probably benefit another(s) in the long run. and i do love austen. but there Is a place for those topics you dislike so.
did you read anything? About Erast Fandorin for example? :)Quote:
Originally posted by Koa
B. Akunin (yeah :D)! I have heard of that from a teacher... :)
No I didnt'...I'm not even sure those thinkgs are translated in my language and my Russian is still too poor (so are you Russian, by the way???). Definitely something else I should check out...
(should should...I always should and never do...:rolleyes:
too bad...they are really worth reading. If you have the opportunity - definitely read 'em :)Quote:
Originally posted by Koa
No I didnt'...I'm not even sure those thinkgs are translated in my language and my Russian is still too poor (so are you Russian, by the way???). Definitely something else I should check out...
(should should...I always should and never do...:rolleyes:
Yeah, I am. Well, at least Russian is my native language :)
I'm far more likely to read modern lit than classic stuff nowadays.
After all, how can classic lit be as relevant as modern lit?
Iain Banks, Alan Warner, Sarah Waters, Will Self, Toby Litt, David Mitchell, Ian McEwan, Graham Swift, Nicola Barker, Adam Thirlwell, AL Kennedy, Michael Frayn, Alasdair Gray, Matthew Kneale, Andrew Miller, Julian Barnes...
All these are either great established modern authors or great potential talents. And these are only the Brits!! There are absolutely tons of good writers out there. People who have something to say about where we are, who we are, where we are going.
And then there are the classics......
Contemporaenity can't be the only or even THE major test of relevance in my opinion. Or,are we assuming that the authors we are talking of as "modern" today will be "irrelevant" a generation ahead? Makes the whole thing seem so ephemeral :(Quote:
Originally posted by atiguhya padma
After all, how can classic lit be as relevant as modern lit?
Part of the reason that classics are classics (most of them anyways) is because they address universal themes that transend the barriers of time. Look at Shakespeare, there will always be forbidden love, betrayal, jelousy, murder, revenge, ect. ect. ect. When things stop being relevent, they usually start to fade out. The ones that survive are usually still applicable today.Quote:
Originally posted by atiguhya padma
I'm far more likely to read modern lit than classic stuff nowadays.
Speaking of, I'm nearly finished with "Taming of the Shrew." Hadn't realized how similar I was to Katharine!Quote:
Originally posted by IWilKikU
Look at Shakespeare...The ones that survive are usually still applicable today.
:( :) :( :)
(chagrined, amused, embarassed smilies.) Yes, they are!!
haha. You cant be that much like her if you recognize that your like her... did that make sence? Anyways, Kathrine type people piss me off. And you havn't managed that yet. :D... YET :rolleyes: !
LOL
Just you...Wait! :D
btw, thanks :)
Irvine Welsh is OK, but Palahniuk is puke worthy. You'll grow out of it, kid.Quote:
Originally posted by IWilKikU
I really like Chuck Palahniuk and Irvin Welsh.
The best modern writers are Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, Russell Banks (he sort of sucks), and... I can't think of much else.