how did i forget Doughlas Adams!
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how did i forget Doughlas Adams!
My favorite English author is J.R.R. Tolkien by far!
Tom Holt makes the top of the list. Jonathan Swift was almost as good. Tolkien and Lord Dunsany are high on the list also.
In some ways Swift was superior to Holt, but Swift's humor was sometimes too refined.
It would have to be dickens, spending last year reading all his stuff was definetely well spent
On another note it seems quite a few people have trouble with the concept of what exactly england is - no it is not Scotland, Wales, or either part of the split island of ireland. These places are as english as germany is danish.
Mine would be Shakespeare :nod:.
You should say "as Germany is Austrian", since the majority in both countries speak the same language, if in a different varity; after all, you can't claim Scottish English is as far from English as German is from Danish ;).Quote:
Originally Posted by kilted exile
But I think schools are to blame, at least the non-British ones. In my English lessons past, nobody even bothered about distinguishing England from Britain :rolleyes:.
I've noticed that too Kilted. Just because we speak english doesnt mean we are english! Considering that Ireland Scotland and Wales all have distinct forms of english infuenced by our own gaelic languages and is clearly seen in our literature.Quote:
Originally Posted by kilted exile
I think distinctions should be made when studying Literature of ireland and Britain.
Er, having trouble of thinking of ones that aren't Irish...
I would have to go with Shakespeare.
Off the top of my head, I'd have to say Emily Brontë. Mostly because I relate to her a lot. And her life was as outlandish as her novel. It's a good thing she only wrote that single one; anything after it would be a step backwards.
thats a safe choice if ever there was one!:lol: Just post who you think is English, and if they are not we'll let you know. But there are a lot of English Authors out there JBI. I'm sure you can name some more! (or look at the author lists for inspiration!;) )Quote:
Originally Posted by JBI
There is a certain quality to George Eliot that really attracts me. Her stories are like warm blankets to me. My grandfather a college English professor introduced me to Dickens when I was about 8. We read David Copperfield together. The scene where Peggoty is proposed to in the beginning of the books was then, as still is, a favorite.
At my uni, they do ;). Lectures are always dutifully called British and Irish Theatre in the 20th century. We even have a professor from Ireland here (in the middle of Germany's nowhere, I wonder what brought him here :D), and every semester he offers lots of courses on Irish literature only. I'm planning to take one next chance I get ;).Quote:
Originally Posted by Niamh
It's quite remarkable that the Irish (and the Scots, too) have produced so many excellent works of literature in proportion to their rather small number of inhabitants. Must be something in the air over there ;) :p.
Milton or Keats! Quite the hard decision to make.
Milton and Keats! Good choices indeed!
Tolkein, Dickens, Darwin
An irish professor! That would explain the distinction!:lol: :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Schokokeks
you should do a course in Irish Lit Schok! Need any help you know where to find me!
And yes i agree there must be something in the air! We only have a population of slightly over 4million. About two and a half when yeats was around!
I must say the same...especially seeing as I have a quote from Adams as part of my signature! I think I am older than you, Niamh so I am going with "senility"...:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Niamh
Good point, Niamh. Cultural identity should be respected. (and no I am not saying anybody here has been disrespectful, not at all.) Ireland, Wales and Scotland have their own identitities, culture and language...they aren't the "mini me's" of England.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niamh
Hey, see how I slipped in a reference to Austen Powers there with "mini me"? :p (Dr Evil was in the Powers movies...He had a small clone that he called "Mini me")
:lol: I look at the book every day kathy! I think i'm worse off!:sick:Quote:
Originally Posted by kathycf
:nod: I think it is also important for a countries identity. Many writer represent there countries culture and associating them with the wrong nation can bruise a small countries identity. Especially when that country was once under the power of the other. i know scotland and wales are apart of britain but they are their own countres at the same time and their writers should be recognised separately from that of England.Quote:
Good point, Niamh. Cultural identity should be respected. (and no I am not saying anybody here has been disrespectful, not at all.) Ireland, Wales and Scotland have their own identitities, culture and language...they aren't the "mini me's" of England.
:D Aint nothing wrong with a good Austen Powers reference!Quote:
Hey, see how I slipped in a reference to Austen Powers there with "mini me"? :p (Dr Evil was in the Powers movies...He had a small clone that he called "Mini me")
No just saying all the ones that pop into my head are Irish... I know more than Shakespeare, but he shows himself to be the best. Other than that though, I would have to go with Jane Austen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niamh
Well you say that, but you're not the one that upon meeting new people has to do a "fat bastard" impression :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Niamh
Shakespeare, Marlowe, Coleridge
I like the Brontes as well, mostly Charlotte.
Oh dear and Fat B wears a kilt throughout most of those movies too...:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by kilted exile
:blush: Sorry JBI i was just joking.!Quote:
Originally Posted by JBI
Oh dear kilted! It could be worse. every time i go away people always assume i drink guinness and ask me to say 'top o the mornin to ya'.:sick:
H.G. Wells
I've just now read Jane Eyre, and I'm tempted to see Charlotte as one of the true great. Comparing her to Emily, however, is, to me, as good as comparing an apple with a bird. Their novels are so unlike...!
William Shakespeare.
"To thine own self be true."
(Hamlet)
James Joyce. Yeah, he's Irish, but what do you want?
What is being asked- English- As in from England not Ireland.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jolly McJollyso
:)
Is it really that hard to select an Author from England?
Is everyone who is posting Irish authors aware that there is an Irish Lit thread a few pages away?
Sorry am ranting! Again!
Ah, sorry.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niamh
Well, Thomas Hardy, then, or T.S. Eliot (ah c'mon, he counts).
Oh, and Joseph Conrad, of COURSE.
<--clearly a modernist.
Blake (amongst others) - his writing is truly from the heart and his poems are simple yet the meaning can be profound; I particularly like Tyger Tyger, Burning Bright.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lassie
William Shakespeare, Conrad, KeatsQuote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Lar
This is also "my" quote:
And this above all,
To thine own self be true.
George Orwell, Shakespeare, Woolf
Niamh: "Many writer represent there countries culture and associating them with the wrong nation can bruise a small countries identity. Especially when that country was once under the power of the other. i know scotland and wales are apart of britain but they are their own countres at the same time and their writers should be recognised separately from that of England."
That's not easy, and is sometimes scarcely sensible, unless they are writing in Gaelic or Cymric. English literature is a melting pot of cultural influences, and it is not possible, for the most part to unravel the cultural strands that make the fabric of any writer's work.
A good example is Conan Doyle, whom you mentioned a few days ago as being Scottish. In fact, although he was born in Edinburgh, he was of an Irish family (and from the name and position of his family, I guess Norman-Irish, not Celtic-Irish.) Doyle went to school, and lived his adult life in England, but studied medicine in Scotland. So, the only valid national label to stick on him would be British (not confusing British with English, and remembering that, in his time, all of Ireland was part of Britain, and remembering too that his early influences included Poe and Bret Hart, and his writing career was boosted early on from the support that he had from America.)
Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontė
Thomas Hardy
Since Shakespeare is God, and I am making the assumption here that God is not of a particular nationality, I will have to exclude him...
Woolf, Conrad (Good to finally see some luv for this amazing writer), Austen and Lawrence, in that order.
"Woof is overated..." *harrumphs* maybe you could notify every college library on the planet to this affect. If they remove all their Woolf related books they would have a few spare ROWS of book shelves. It must have been sheer luck or coincidence that she caused that many humans to contemplate her writing over the years...
Though I've only read one novel by each that looks to me like a very sensible list.Quote:
Originally Posted by promtbr
I'd like to add Henry Green. I've only read Living, but it's really a great novel, in its own quiet way.