2007 Authors Poll

Please vote for the authors you would like to read during 2007 here by November 30th.

You can vote for more than one author.

(Please note that only those members with 50+ posts can vote)

Arkadi and Boriss Strugatski

Viktor Pelevin

John Updike

Salman Rushdie

Gunter Grass

Cormac McCarthy

David Lodge

Truman Capote

Jeffrey Eugenides

Kurt Vonnegut

Oscar Wilde*

Mihail Bulgakov

DH Lawrence*

Edith Wharton*

Milan Kundera

Joseph Heller

Henry Rider Haggard*

Ovid

Philip Roth

John Irving

Henry James*

Angela Carter

Ian McEwan

HP Lovecraft

Terry Pratchett

George Bernard Shaw*

Stella Gibbons

* = Available on the Forum.


Book Club Procedures

hummm could we really cheeky ans ask for a link about each author?:D:brow:

How come it so that quite a number of people have voted already? How much do they know about the authors above? Do they really know about all of them to make a good and fair decision so soon? Do they really know all of these authors or have checked those they don't in Wikipedia or in net?
Somehow we doubt it.
Don't just leave an author voteless because you have never heard of him/her. Perhaps he or she has written masterpieces but you won't vote for him/her because you haven't heard of him/her.
We make a suggestion.
Let's tell people about what these authors are and what they have written so that people could be a bit more knowing in their decisions, OK?
So.

The Strugatski brothers are the peak of Soviet Russian science fiction. We seriously dooubt whether they have been bettered. (people have been discussing about the Russian scifi between two beliefs: The Strugatskis are the fathers of us all/ We have started to overcome them.) And Soviet Russian scifi is a literature room about as big as angloamerican scifi. Compare the scale in your mind. If you have at least little interest in sci-fi,(and you don't have to. Strugatskis are universal literature) then Strugatskis are in the level or higher than, say, Simak, Dick, Le Guin, Asimov and the other famous names of angloamerican science fiction.
They are good, and yet different from angloamerican sci-fi.
We strongly recommend them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nightshade

hummm could we really cheeky ans ask for a link about each author?:D:brow:

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Yes, you could! :D

It's a great idea, Night. Actually last night/this morning when I posted the poll, I thought of doing it but felt too lazy and sleepy :blush:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taliesin

Don't just leave an author voteless because you have never heard of him/her. Perhaps he or she has written masterpieces but you won't vote for him/her because you haven't heard of him/her.
We make a suggestion.
Let's tell people about what these authors are and what they have written so that people could be a bit more knowing in their decisions, OK?

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Personally speaking, I was doing a little reading on the authors as they were nominated and I have an idea about which books I would like to read next year so voted for authors of those mainly.


However, I think it is a good idea to give some background information on more obscure authors. Please feel free to post on the authors of your choice and campaign! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taliesin

How come it so that quite a number of people have voted already? How much do they know about the authors above? Do they really know about all of them to make a good and fair decision so soon? Do they really know all of these authors or have checked those they don't in Wikipedia or in net?
Somehow we doubt it.
Don't just leave an author voteless because you have never heard of him/her. Perhaps he or she has written masterpieces but you won't vote for him/her because you haven't heard of him/her.
We make a suggestion.
Let's tell people about what these authors are and what they have written so that people could be a bit more knowing in their decisions, OK?
So.

The Strugatski brothers are the peak of Soviet Russian science fiction. We seriously dooubt whether they have been bettered. (people have been discussing about the Russian scifi between two beliefs: The Strugatskis are the fathers of us all/ We have started to overcome them.) And Soviet Russian scifi is a literature room about as big as angloamerican scifi. Compare the scale in your mind. If you have at least little interest in sci-fi,(and you don't have to. Strugatskis are universal literature) then Strugatskis are in the level or higher than, say, Simak, Dick, Le Guin, Asimov and the other famous names of angloamerican science fiction.
They are good, and yet different from angloamerican sci-fi.
We strongly recommend them.

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You've convinced me!

And have shamed me into researching the rest of the authors I haven't heard of, I have a month for this, but if I miss this poll too I'm not gonna be happy!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by papayahed

You've convinced me!

And have shamed me into researching the rest of the authors I haven't heard of, I have a month for this, but if I miss this poll too I'm not gonna be happy!

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There are quick links to the authors nominated in my first post if that makes things easier for you.

And you have two months to vote!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taliesin

How come it so that quite a number of people have voted already? How much do they know about the authors above? Do they really know about all of them to make a good and fair decision so soon? Do they really know all of these authors or have checked those they don't in Wikipedia or in net?
Somehow we doubt it.
Don't just leave an author voteless because you have never heard of him/her. Perhaps he or she has written masterpieces but you won't vote for him/her because you haven't heard of him/her.
We make a suggestion.
Let's tell people about what these authors are and what they have written so that people could be a bit more knowing in their decisions, OK?
So.

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I don't think so that it take much time to search for some authors on net. Oh well, that's another thing if you start reading their details. And most of the authors like John Updike, George Bernard Shaw, Terry Pratchett, DH Lawrance, Salman Rushdie and Oscar Wilde, are the one's most of us already know about a bit.

But that's certainly a good idea if the nominator provide a basic information of his/her nomination, so we wouldn't have to search at wikipedia and other sources on net.

As for my nomination, John Updike, I will say that he seems like a good author. (I have got The Centaur at home.) Mostly, his works are based on fantasy and he has published poetry, literary critisism and some other children books as well such as Rabbit novels.

Well I am glad we can vote for quite a few. Some of the authors I have around here waiting to be read so I will have to vote for them, and others (I already researched during nominations) sound so good!

I will post some information about the authors I nominated a little later.

Since I picked Cormac MaCarthy, and perhaps most have not heard of him, here's a blurb from Wiki encyclopedia:

Quote:

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Cormac McCarthy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Cormac McCarthy

Born: July 20, 1933
Providence, Rhode Island
Occupation(s): Writer,Playwright
Genre(s): Literature
Magnum opus: Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West, The Border Trilogy
Influences: Herman Melville,William Faulkner
Website: Official Website
For the musician Cormac McCarthy, see Cormac McCarthy (musician).

Cormac McCarthy is an American novelist, author of nine Southern Gothic and Western novels. He lives in the Tesuque area of Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife, Jennifer Winkley and their son John.

Literary critic Harold Bloom has named him as one of the four major American novelists of his time, along with Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, and Philip Roth. He is frequently compared by modern reviewers to William Faulkner and, less often, Herman Melville.

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You can read the rest of it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormac_McCarthy

I consider him at the top of the American novelists writing today.

Please note that the first post in the thread includes quick links to the author bios included in the poll.

Oh, sorry Scher. I didn't realize. And i bet most people aren't clicking the link.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Virgil

Oh, sorry Scher. I didn't realize.

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Nothing to apologise for. :)

Quote:

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And i bet most people aren't clicking the link.

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...which is why I inserted a reminder :)

The result as it stands at the moment:

Oscar Wilde* 7

D.H. Lawrence* 7

Milan Kundera 7

John Updike 6

Edith Wharton* 6

John Irving 6

Henry James* 6

George Bernard Shaw* 6

Truman Capote 5

Ovid 5

Ian McEwan 5

Salman Rushdie 4

Gunter Grass 4

Jeffrey Eugenides 4

Kurt Vonnegut 4

Mihail Bulgakov 4

H.P Lovecraft 4

Cormac McCarthy 3

Joseph Heller 3

Angela Carter 3

Arkadi and Boriss Strugatski 2

Viktor Pelevin 2

David Lodge 2

Henry Rider Haggard* 2

Philip Roth 2

Terry Pratchett 2

Stella Gibbons 1


The first 12 authors will be included in our 2007 reading list.

What if there's a tie? For example, right now Rushdie, Grass, Eugenides, Vonnegut, and Bulgakov are all tied for 12th place.

Rushdie is the best