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Moxie
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Never read Rushdie. I count on my fingers the number of alive novelists I read. Even 20th century as a whole still makes up for a small number in my case. I will think about that when I finally have time to even think about something again...
I haven't. I've still got to get round to reading the last recommendations which I was about to read before I got my new job & found out that I had to do an online course on archiving & had a lot of reading to do on archiving for a presentation on archiving which I helped give last week. (Some of it was boring, the history bit was fascinating & the practical bit was useful.) It went well. The only job with dead-lines I've got on now is to knit a scarf for Xmas so I can get some reading done which isn't work-related.
Thank you very much for the recommendation. I've added it to my T.B.R. list.
tented
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I know the "May I" you used is a polite way of expressing oneself but anyway there's a Brazilian proverb that goes roughly like "asking does not offend", and personally I really don't think I would never be bothered by someone asking anything. Maybe by "do you have a two handed backhand?"
Definitely this one would offend me. How dare you even think of that? I KNOW YOU DID!!!
...aham, back to the point. I was re-heading my quoted posted and -- as it is quite common unfortunately -- when I post without calm enough to read what I write I often don't express my self well and/or miss important bits of information. My answer will show that I actually read and like quite a lot of XXth century authors -- even if predominantly from the first half of it. By the way I will restrict myself to fiction authors, which is I guess is your point.
If I would name a favorite author -- I won't -- there is a good chance I would say John Steinbeck (you guessed it, XXth century! duh!). I have no words to describe his literature. This world does not deserve him. Period.
Another author which is on my short list is Brazilian Machado de Assis, which died in the beginning of the XX century (ok, we can close our eyes and count him as XIXth century, even if he did write marvelous books in the XXth century).
Camus is a full XXth century author I like a lot. Brazilian Guimarães Rosa as well. Someone like Thomas Hardy -- who lived the whole first quarter of the XXth century is another author I like.
So I was being extremely misleading with my previous post, as those examples show.
The bulk of my favorite literature is the Russians, though. All the classical names that I don't need to repeat -- and that is heavily tilted to the XIXth century. I particularly like Turgenev, which is sometimes overlooked by the towering heights of the three-headed colossus of Dostoievski, Tolstoy and Gogol. I put him right there with those three. Another Russian I really like (who died in 1920 I guess) is Andreiev. One of my favorite books of all time is Lermontov's "A Hero of our time". He is completely XIXth century.
I like a lot of French authors, for example Stendhal and Zola, but one guy stands out for me:
Last but not least, Victor Hugo. He is another guy I could quote as being my favorite author. If I would compile my favorite quotes from "Les Miserables" it would (literally) make up for some 50 pages at least.
As you see, I am quite centered on XIX and XX centuries. So if my post made you think I liked some older stuff, I am sorry. I do read Cervantes, Sterne, (to randomly quote "older" authors), but they are more the exception than the rule (I highly recommend de Maistre's "Travel around my room" (hope this is the title in English).
And one last important observation: I really like Science Fiction, but "classic" science fiction (Stanislaw Lem, Asimov, Bradbury, a bit of Clarke, etc). I think these guys basically defined the XXth century and the beginning of this one (at least the good stuff). This is a complete XXth century phenomenon obviously.
And, there is a hard to classify author (which I think is science fiction in essence) that I love which is Kurt Vonnegut. He is so XXth century that he died in the XXIth century.
Finally, for me the best literary creation of the second part of the XXth century, by far, is Calvin and Hobbes.
Hope it clarified. Had fun compiling it. I expect a "payback" from you now!
tented
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Yes, it clarified, and in ways I did not expect.
My list:
Anna Karenina - the greatest novel of all time. I haven’t read War and Peace, but I got a copy translated by the same couple who did the AK.
The Sound and the Fury - Faulkner’s masterpiece. Who else would have dared to open a book, written in a first-person stream of consciousness, from the perspective of a mentally challenged young man?
Ulysses / A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - two more all-time greats. One of my favorite classes in college focused entirely on Ulysses, which not only forced me to read it, but also showed me how great it truly is. Its predecessor, Portrait, is also brilliant.
Don Quixote - I finally read this within the last 6-7 years, at the suggestion of @Moxie. It was a breathtaking experience. I couldn’t believe how modern it is. It could be argued it was the beginning of postmodernism.
One Hundred Years of Solitude - another unique experience, as it was my introduction to magic realism. The ending — which I won’t give away — left me with every hair on my body standing on end.
Also by GGM: Love in the Time of Cholera and Of Love and Other Demons
I love science fiction films, but have read almost no science fiction novels. I recently read 2001, which was much better than the film, and certainly more clear. I also enjoyed Carl Sagan’s Contact.
For fun, I read Anne Rice (yes, I know ...) Salinger’s Franny and Zooey is another personal favorite.
That’s all which come to mind, without combing through bookcases, so I guess they’re The List.
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It is on my very short list as well. Just to remember the page where AK ***** (redacted to avoid spoiler) gives me chills, 20 years after reading it for the first time.
You really should read WP then. In some aspects, it is very similar (the "novel" part of it). It has a "historical drama" side, as "historiography theory" side as well, and all three parts at times seem quite independent, but ultimately they are not -- it makes a hell lot of sense all together. Breathtaking to say the least.
Strange. I loved the Portrait, but started out Ulysses a few times and dropped it almost instantly. Felt so different. But it was more than a decade ago. Will give it another try.
I like GGM a lot as well. I read it in Portuguese (but it is a quite straightforward translation). I really wonder how it reads in English.
tented
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I’m so glad you didn’t give it away. When I finally read it, about a decade ago, I had no idea about ***** but encountered a spoiler midway through. I got a friend to read it last year, and begged her to avoid reading anything about the novel.
Did you read Ulysses in Portuguese or English? Have you ever tried Finnegans Wake? I find it impenetrable, and, in the spirit of the thread, can’t imagine a translation being possible.
Moxie
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I think we've talked about this before on the forums, but the best way to approach Ulysses, IMO, is through spoken word. It's easier to get that way, like poetry.
I'm pretty sure everyone agrees that Finnegan's Wake is impossible. I'm at least willing to believe that life is too short. Ulysses, however, is worth the effort.
tented
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My favourites list has a mixture of fiction, non-fiction & poetry.
In no particular order.
The age of the horse by Susanna Forest
Destructive emotions & how to deal with them & emotional intelligence by Daniel Goleman
All I ever wrote by Ronnie Barker
A history of Ancient Britain by Neil Oliver
A history of Scotland by Neil Oliver
The Vikings by Neil Oliver
The rise & fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbons
A history of the world by Andrew Marr
The horse whisperer
Palomino by Danielle Steele
Villette
Jane Eyre
Shirley
The Professor
The life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell
Canterbury Tales
Emily Bronte's poems
Great expectations
David Copperfield
Charles Dickens Xmas books
Oliver Twist
Around the world in 80 days/En tour du monde dans quatre-vingt jours (I've got both versions. Which version I read depends on my mood at the time. If I'm feeling a bit lazy I read the English version.)
Northanger Abbey
Mansfield Park
Emma
Anna Karenina
Dr. Zhivago
Anton Chekhov's short stories
Oscar Wilde's plays
Romeo & Juliet
Shakespeare's Henry V.
A comedy of errors
The merry wives of Windsor
As you like it
12th night
Shakespeare's sonnets
Lady Chatterley's lover (I don't think it's even 1/2 as explicit as they made it out to be in order to ban it.)
Women in love
Love among the haystacks.
Then my guilty secret part of the list. I still enjoy reading some of my childhood favourites if I'm having a bad day. These are:
Black Beauty
Greyfriar's Bobby
Anne of Greengables
The little women series of books & the little house series of books.
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Moxie
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I'll just go off the top of my head, too, and riff off of what others have said. I generally prefer classics to a lot of new stuff, but pepper some in. I'm woeful on the Russians and the French. Some of you know that my education was in Spanish and Italian lit, so I'm also behind on some American and English classics. I agree on García Márquez, and esp. One Hundred Years of Solitude. It's on my list to revisit. We discussed many times, but Don Quixote is one of the best books ever written. Pablo Neruda is a poetry go-to and Roberto Bolaño is a newer favorite. Love Dante, and Natalia Ginzburg is an Italian modernist that grabs and doesn't let go. I also agree on Faulkner, and Gatsby is basically a perfect book. Like Horsa, I love Jane Austen. Among the more current writers, I like George Saunders, Ian McEwan, and I read an excerpt of Colson Whitehead's "The Underground Railroad," which is just gorgeous, so I'm keen to read the book. I've recently discovered Robin Robertson, a Scottish poet, and Billy Collins. I love a great short story. Random, but that's some stuff I like.
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No, make that 3. I like a good short story too especially if it sparks the imagination on a bad day & inspires me to write something good that I like.
(In fact I've had to control myself a few times when you got imaginative & stop myself from joining in your story.)
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I mean that when you write your more imaginative pieces on here which are like miniature stories I feel like joining in with you but I control myself, pal.
SO MANY WRITERS!!
Agree with so many of the previous posts
I grew up in the heart of John Steinbeck country so of course he’s got a special place , his descriptive passages of the Valley still resonate. I still eat once in awhile in his family home ( now run by a nonprofit organization) and The Pearl, East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men and my childhood fave “ The red pony” . I love “the Winter of our Discontent” , don’t judge me!
The older I get, interesting enough, his road trip memoir, “ Travels with Charley” I enjoy more, especially on his ruminations of a changing American landscape back then in the sixties.
Short stories - the great Italo Calvino and in the previous century Guy de Maupassant and I think Henry James had great short stories.
Novelists....One of the first books as a kid I ever read is still one of the best , Hawthorne’s “ The Scarlet Letter”, Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne!!
I go back and forth on my favorite Thomas Hardy, nobody can tear you apart with his cruel coincidences and twists of fate combined with his characters foibles like Hardy. The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the Durbervilles, Jude the Obscure (Father Time “ Done because we are too menny” ) and of course “The Return of the Native.”
What a writer Edith Wharton was, my fave “ The House of Mirth” and then there’s “ The age of innocence”, “Ethan Fromme” , read “ Summer” an atypical work from her.
Of Magic realism give me some Isabel Allende, “The house of the spirits”, “Eva Luna” , and “Of Love and shadows” ( is there a thing as political love story?)
The Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, “Conversation in a cathedral, The Green House, The time of the hero ( think South American Citadel) the war at the end of the World, and such a comic novel, “Aunt Julia and the scriptwriter”.
The Argentines Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares.
Carlos Fuentes surreal “ Christopher Unborn”
Homer’s Iliad/Odyssey, the plays of Aristophanes
Saul Bellow, The adventures of Augie March, Humboldts Gift, and of his later works “ More die of Heartbreak”. Nobody conveyed the Midwestern spirit/tone like Bellow.
Hemingway’s “ The Sun also rises”.
For poetry Pablo Neruda and Edna St Vincent Millay, and also the Indian Writer Vikram Seth, his novella written in verse “ The Golden Gate” is such an enjoyable read.
Martin Amis. Joyce Carol Oates.
Dashiell Hammet. Patricia Highsmith.
Toni Morrison “ Beloved” and “ Song of Solomon”
So many books....
Novels I have yet to read:
“Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain (should I turn in my American Card in shame??)
”Moby Dick” by Herman Melville ( well I’ve gone through the first 20 or so pages)
Ana Karenina by Tolstoy .... the funny thing is I read WP quite young in life, never got around to AK as of now , but does it count I’ve seen about 8 or 9 film/TV adaptations....
“ The Possessed” by Dostoevsky, this one is my bete noir as far as Unfinished novels. I’ve started it several times at different phases in my life so I am going to Do it. However I have to be in the right mindset to read Dostoevsky...
Agree with so many of the previous posts
I grew up in the heart of John Steinbeck country so of course he’s got a special place , his descriptive passages of the Valley still resonate. I still eat once in awhile in his family home ( now run by a nonprofit organization) and The Pearl, East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men and my childhood fave “ The red pony” . I love “the Winter of our Discontent” , don’t judge me!
The older I get, interesting enough, his road trip memoir, “ Travels with Charley” I enjoy more, especially on his ruminations of a changing American landscape back then in the sixties.
Short stories - the great Italo Calvino and in the previous century Guy de Maupassant and I think Henry James had great short stories.
Novelists....One of the first books as a kid I ever read is still one of the best , Hawthorne’s “ The Scarlet Letter”, Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne!!
I go back and forth on my favorite Thomas Hardy, nobody can tear you apart with his cruel coincidences and twists of fate combined with his characters foibles like Hardy. The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the Durbervilles, Jude the Obscure (Father Time “ Done because we are too menny” ) and of course “The Return of the Native.”
What a writer Edith Wharton was, my fave “ The House of Mirth” and then there’s “ The age of innocence”, “Ethan Fromme” , read “ Summer” an atypical work from her.
Of Magic realism give me some Isabel Allende, “The house of the spirits”, “Eva Luna” , and “Of Love and shadows” ( is there a thing as political love story?)
The Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, “Conversation in a cathedral, The Green House, The time of the hero ( think South American Citadel) the war at the end of the World, and such a comic novel, “Aunt Julia and the scriptwriter”.
The Argentines Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares.
Carlos Fuentes surreal “ Christopher Unborn”
Homer’s Iliad/Odyssey, the plays of Aristophanes
Saul Bellow, The adventures of Augie March, Humboldts Gift, and of his later works “ More die of Heartbreak”. Nobody conveyed the Midwestern spirit/tone like Bellow.
Hemingway’s “ The Sun also rises”.
For poetry Pablo Neruda and Edna St Vincent Millay, and also the Indian Writer Vikram Seth, his novella written in verse “ The Golden Gate” is such an enjoyable read.
Martin Amis. Joyce Carol Oates.
Dashiell Hammet. Patricia Highsmith.
Toni Morrison “ Beloved” and “ Song of Solomon”
So many books....
Novels I have yet to read:
“Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain (should I turn in my American Card in shame??)
”Moby Dick” by Herman Melville ( well I’ve gone through the first 20 or so pages)
Ana Karenina by Tolstoy .... the funny thing is I read WP quite young in life, never got around to AK as of now , but does it count I’ve seen about 8 or 9 film/TV adaptations....
“ The Possessed” by Dostoevsky, this one is my bete noir as far as Unfinished novels. I’ve started it several times at different phases in my life so I am going to Do it. However I have to be in the right mindset to read Dostoevsky...
tented
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LOL, same for me. The argument of what’s The Great American Novel so often comes down to these two, but I haven’t read either.
AK is a must-read, even though you already know the plot. I’ve seen a few TV/film adaptations since reading it, and I assure you — no surprise — the novel is immeasurably better.