Best Authors.

[longers]

In no order

Fergus Fleming - two excellent historical accounts. One of North Pole exploration and another on the history of mountaineering in the Alps. He may have done more.

Joe Simpson - Touching the Void and others.

Terry Pratchett.

Mervyn Peake.

Joseph Heller - for Catch 22 alone. I found his other works ok but that one has been re-read many times.

I like a good few of the suggestions made by others here and it's got me thinking about what to get from the library next year.

 

[Abitrary]

If anyone's looking for a good all-round recommendation, The Secret History by Donna Tartt is my last truly excellent book wot I read.

 

[marinyork]

I read it a few years ago and really liked it, was a great page turner despite its length although I did wonder whether she was taking the piss out of university life (didn't make any difference to the enjoyment). Sadly in this discussion Donna Tartt is a one off.

 

[Abitrary]

I read it a few years ago and really liked it, was a great page turner despite its length although I did wonder whether she was taking the piss out of university life (didn't make any difference to the enjoyment). Sadly in this discussion Donna Tartt is a one off.

Tell me about it. I've been trying to get through her latest for the last 2 years. Think it's time for oxfam

 

[Melvil]

Tell me about it. I've been trying to get through her latest for the last 2 years. Think it's time for oxfam

I agree - I had very high hopes for The Little Friend after reading The Secret History but it was 'all fur coat and nae knickers' as they say up here.

 

[Abitrary]

I read it a few years ago and really liked it, was a great page turner despite its length although I did wonder whether she was taking the piss out of university life (didn't make any difference to the enjoyment). Sadly in this discussion Donna Tartt is a one off.

I know what you mean! I loved all the meanderings into the classical stuff they were studying in a trainspotterish way.

Now I think of it, that was the best part of the book

 

[Abitrary]

I agree - I had very high hopes for The Little Friend after reading The Secret History but it was 'all fur coat and nae knickers' as they say up here.

Did you manage to finish it? I'm still on page 38, where she's trying to convince everyone about the authenticity of her southern chicken eating characters

 

[Melvil]

Did you manage to finish it? I'm still on page 38, where she's trying to convince everyone about the authenticity of her southern chicken eating characters

No. I wasn't gripped. If a book doesn't do it for me, I just give up on it...there's so much great literature out there it isn't worth wasting the time!

 

[SamNichols]

Someone recommended Martin Amis, but only gave an honourable mention to Philip Roth? Philip Roth is a master at work: American Pastoral is one of the best books of the second half of the 20th century, and Martin Amis's hackneyed literary fiction comes nowhere close. Martin Amis is a goon, and I prefer his father's writing, especially Lucky Jim, to anything he has ever written. [enter annoying Manchester student mode] Plus he's probably a racist [leave annoying Manchester student mode]. I don't think he's a racist by the way, although it's a debate i've been forced to have, being in the same department as him. I just don't think anything he's written is any good, or worthy of the amounts of critical praise he gets. I like:
Norman Mailer (although only a few things, e.g. Naked and the Dead, Executioner's Song, the Fight).
Philip Roth (especially: American Pastoral)
F. Scott Fitzgerald

BUT my favourite author is:
(wait for it)

W. M. Spackman. Not heard of him? He was a writer from America, from the 20s onwards, a Rhodes scholar, and a Harvard man. He wrote excellent tales of relationships in North America. Hey Day is his finest, and can be found in the collection: The Collected Works of W. M. Spackman, which is all of his works in one volume. He didn't write much, and apart from that volume it is all out of print. Superb though, and he wrote the 20s better even than the Great Gatsby, which is an excellent book.

I enjoy 20th Century American Literary Fiction by the way, that's my thing.

 

[Abitrary]

Just read this, by Will Storr. Brilliant writer. He writes in the broadsheets and lads mags. He knows his audience though, and is measured. Very funny, and if he doesn't start writing a lot more stuff, then everyone must email him and tell him to 'sort it out?'

http://www.willstorr.co.uk/book.php

 

[Abitrary]

Martin Amis is a goon, and I prefer his father's writing, especially Lucky Jim

Martin Amis is a bit sensationalist. Something like London Fields, it starts off a bit like a ... let me stop me... it's like the trailer for resevoir dogs

 

[Dave5N]

There is always one thread or another going on about bands or musicians but it occurred to me that we rarely do the same for authors. My top five:

Anthony Burgess
Len Deighton
Flann O'Brien
Henning Mankell
Andreas Franz

And an honorary mention for Tolkein who I keep coming back to.

Ha Ha Ha Ha HA ha Ha hA!

 

[Abitrary]

Is Len Deighton the one who wears white trousers?

 

[spesh]

Is Len Deighton the one who wears white trousers?

Nah, I thought it was either Alec Guinness or Martin Bell

Oh, hang on, that's the man in the white suit...

 

[Abitrary]

Will Storr on giving up drinking:

1 Truly, there’s no fun like cheese-and-biscuits fun.

2 Used together, an electric blanket, a menopause-sized bar of Fruit & Nut and a Prime Suspect DVD produces a blissful, back-to-the-womb buzz similar to heroin.

3 The “social lubrication” effect of stimulants is still enjoyable if you’re sober. Simply wait until everyone is trashed and then, like an old person, start asking rude questions.

4 At chucking-out time, walk through the staggering clouds of booze-wounded idiots while listening to mournful classical music on your iPod. It will make you feel like Jesus. (I recommend Festina Lente by Arvo Pärt, or the Schindler’s List soundtrack.)

5 Never be afraid to leave. “This is shoot; I’m going home,” are usually the wisest words spoken at any party. And they’re most often muttered by that prematurely aged, miserably enlightened person hiding from everyone in the corner.