contemporary authors

[Abitrary]

The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Last outright brilliantly good yet fun book I read.

About american students accidentally killing a friend of theirs. It's got:

-the goofball conversation and antics of the friends
-the drama of a murder thriller
-lots of interwoven classical literature references, because it's what they study (so it also gives you the feeling of having read something weightier ;-)

Very cleverly done yet rampantly engaging.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I am kind of surprised that someone can recommend Neil Stephenson for his female characters (or indeed for any of his characters). His characters are pretty much cyphers and he can't write women at all. The Baroque Trilogy IMHO is a massive but honourable failure, and he's been getting more and more flatulent since The Diamond Age.

If you want some really messed up contemporary SF (and far better writing than Stephenson or anyone else around), try M. John Harrison's Light and Nova Swing.

I would also recommend the very underrated Tobias Jones, particularly Underground and The Cryptographer. Very literate thrillers of a sort, the latter particularly good if you are into surveillance...

By far the best thing I have read in the last few months however has been Dave Egger's What is the What. It is a novelisation of the life of a refugee from the Sudan, and not only will you cry, you will also learn something about humanity. It is a book that is worth a hundred prize-winning works of literary wankery, and happens to be written superbly too.

I will also recommend Haruki Murakami - his last novel was Kafka on the Shore, but if you haven't read any of his, I would start with Norwegian Wood. Murakami has forgotten more than David Mitchell has ever known, and indeed Mitchell's first two novels, both written whilst in Japan, borrow so much from Murakami that he must be wanting them back...

 

[red_tom]

The only thing with Neil Stephenson is his books are big and thick and satisfying but he doesn't publish often enough so you end up like an addict waiting for a fix

Next fix is due in September - http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/31/199215

 

[marinyork]

The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Last outright brilliantly good yet fun book I read.

About american students accidentally killing a friend of theirs. It's got:

-the goofball conversation and antics of the friends
-the drama of a murder thriller
-lots of interwoven classical literature references, because it's what they study (so it also gives you the feeling of having read something weightier ;-)

Very cleverly done yet rampantly engaging.

Agree. I found it an extremely engrossing read.

Other contemporary writers Graham Swift?

 

[User169]

I will also recommend Haruki Murakami - his last novel was Kafka on the Shore, but if you haven't read any of his, I would start with Norwegian Wood. Murakami has forgotten more than David Mitchell has ever known, and indeed Mitchell's first two novels, both written whilst in Japan, borrow so much from Murakami that he must be wanting them back...

Good suggestion FM.

Then there's also Ryu Murakami. I'd recommend "Almost transparent blue" and have just acquired a copy of "Coin Locker Babies"

 

[NickM]

...Graham Swift?

Ah, yes. Being East Anglian, I particularly liked Waterland. It was made into an excellent film - Jeremy Irons' only good one, and also the debut of the astonishingly beautiful Lena Headey (who, like Irons, has been in some real stinkers since then...).