Favourite author

[Flying_Monkey]

It's all subjective. It's "art". There is no definitive rule that can be applied to prove that Book A is "greater / better / importanter" than Book B.

Not entirely true IMHO. There are quite a lot of intersubjective criteria that can be agreed upon - this is why there are plenty of authors and books that are generally accepted as being 'great' or 'important'. This still makes no difference to the personal subjective experience of enjoyment...

 

[papercorn2000]

Not entirely true IMHO. There are quite a lot of intersubjective criteria that can be agreed upon - this is why there are plenty of authors and books that are generally accepted as being 'great' or 'important'. This still makes no difference to the personal subjective experience of enjoyment...

You just made that up and hoped you could slip it in under the radar!

You are having a challenge at work today to see if you can slip a made up word into a conversation and not get pulled up for it!

I claim my £5!

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Added to my Lovefilm list - thanks for the reminder.

I'd really like to see [ulrl=[url]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092618/]Barfly[/url][/url], which Bukowski collaborated on (a collaboration which was the main subject matter of his book "Hollywood"), but it is not easily obtainable.

Ah yes, one of Rourke's best performances... probably because he wasn't having to act that much! Mickey Rourke is back BTW, having apparently put in a stellar turn as a washed-up wrestler...

 

[Baggy]

Ah, I have to add Spike Milligan to the list. His WWII memoirs are probably my favourite books of all time.

 

[WelshYiddo]

Bernard hare - Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew

One of the best books I've ever had the good fortune to read

Paul Auster is probably me favourite.

 

[swee'pea99]

+1 for Spike - hilarious.

I'm amazed by the number of people who mention Hardy. I had to read Jude the Obscure for A levels and it put me off for life.

My favourite author no-one else has ever heard of is Robertson Davies. And one writer who just makes me gawp at his talent is David Mitchell. Cloud Atlas is astonishing.

 

[ianrauk]

Paul Theroux (train journeys around the world)

+1

 

[Baggy]

I did Eng Lit at Uni and then couldn't read a book for years.

Until I learnt again to actually read a book without having to deconstruct it.

Wouldn't do Eng Lit again for that reason.

Snap!

I really like Hardy but dislike Jude the Obscure immensely, it feels clumsy. Hardy's poetry is worth a read if you like his novels (or even if you don't).

 

[User482]

And he considered himself a mere potboiler. Which I guess he was. When he could afford it he stopped writing books and just wrote poetry.



I did Eng Lit at Uni and then couldn't read a book for years.

Until I learnt again to actually read a book without having to deconstruct it.

Wouldn't do Eng Lit again for that reason.

I thought Hardy turned to poetry because he was upset by critical reviews of his novels? If true, I would like to thank the reviewer in question - he or she performed a great public duty in sparing us from more interminably dull and wordy prose.

Authors whose books I've enjoyed (or re-enjoyed) recently:

Sebastian Faulks - Engleby
Joseph Heller - Catch 22
George Orwell - Road to Wigan Pier
Lionel Shriver - We Need to Talk About Kevin
Tim Moore - French Revolutions

 

[sparkyman]

Harry harrison - For getting me reading in the first place
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files
Robert Rankin - Brentford Stories
Terry Brooks -Shannara epic's
Anne Rice - Vampire books
Bernard Cornwall -everything Sharpe related
William Shatner Star trek Books (cos he's still the capt)
Tom Holt -Early books

 

[papercorn2000]

Is intersubjective made up? So extrasubjective doesn't exist either, then? No wonder I only got a "C" in my GCE English Lang "O" Level.

YOu're playing the same game aren't you!

 

[Auntie Helen]

I really don't like Hardy, having suffered through Jude the Obscure at A-Level, and my best mate being a mad Hardy fan and dragging me around Dorset once.

I love a lot of Georgette Heyer's books, also Lois McMaster Bujold (not the most recent series), and a hard-to-find-gem on the Indian Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 by Valerie Fitzgerald called Zemindar.

 

[DJ]

Ernest Hemingway

Joseph Conran

 

[asterix]

Graham Greene

..and Conrad between which two there's a certain similarity IMO.

 

[Cab]

Just at the moment, I'm really enjoying the novels of Ian Fleming.

Favourite author of all time is Patrick O'Brian (his Aubrey/Maturan novels are, in my opinion, among the finest works of fiction ever written).