Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Books => Topic started by: fuzzyoctopus on May 02, 2004, 07:41:26 PM
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So we've got "favorite artist" in the music thread, I thought we needed this in the books thread.
I really have to say Stephen King. I admire a lot of authors their talent and brillant mind, but he has a greater body of work than many of those, and I admire the way he wasn't afraid to make his own meta-world of fantasy, linking his books to one another, and bringing it together in the Dark Tower books.
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hmmm this really forces me to meditate and say favorite author of what?
Im a big Tim Robbins fan, but dont think he'd be it. Joseph Heller is a better choice, and yes he has written more than just Catch 22. (some of it is even good)
And if you want to know why its that the man can turn a phrase.
Yeah Heller with JRR Tolkein in the favorite but doesnt apply by reason of being a fantasy writer.
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Mmm, hands down its got to be Neil Gaiman. I loved "American Gods," and then "Neverwhere." I also loved his work on "The Sandman." As well his short stories in "Smoke and Mirrors" is awesome.
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ninja monkeys will kill you for that last bit.
Probably Graham Greene. No one has ever written something I could bring up a significant complaint about except perhaps Cervantes and Shakespeare. But for modern stuff, Greene comes close. Except that End of the Affair book. That one just annoyed me.
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You are all blasphemers.
The master himself of course;
J.R.R.Tolkien
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>:(
Tolkiens too easy...
Too cliche, at least for me.
Too untrue, at least now.
I really like JRR Tolkein, but love literature of all genres, and that doesn't even touch more scholarly works. I love Douglas Adams too...
But that doesnt make them my favorite authors.
Definately in the top ten, but not favorite
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Okies, I spose you got a point. Doug Adams is cool, R.A.Salvatore's good, and Trudi Caravan isn't bad as well.
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for comedy i would have to say a tie between douglas adams and terry pratchett
and for sci-fi: AE van Voigt
anything else:james lee burke
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No one has ever written something I could bring up a significant complaint about except perhaps Cervantes and Shakespeare. But for modern stuff, Greene comes close. Except that End of the Affair book. That one just annoyed me.
So I'm confused. Are you saying you like Graham Greene, or that he annoys you and you hate him?
As for me, "I could no sooner pick a favorite star in the heavens."
Or, maybe I could. I like Robin McKinley. Garth Nix is at the top of the list, too. Orson Scott Card, but mainly the books at the beginning of series or stand-alone books. As the series go on, the books get more boring (such as Xenocide--ugh, an entire book going on and on about this Brazilian planet). I really like his Enchantment, which is a great modern retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
Then there's Louis Sachar, who wrote Holes, and Cornelia Funke, who wrote The Thief Lord.
I really ought to increase my adult fiction reading. Most of my favorite authors are of children's books. But oh well. I like it.
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Hmmm...Orson Scott Card. His books are very deep in meaning if you keep reading them (and not stop halfway like most people I know do), and get into the depth of the story. Sometimes his work can only be fully appreciated with a couple of read thorughs of the same one of his books. BTW, he wrote Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, just to name a couple.
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BTW, he wrote Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, just to name a couple.
Yes, I know--which would be the books before Xenocide. I liked Ender, liked Speaker, hated Xenocide.
I liked his Women of the Bible series, and wonder if the third of the series has come out yet (now that I don't live in Utah, his Shadow Mountain books are harder to come by). And then there's Stone Tables, which is a great take on Moses' life, I think. I liked Lost Boys, though it was a bit disturbing. Read Folk of the Fringe years ago and think I need to reread it. I liked the Alvin Maker series, but again, it becomes weaker toward the end of the series. I still haven't read Crystal City because the one before it was so disappointing. And I have yet to read the scifi one based on The Book of Mormon, though I've intended to for years.
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I really like JRR Tolkein, but love literature of all genres, and that doesn't even touch more scholarly works.
I'm assuming you mean "more scholarly in my opinion" becasue his work IS scholarly. It's as literate as anything I read for my CmLit classes. He wrote criticism as well, you know. Go find his essay "On Fairy Stories." it just seems inappropriate to say he's not scholarly. No, TOlkien wasn't perfect, but criticizing him on that point just seems to indicate you missed something.
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Why Brandon Sanderson and Robison Wells of course!
Places large sums of money into bank account
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JRR Tolkien. /me waves flag
Honourary mentions go to EUOL, Robin Hobbs and Terry Prattchet.
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I'm assuming you mean "more scholarly in my opinion" becasue his work IS scholarly.
I guess you can infer what you want... at the time I was referring mainly to the 4 books Tolkein is known for namely the Hobbit and LOTR. I do have his other stuff (but the posthumous notes for LOTR published by his son shouldnt count as scholorly work as they were never meant to be published) His translation of Gawain and the Green knight is good, and the essays on fairy stories are good too.I guess what I meant by scholorly at the time was non-fiction history. Having said that I dont enjoy his scholarly stuff as much as I enjoy Garrett Mattingly's The Armada, or Stephen Ambrose's Citizen Soliders.
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Ok, well one thing that always annoys me when ppl start talking about Tolkien not being scholarly; he was a PROFESSOR! He was not just some story-writer, he was a professor of language. And look at his world-building and tell me thats not scholarly.
Pffft.
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Now your putting words in my mouth.
Stop it.
I never said he wasnt scholarly but however like old Anglo Saxon Epics LOTR and the Hobbit are, they are not in fact scholarly works (even with all the history Tolkien did in them) because they are fiction. These books and the Simarillian are literature.
His world building, professor of language or not is not in fact scholarly. Masterful maybe, but Tolkein isnt writing a history or an analysis of a real place, the story and back story come from his own mind even if the forms he follows are related to the the Elder Edda, Song of Roland and Norse and Anglo Saxon Sagas. I may give you some points on the linguistics but since they are a small portion of the books and used mainly for flavor I dont think they count either. If the LOTR was a translation then it would be a scholarly work, but in this case its a work of literature.
Tolkiens esseys and translations (Orfeo and the Pearl, Gawain and the Green knight and so on) are scholarly work, and while they are very good, I dont enjoy them as much as other books.
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I didn't put any words into your mouth.
When is "scholarly" confined only to refer to non-fiction? But each to his own i spose.
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one thing that always annoys me when ppl start talking about Tolkien not being scholarly
Which infers that I said he wasn't scholarly.
In my experience, and im sure someone like Saint could prove me wrong if I am, scholarly applies only to non-fiction because the focus of the work and not the credentials of the writer are important.
Stephen Hawking could write a childrens book, but that would not make it a scholarly work by its association with him.
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Jeffe, i think you're using a sense of "scholarly" that no one else would agree with completely. You seem to mean "historical research" which not only excludes ficiton work (debateable) but excludes the sciences and lit criticism and a host of other fields.
I also wonder what criteria you're using to say something "doesn't count." he wrote it, it's work he did. Why shouldn't it count? Posthumously or not, it's still something he wrote that people read.
No one disagrees that you can think something else is more worth your time, but most of your reasons for it seem specious at best.
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Also that he, Tolkin, wrote the book as a pratice in developing other languages and cultures just reinforces SE's points.
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I never said the criteria excluded lit criticism or science or a host of other fields, just fiction. In fact I claim that Tolkeins translations of anglo saxon poetry are scholarly so Im afraid your wrong in your assesment of me applying the term scholarly to purely historical works. (It just happens that as an ex-history major I used them a lot as examples, I could have equally used Platos Republic, or Das Capital, or even Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo da Vinci
by Bulent Atalay ) criticisms are most definately scholarly as are esseys, and thesises (sp), hard science, lit criticism and a "host of other fields" a lot of stuff can certainly be considered Scholarly.
I do not feel however that fiction is scholarly.
As for Tolkeins notes I dont give Tolkein credit for the work because they were was compiled and re-written by Tolkeins son Christopher (whos name is on the book jacket as the author mind you) from his fathers notes in his posession. A huge amount of work and analysis were put into the books, but not JRR Tolkeins work (at least for the Analysis sections of the work. Therefore Tolkiens work in the book for the most part is not Scholarly, while his sons is because he interprits the information.
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Yes and no Spriggan, Tolkeins letters clearly indicate that the Simarillion (officially begun when Tolkein was a Tommy in WW I is the book Tolkein wanted to write as a scholarly exercise (and also the book that the language he wrote was created for) ; large swathes of it were ready before the publication of LOTR. Houton Milflin wanted a more pedestrian work of fiction to capitalize on the Hobbit (considered a childrens storybook at the time) which had been cobbled together by Tolkein as a collection of stories he told his childern. Tolkeins notes show his struggle in writing what was origianlly started as a sequal to the hobbit that got completely out of control. He himself has been quoted reguarding the work as one of fiction, while he considers the Simarillion to be the scholorly work.
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I guess what I meant by scholorly at the time was non-fiction history.
That is actually the sentence I was referring too. I think you underrate his scholarly achievements in writing - imo, the notes are still HIS, becuase they're his ideas, not anyone else's-- , but i guess that hardly matters.
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So where was the problem, I qualified what I had meant in the first statement in better term, ie take out scholorly and put in Non-fiction history.
And imo I dont feel like im underrating his scholarly works at all. I like them, and think that there very good. I never meant to imply even in the first statement that they werent. That being said, they arent my favorite.
I see your point with the notes, but disagree, because the notes were not published in an undedited or unrewritten form. I think there is room to disagree here. Using a recent movie as an example AI was directed by two different authors using the same script with entirely different results in each half of the movie. The work that exists cant be solely attributed to one person (Kubrick) because the process of having someone else work on it and finish it compromises the vision. Large sections of Tolkeins notes were reinterperited putting the material in an ambiguous area that I am inclined to think belongs to Chris Tolkien more than his father. Sections that werent altered obviously belong to JRR Tolkien, unless commentary added to the text suggests interpertation other than his own ie.. if Chris uses that text to explain what he thinks his father meant or wanted to do. Its complicated by the fact that they are family and knew each other well.
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SO what, no one else has read Gaiman?
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So where was the problem, I qualified what I had meant in the first statement in better term, ie take out scholorly and put in Non-fiction history.
Just that you apparently weren't clear enough. That's what people were taking exception to.
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Ok.
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Gaiman is best with Pratchett.....
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The only Gaiman I've read is Coraline, and as I've mentioned in other places, it's not my favorite. Well written, certainly, but I didn't like the story. Maybe it was reading it at 2 am that did that, though. I should read other books of his and see what I think.
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Hmm, some favorites would be HG Wells, Alexandre Dumas, Michael Moorcock, Poe, Terry Brooks. I'm hesitant to mention a few others, because its more like I've read one book or series of their's and really liked it, but I'm not sure if one book or even a series is enough to name them a favorite.
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havent seen you for a while :D
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I check out the board all the time, I just don't bother logging on much unless I see something I really feel like replying to.
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Probably R.A. Salvatore. I love the Drizzt series, and he's done a lot of other great stuff. Either him or Chris Bunch, who writes some of the best sci-fi I've ever read.
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onion, do you perchance want to review Condemnation for me then? I'll pay for the postage to get it to you. it's by Richard Baker, but it's part three in a series that Salvatore came up with.
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Which series? I have yet to read the Demonwars stuff. It's on my to-read list.
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the series is War of the Spider Queen. I really want to send it to you. If I can get out of just one more D&D book that would be great
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If it's a stand alone book, then I'll read and review it. You can IM at Gafgarion924 if you need my address and stuff.
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Am i the only person with a memory? Check 3 posts up, onion. He answered your query there.
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onion, it is not standalone, but you know you're going to buy the rest of the series. Might as well get one of them for free :)
email me your address if'n you want it.
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My favorite author is Lois McMaster Bujold. Second comes CJ Cherryh.
van Vogt's Slan is my favorite book, but most of his writing lacks an emotional aspect Bujold has which is what I really love.
And I'm pretty much anti-scholarly.
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slan was good, but I preferred the world of "a", did you read that one, it had gilbert gossyne, it was eally good
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I might just go with Card on this one. It's hard for me to have an author whose entire body of work appeals to me, though. I used to really like Tad Williams, but he lost me in OTHERLAND. I loved Eddings, but I kind of outgrew him. Rawn is very good, but she's kind of disappeared. I'd include Hobb, but I've only read that one trilogy.
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I used to really like Tad Williams, but he lost me in OTHERLAND.
How amusing, considering that I don't care for his fantasy but enjoyed the Otherland books.
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Neal Stephenson. Ultimate geek novels.
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Stop bringing back old threads and read the FAQ.
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Which by the way would be here (http://www.timewastersguide.com/boards/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1080380396).
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I would have to say that Brandon Sanderson is my favorite author!!!!! * and not just because he is my brother ;)*
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*Fish reads previous three posts.
Sheesh.
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Fish, leave my sister alone. I've spent months trying to coax her back to the boards. Don't scare her away now!
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Thank you Brandon.
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I wasn't trying to be insulting. But you have to appreciate the irony, yes?
Welcome, Brandon's sister.
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Thanks
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Hey Loryn, welcome to the boards. What Fish was referring to earlier was the fact that you posted on a thread that had not been posted to in a long time. It's more commonly called reviving a thread. We usually discourage that because, after a while, most people lose interest in a thread, so that when a person revives it, it seems like old news.
There are a few guidelines like that that we all try to follow. If you want to see all of them, here is the FAQ, coincidentally authored by your brother.
http://www.timewastersguide.com/boards/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1080380396
Also, if you want to stick around for a while, it would be nice if you would introduce yourself here, even if you are already notori-I mean well known for being Brandon and Jordan's sister. http://www.timewastersguide.com/boards/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1051196804
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And since she's mine and EUOL's sister we'd like to add that anyone that's mean to her will get killed in the night by SE's ninja monkeys and then their corpse will be placed in the corner as a warning to all.
But as for favorite author, sadly EUOL doesn't hold a candle to one of the greatest literary minds of the 20th, 21st and 30th century. I'm of course talking about the great Stet Canister.
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I don't know; I think Cecil G. Bagsworth III is pretty good too.
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Hey its nice to know that my brothers care for me online! Thanks Jordan.