Lesser known works of great novelists

blacbird · Nov 7, 2005

I've been reading Bradbury's famous "Zen in the Art of Writing" (a great treasure, a copy signed by him at a conference I attended a few years ago), in the beginning of which he mentions authors who inspire him, some famous, some less so. Dickens, Twain, Shaw, but also Peacock and Wycherly.

Which set me thinking about similar matters, authors famous today for one or two works, but whose other material, often equally good, is mystifyingly neglected or forgotten. From my own favorites, some nominees:

First, as a preface, a pertinent anecdote: A critic I read some years ago said, "Students are taught to hate Faulkner by being forced to read The Sound and the Fury." I had the good fortune as an undergrad to take an American Lit class in Faulkner taught by a prominent Faulkner scholar, who would have agreed with the critic. Not because S&F is a bad novel, but because it is far from the first Faulkner anyone should read. His recommendations for introductory Faulkner reading? The Unvanquished, Sartoris, The Wild Palms. How many here have read those? My personal recommendation for Faulkner's real masterpiece? The Snopes Trilogy (The Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion); same question.

Others, from my experience:

William Golding; many people have read only Lord of the Flies, which is brilliant. But few have read the equally good second novel, The Inheritors.

Joseph Conrad; Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim are well known and well read today, but how about The Secret Agent, An Outcast of the Islands, Under Western Eyes, Victory?

Joseph Heller; yeah, Catch-22 has entered the language, but who here has read the excellent Something Happened, or Picture This?

Victor Hugo; we all know of the two biggies, Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but who among you has read The Man Who Laughs, equally splendid and powerful?

Who else has nominees for undeservedly neglected books by authors famous today for only one or two things?

bird

SJB · Nov 8, 2005

I am so in love with this topic.

I nominate Joseph Heller's God Knows, because it is *wickedly* funny. It's told from the point of view of an aged and very cynical King David. Once you've read it, it's absolutely impossible to read certain books of the Old Testament without collapsing into giggles.

Vikram Seth's An Equal Music never seems to get talked about as much as A Suitable Boy or The Golden Gate, but it's just as entrancing.

Aldous Huxley's Point-Counterpoint is a better read than the far more famous Brave New World, though I don't suppose you could call it obscure by any stretch.

Oh, and Kipling's Stalky and Co! It's as entertaining and memorable as anything else he wrote. Again, it's exquisitely funny. God, I love Ruddy.

Um. Bedtime.

mistri · Nov 8, 2005

George RR Martin. While he's not as well-read as the others mentioned here, most (fantasy) readers know him for the Song of Ice and Fire series. Fevre Dream is an excellent book.

sunandshadow · Nov 8, 2005

blacbird said:
William Golding; many people have read only Lord of the Flies, which is brilliant. But few have read the equally good second novel, The Inheritors.

I read The Inheritors and didn't like it that much, but I loved his Pincher Martin.

KTC · Nov 8, 2005

JD Salinger's Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters

Flapdoodle · Nov 8, 2005

sunandshadow said:
I read The Inheritors and didn't like it that much, but I loved his Pincher Martin.

I've never read Inheritors or Pincher Martin, but loved Free Fall, Darkness Visible [Absolutely brilliant, IMHO] and The Spire. I also read a Novella he did set in Egypt which was very good.

Cathy C · Nov 8, 2005

I loved the Black Widower's Mysteries and Union Club Mysteries short story collections by Isaac Asimov. Most of his SF fans didn't even realize he wrote mysteries, but they're so incredibly subtle and sneaky that I just adore them.

clintl · Nov 8, 2005

Mark Twain, No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger

It's a wonderful surrealistic fantasy set in medieval Austria.

sandoz · Nov 8, 2005

My all-time favorite is Salinger's Franny and Zooey, but it's not exactly a lesser-known work. Or Truman Capote's Other Voices, Other Rooms, which I couldn't forget long after I finished it. Alright, how about Braughtigan's In Watermelon Sugar. Or Jon Krakauer's Eiger Dreams. Just a few that come to mind...

Jamesaritchie · Nov 8, 2005

Cathy C said:
I loved the Black Widower's Mysteries and Union Club Mysteries short story collections by Isaac Asimov. Most of his SF fans didn't even realize he wrote mysteries, but they're so incredibly subtle and sneaky that I just adore them.

I think the Black Widower's mysteries are Asimov's best writing. Many of the characters are real science fiction writers in disguise, so many SF writers have read the stories, even if readers haven't.

Though I think Asimov's least known work, and almost certainly his worst book, was also a mystery called Death at the ABA. It was only published because Asimov agree to write other books for the company, and Asimov said he was always more than a little embarrassed by it.

zeprosnepsid · Nov 9, 2005

I recently read "The Aspern Papers" by Henry James and really loved it. It's losely based on Lord Byron (or what happened after his death). I've never read any of James' novels because they're so big and imposing but this was a novella (or a long short story? I honestly don't know and I'm too tired to look it up...) and it's made me want to tackle one of his novels.

William Haskins · Nov 10, 2005

george orwell's "keep the aspidistra flying"

KTC · Nov 10, 2005

sandoz said:
My all-time favorite is Salinger's Franny and Zooey, but it's not exactly a lesser-known work. Or Truman Capote's Other Voices, Other Rooms, which I couldn't forget long after I finished it. Alright, how about Braughtigan's In Watermelon Sugar. Or Jon Krakauer's Eiger Dreams. Just a few that come to mind...

Franny & Zooey is my all-time favourite book. The Zooey half is pure brilliance. Zooey is my all-time favourite character. My golden retriever is named Franny after Franny. I didn't list it because I thought it was not exactly lesser-known too. I'm surprised though, that whenever I'm discussing fav books with friends, none of them have ever read that book. I must have read it about 30 times or more. I just love it.

Vomaxx · Nov 10, 2005

JRR Tolkien's short story "Farmer Giles of Ham" gives a whole new perspective on an author not noted for humor (in his main work).

Dostoyevsky's "The Possessed" (or "The Devils") is my favorite of his novels (and an examination, both serious and humorous, of terrorists--certainly a relevant topic these days).

JerseyGirl1962 · Nov 11, 2005

mistri said:
George RR Martin. While he's not as well-read as the others mentioned here, most (fantasy) readers know him for the Song of Ice and Fire series. Fevre Dream is an excellent book.

Yes, yes - his vampires on the Mississippi book! It takes place just before the American Civil War, and the Fevre Dream is the name of a steamship. Raw and sickening in parts, but I hung in there and thought it was very well done.

Another of George RR's "other" books: Tuf Voyaging. This is actually a series of shorts strung together (similar to Asimov's I, Robot). It's about a man, Haviland Tuf, who's fat, brilliant, and a bit arrogant. Doesn't sound like the type of character that would be universally liked, but I clicked with him. This is all SF, and it's quite fun. And it's finally been made available here in the States (I got mine from the library).

A book I think I'll be purchasing some time soon... :banana:

~ Nancy

Birol · Nov 11, 2005

blacbird said:
Joseph Heller; yeah, Catch-22 has entered the language, but who here has read the excellent Something Happened, or Picture This?

Heller's Picture This was one of a mere hand full of books that I was unable to finish. My impression of his other works that I've tried to read, heard about, or peeked into is that he was trying and failing to recreate what he did successfully in Catch-22.

The really sad thing is, Catch-22 is one of my favorite books of all-time, but attempting to read Heller's other works [temporarily] ruined my enjoyment of that novel. I've just decided to treat him as one-hit wonder and stop exploring his other works.

KTC · Nov 11, 2005

I agree with you Birol. Wholeheartedly. It used to bother me a lot when I came upon writers who were one hit wonders. I couldn't wrap my head around it. Heller is an excellent example. Now, I am just grateful for their hits.

Poor dead John Kennedy Toole is a great example of people thinking that just because someone wrote one great novel, their other works would be great. NEON BIBLE should never have been published. It was plain bad. I guess they were trying to cash in on his corpse...I'm sure he never would have wanted it to see the light of day. His one hit was a treasure I'll love forever.

Vomaxx · Nov 11, 2005

JerseyGirl1962 said:
Raw and sickening in parts,

Glad to hear that Mr. Martin's earlier work is consistent with his later stuff.

Vomaxx · Nov 11, 2005

Birol said:
Heller's Picture This was one of a mere hand full of books that I was unable to finish.

I couldn't finish Catch-22. In fact it is one of two books I recall literally throwing across the room into a waste basket. (The other was The Naked Ape.)

If you want to read a good anti-war novel, written by a military historian, try C.S. Forester's The General. (And the book qualifies for this topic, I guess, as Forester is mainly famous for his Hornblower novels.)

Jamesaritchie · Nov 11, 2005

Heller

Birol said:
Heller's Picture This was one of a mere hand full of books that I was unable to finish. My impression of his other works that I've tried to read, heard about, or peeked into is that he was trying and failing to recreate what he did successfully in Catch-22.

The really sad thing is, Catch-22 is one of my favorite books of all-time, but attempting to read Heller's other works [temporarily] ruined my enjoyment of that novel. I've just decided to treat him as one-hit wonder and stop exploring his other works.

A matter of taste, I guess. I liked both "God Knows" and "Good As Gold" more than I liked "Catch-22." "Picture This" wasn't as good as the other two, but I still liked it a good deal. "Catch-22" was, in fact, my least favorite Heller novel.

Tiaga · Nov 11, 2005

I have a old copy of "The Mucker" by Edgar Rice Burroughs who is of course famous for "Tarzan". I have started it a few times and have never made it more than a few chapters.

Steve 211 · Nov 14, 2005

Great topic.

Another nod to Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger, as well as Roughing It.

Conrad’s Youth and Typhoon.

Kerouac’s Dharma Bums.

Jack London’s Martin Evening, John Barleycorn: An Alcoholic Memoir, and The Road (the original On the Road).

Richard Bach’s A Gift of Wings and Biplane.

Lesser known works of great novelists

blacbird

SJB

Lhude sing cuccu!

mistri

Sneezy Member

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Flapdoodle

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

clintl

Represent.

sandoz

Jamesaritchie

zeprosnepsid

William Haskins

poet

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Vomaxx

JerseyGirl1962

I heart Malamutes! :-)

Birol

Around and About

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

Vomaxx

Vomaxx

Jamesaritchie

Tiaga

Watching

Steve 211

Here and There