Who Is Your Favorite Author?

PiaSophia · Jul 9, 2019

Roald Dahl. I grew up reading his books and as an adult could go days without eating, drinking, sleeping or breathing while reading his short stories. Love him.

(Oscar Wilde is up there as well, and I have more favorite books than favorite authors, but there ya go...)

Chase · Jul 9, 2019

Many, many favorites, but the author whose novels I buy to read and reread is Stephen King.

Albdantesque · Jul 10, 2019

Tolstoy is boring many times (although his Death of Ivan Illych is a damn masterpiece --influenced by Schopenhauer's philosophy), but he did show me what should I look for if I want to become an author.

My favorite writers are mostly philosophers. I don't have favorite fiction writers, since in my view the artwork and the author are two different things... A good writer sometimes may shine in a very ill-chosen topic, whereas an average writer may find sometimes a very interesting topic.

I have learned almost nothing from great writers like Hemingway and Flaubert. I love their style, but learned nothing from them. Tolstoy does not write so well as Hemingway and Flaubert, but I did learn many things from him

iBleed2 · Jul 13, 2019

I find Tolstoy to be fascinating. I picked up War and Peace and gave it a good effort. Probably got around 60% done with it, but had to put it down. Too dry for my tastes. My favourite author would have to be Hemingway. The elegance of his style stole my admiration instantly, and that ending to For Whom the Bell Tolls was absolute amazing. Not much philosophy in his writing as mentioned in the previous post, but I would argue that Hemingway was more of a Realist. Philosophy simply doesn't hold weight in these kinds of extreme real-life situations IMO.

Woollybear · Jul 13, 2019

Surprised by the preponderance of male authors being listed here. A few female authors, but mostly male.

My all time favorite author is Marion Zimmer Bradley. I know she had some personal issues, but her writing is amazing. Her characters are alive. She was tackling feminism from day one, decades ago, with Mists of Avalon, and her Renunciates on Darkover. She has also, as a personal mentorship mission, taken fledgling writers under her wing. in the end, it's her ability to transport me to new places that I love so.

I loved Joan Vinge for quite a long time. She had pages of 'wall of text' that described a single specific detail in such lush imagery that I simply stood in awe. Any time someone says 'avoid wall of text' I think of the rapture I felt at her walls of fully-realized text.

I've enjoyed Atwood and especially most recently her Robber Bride story as a great example of writing from three different 'strong' female viewpoints, each with a very, very different approach to life.

Sure, the male writers are good, and I 'grok' why we love them. I'm currently loving Matt Haig. A man. Amazing. Gender shouldn't enter into it--but to me it does, and frankly, the effort of female writers to 'do more' in their writing than to entertain is so, so valuable, so I'mma stick with Bradley, Atwood, and Vinge.

eqb · Jul 13, 2019

Octavia Butler, Ursula Le Guin, Jane Austen, Nicola Griffith

iBleed2 · Jul 14, 2019

Patty said:
Surprised by the preponderance of male authors being listed here. A few female authors, but mostly male.

My all time favorite author is Marion Zimmer Bradley. I know she had some personal issues, but her writing is amazing. Her characters are alive. She was tackling feminism from day one, decades ago, with Mists of Avalon, and her Renunciates on Darkover. She has also, as a personal mentorship mission, taken fledgling writers under her wing. in the end, it's her ability to transport me to new places that I love so.

I loved Joan Vinge for quite a long time. She had pages of 'wall of text' that described a single specific detail in such lush imagery that I simply stood in awe. Any time someone says 'avoid wall of text' I think of the rapture I felt at her walls of fully-realized text.

I've enjoyed Atwood and especially most recently her Robber Bride story as a great example of writing from three different 'strong' female viewpoints, each with a very, very different approach to life.

Sure, the male writers are good, and I 'grok' why we love them. I'm currently loving Matt Haig. A man. Amazing. Gender shouldn't enter into it--but to me it does, and frankly, the effort of female writers to 'do more' in their writing than to entertain is so, so valuable, so I'mma stick with Bradley, Atwood, and Vinge.

Don't mean this as an attack, but why should it matter the gender of the author? I never read a book with the author's gender in mind. I simply pick up a book that has garnered a good reputation and an abundance of reviews as social proof. I understand identity politics has seeped its way into every facet of society and perhaps I'm missing something, but the abundance of male authors being mentioned doesn't mean there aren't an equal amount (or more) of amazing female authors.

eqb · Jul 14, 2019

iBleed2 said:
Don't mean this as an attack, but why should it matter the gender of the author? I never read a book with the author's gender in mind. I simply pick up a book that has garnered a good reputation and an abundance of reviews as social proof. I understand identity politics has seeped its way into every facet of society and perhaps I'm missing something, but the abundance of male authors being mentioned doesn't mean there aren't an equal amount (or more) of amazing female authors.

Because so many people (subconsciously or not) default to white male authors. Or white authors. It's an unexamined bias.

And when male authors are the ones mentioned, listed, awarded, etc., that leads to more favorable contracts for them, more publicity, more awards, and the women tend to get erased.

PamelaC · Jul 14, 2019

This is such a tough question, hence the number of replies with entire lists of authors instead of one.

One that sticks out in my mind and that I haven't seen mentioned yet is Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed). I've only read each of them once, but I loved them all. I distinctly remember hugging A Thousand Splendid Suns with tears running down my face when I finished reading it.

TrapperViper · Jul 14, 2019

PamelaC said:
This is such a tough question, hence the number of replies with entire lists of authors instead of one.

One that sticks out in my mind and that I haven't seen mentioned yet is Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed). I've only read each of them once, but I loved them all. I distinctly remember hugging A Thousand Splendid Suns with tears running down my face when I finished reading it.

...+1

Marian Perera · Jul 14, 2019

Margaret Mitchell. She wrote only one novel, but since it's my favorite, she's my favorite author.

Otherwise my list would be way too long.

RookieWriter · Jul 14, 2019

Don't have a clear favorite and I jump around a lot between authors. I've read about 12-15 Stephen King books which is the most I have ever read by one author, not sure I would say he is a favorite or not.

PiaSophia · Jul 15, 2019

PamelaC said:
This is such a tough question, hence the number of replies with entire lists of authors instead of one.

One that sticks out in my mind and that I haven't seen mentioned yet is Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed). I've only read each of them once, but I loved them all. I distinctly remember hugging A Thousand Splendid Suns with tears running down my face when I finished reading it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns... I think I've read it three times by now. Cried every time. (loved The Kite Runner as well, but And the Mountains Echoed wasn't as huge a hit for me as the other two were)

PamelaC · Jul 15, 2019

PiaSophia said:
A Thousand Splendid Suns... I think I've read it three times by now. Cried every time. (loved The Kite Runner as well, but And the Mountains Echoed wasn't as huge a hit for me as the other two were)

Yeah, And the Mountains Echoed was my least favorite of the three, but I still enjoyed it. I just love the way he writes. I need to re-read A Thousand Splendid Suns. It's been so long since I read it I can hardly remember what it was about. I just remember how I felt when I finished reading it.

I rarely re-read books (unless I'm teaching them, I'm an English teacher), but one I did re-read was Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I had read it a few years earlier and liked it okay, but don't remember being knocked out by it. When the movie came along, I decided to re-read it just to refresh my memory. For some reason I absolutely loved it the second time. The movie was 'meh', in comparison (as movies always are).

Woollybear · Jul 15, 2019

iBleed2 said:
Don't mean this as an attack, but why should it matter the gender of the author? I never read a book with the author's gender in mind. I simply pick up a book that has garnered a good reputation and an abundance of reviews as social proof. I understand identity politics has seeped its way into every facet of society and perhaps I'm missing something, but the abundance of male authors being mentioned doesn't mean there aren't an equal amount (or more) of amazing female authors.

in terms of reading, it doesn't. Read whatever you like. I was surprised that so many 'favorite authors' this thread are male. Go ahead, read through and see what you find.

Put another way, if everyone says Author So-and-so is the foremost authority on writing, there's a good chance a lot of folks will start reading more of that author, and try to write in the same way. (And then something is lost in the potential of those writers). The answers on this thread include a lot of male writers. It risks reinforcing a bias.

I've not read as many non-white authors, but did pick up a few Butler books earlier this year and enjoyed one of them very much. Did enjoy Kite Runner, back in the day.

(A similar thing happened on twitter a few months back--a female writer asked in a poll which director other writers would like to have direct the movie version of their novel, and then listed four male directors to choose from. I don't recall if they were all white or not, but it was an unconscious bias. A few folks pointed it out to her or picked 'other' and then listed any of the phenomenal female directors working today.)

Hope that helps.

PamelaC · Jul 15, 2019

I'll add some ladies to the list:

JK Rowling (because Harry Potter is amazing)
Sylvia Day (because the Crossfire series is smoking HOT)
Harper Lee (because To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book ever written)

Woollybear · Jul 15, 2019

Oh man. To Kill a Mockingbird, yes.

Elfriede · Jul 15, 2019

Cormac McCarthy! Blood Meridian has this otherworldly feel to it. You know the Judge is wrong, he does the most evil things imaginable. But at the same time McCarthy wrote him with such sharp wit and intellect that you can't not go along with every sermon he gives. The guy has been compared to a ton of things: Satan, a Djinn, the Gnostic Demiurge, God from the Old Testament, etc etc... but at the end of the day he's a literary giant focused on bringing everything in creation under his control. And it doesn't look like anything can stop him.

AubreyTCopeland · Jul 16, 2019

I always enjoy Brandon Sanderson's work. His worlds are unique! The Emperor's Soul is my favorite of his books. :evil

pharm · Jul 16, 2019

I don't have a single favorite author, but the coming-of-age stories by Chaim Potok and James Baldwin had an enormously positive impact on my life when I was going through some dark and difficult times as a teen — especially My Name Is Asher Lev and Go Tell It on the Mountain. Crime and Punishment is my all-time favorite novel, so Dostoevsky should probably also be on the list.

Then I have a whole bunch of genre faves. Robin Hobb is consistently my favorite fantasy novelist (and the Farseer Saga is my favorite fantasy series). Octavia Butler is my favorite fantasy short story author. Margaret Atwood probably wins in the sci-fi department. Ursula K. Le Guin could make a strong contest for all three of those categories.

I haven't read much mystery since I was a kid, but Agatha Christie was my clear winner in those days.

Roald Dahl might be the most fun I ever had with children's lit generally.

Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Jasper Fforde draw a three-way tie for my favorite humorists.

Jane Austen is my favorite romance author / social satirist, both because I am boring and because she is clearly just the best.

Also because I am boring, I lied: Shakespeare is my single favorite author.

PamelaC · Jul 16, 2019

Nothing boring about Jane Austen or Will Shakespeare!

I'll give a shout-out Edgar Allan Poe while we're talking about ye olde genius wordsmiths.

startraveller · Jul 27, 2019

The only author I've sought out versus only continuing a series/universe would be Gail Carson Levine. I don't think she is a paragon of literary prowess, but her books were like a warm hug from an understanding friend when I was a kid, thus her importance to me has spanned near 20 years.

PiaSophia · Jul 27, 2019

PamelaC said:
I'll add some ladies to the list:

JK Rowling (because Harry Potter is amazing)
Sylvia Day (because the Crossfire series is smoking HOT)
Harper Lee (because To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book ever written)

Yes!!!

I'll add some more:

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (no explanation needed, she rocks)
Naomi Alderman (because The Power gave me power [/endofquirkycomment])
Donna Tartt (because she can make me read a humongous book as quick as a novella with her writing style)
Maya Angelou (because bless her heart, she was smart and lovely and my heart broke for her when I read her autobiography)
Elif Shafak (because how could I forget about her! She rocks as well)

lianna williamson · Jul 31, 2019

Ursula K. LeGuin, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Sharon Shinn.

HarvesterOfSorrow · Aug 9, 2019

My all-time favourite has to be Stephen King, without a doubt.

Who Is Your Favorite Author?

PiaSophia

Balkan writer of feminist horror stories

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism

Albdantesque

iBleed2

Woollybear

eqb

I write novels

iBleed2

eqb

I write novels

PamelaC

TrapperViper

Marian Perera

starting over

RookieWriter

PiaSophia

Balkan writer of feminist horror stories

PamelaC

Woollybear

PamelaC

Woollybear

Elfriede

AubreyTCopeland

pharm

profoundly de minimis

PamelaC

startraveller

PiaSophia

Balkan writer of feminist horror stories

lianna williamson

HarvesterOfSorrow