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The Guardian Online is running a vote on who should be considered the Greatest Living British Author. The consensus in the media is Martin Amis, but the vote is putting JK Rowling at number one (I won't say what I think about that!).
It's actually a really hard question. I love reading novels by Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, but great I think not. As for the likes of Iain Banks (I'm reading him for the first time now) and I think he (like most literary authors) is totally overrated.
I finally settled on Diane Setterfield (The Thirteenth Tale). I know that she has only published the one book, but I think she could do great things, and reinvigorate the (true not all the vampire rubbish) Gothic genre.
Who would you name as Britain's Greatest Living Author?.
P.S it doesn't have to be a novelist it could be a poet etc . . .
Which Iain Banks are you reading? Most of his early (non-SF) books are brilliant, but fame & wealth must have spoiled him - he lost it completely in his later books. Not sure what you mean by 'literary' authors. Banks is not one of the intellectual writers, as a matter of fact, his determined populism is one of the shortcomings of otherwise great books like 'The Crow Road', 'Walking on Glass' or 'The Bridge'.
I can't stand Martin Amis. He's the literary equivalent of Bart Simpson, doing cartwheels and headstands, shouting 'look at me, look what I can do'.
It would be a toss between Michele Roberts and Joanne Harris, but then I'd be hard-pushed not to include Terry Pratchett and Jasper Fforde. If forced to choose between Ms Roberts and Ms Harris, however, I'd be truly stumped, as both are brilliant.
Slightly out of line with the thread I know, but there is an article on Guardian website today which might be of interest to fans of Ian Rankin, Evelyn Waugh, Stephen King etc regarding the use of fictional authors / pseudonyms in their work.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,,2023105,00.html
The Iain Banks novel I am reading is Whit, and the only thing that has kept me reading is the fact that it makes me think as I read, making me form an argument against his ideas of religion and capitalism.
I've heard his earlier books were better, and after reading the recommendations I definitely will try again!.
i am a HUGE harry potter fan (sad, i know, being a grown-up, but i love it!) so i'd put my vote in for jk rowling. also, i love her story, the idea she was on the poverty line, writing in a cafe sipping refills of coffee, and now she's one of the richest women in the world. kinda shows that fairytales do come true if you believe. i'm a hopeless optimist about this sort of thing.
You have to hand it to JK for the success story, but greatest living author?
I would find it difficult to define who is the greatest because are we talking about the most popular, the most readable, the most thought-provoking, literary, thrilling, what?
TaffetaPunk - I too love Joanna Harris, Terry Pratchett and Jasper Fford. Ive not read Michele Roberts just gone onto Amazon to check if I have because sometimes I remember titles but not authors, but no, dont recognise any. Could you quote a book title at me and I might try it, as your taste seems to match mine at least in this area!
I don't think popularity has anything to do with it.
It should be about story, character, style and having something to say about society in the way Dickens talked about Victorian society.
I discounted my favourite authors (Ian Rankin and Val McDermid) because although they have something to say about the criminal mind, it isn't something that is going to change government policy.
As for JK Rowling, I discount her for the same reason that I have never picked up one of her novels. Her writing style is bland and flat (plus she thinks she's being clever satirising politics in childrens books). Philip Pullman is much better and says something about religion.
Okay I confess, I'll be standing outside my local Waterstone's at 12.01am on 21st July for HP & The Deathly Hallows and the washing, ironing, hoovering and dusting will go hang for the next 10-12 hours, but it's interesting to note that if you look at the titles of the books on JK Rowling's 'links' page on her website, you get an inkling of the books which influenced her as a child and more recently, including Paul Gallico's 'Manxmouse', Elizabeth Goudge's 'The Little White Horse' and the short stories of Katherine Mansfield. My personal favourite author is probably Gallico who, unfortunately, is not eligible for the vote being dead an' all.
Josie, there are quite a few Michele Roberts to choose from, but yesterday I noticed a reissue of a book called 'The Wild Girl', though it's been renamed 'The Secret Gospel of Mary Magdalene'. A brilliantly written book. I think my favourite of hers is 'Impossible Saints', her latest is 'Reader, I Married Him' (with an ending that shouldn't have surprised me, but did). They are difficult to find in bookshops, for some reason - I know she isn't very prolific, but she's seriously under-rated as a writer.
(Just a slight detour off subject in a way as JKR's books were mentioned. Everytime anyone goes to the pay desks in our city-centre W.H.Smith they get asked if they'd like to pre-order the next Harry Potter book.The majority say no.
I get a bit fed up of it every week!)
Comments
It's actually a really hard question. I love reading novels by Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, but great I think not. As for the likes of Iain Banks (I'm reading him for the first time now) and I think he (like most literary authors) is totally overrated.
I finally settled on Diane Setterfield (The Thirteenth Tale). I know that she has only published the one book, but I think she could do great things, and reinvigorate the (true not all the vampire rubbish) Gothic genre.
Who would you name as Britain's Greatest Living Author?.
P.S it doesn't have to be a novelist it could be a poet etc . . .
I can't stand Martin Amis. He's the literary equivalent of Bart Simpson, doing cartwheels and headstands, shouting 'look at me, look what I can do'.
Off the top of my head, I'd name Ian McEwan.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,,2023105,00.html
I've heard his earlier books were better, and after reading the recommendations I definitely will try again!.
I would find it difficult to define who is the greatest because are we talking about the most popular, the most readable, the most thought-provoking, literary, thrilling, what?
TaffetaPunk - I too love Joanna Harris, Terry Pratchett and Jasper Fford. Ive not read Michele Roberts just gone onto Amazon to check if I have because sometimes I remember titles but not authors, but no, dont recognise any. Could you quote a book title at me and I might try it, as your taste seems to match mine at least in this area!
It should be about story, character, style and having something to say about society in the way Dickens talked about Victorian society.
I discounted my favourite authors (Ian Rankin and Val McDermid) because although they have something to say about the criminal mind, it isn't something that is going to change government policy.
As for JK Rowling, I discount her for the same reason that I have never picked up one of her novels. Her writing style is bland and flat (plus she thinks she's being clever satirising politics in childrens books). Philip Pullman is much better and says something about religion.
I get a bit fed up of it every week!)