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1Limelite
Another reading year is drawing to an end and what better time than now to look back at the stack of books you read this year and consider which author made the biggest impression on you. For me, I pay homage to the author of Our Kind of Traitor.
If it was a new-to-you author, please save your post for the New-To-Me-Authors thread. We'll be happy to click over there and learn who your favorite discovered writer of 2017 is.
I expect that it's easier to talk about books than authors when discussing favorites or ranking them, but I'd like to read why LT readers have special places in their hearts reserved for certain writers but not others. For me, that favorite writer to whom I wish eternal life is John le Carré. He manages to create intellectual suspense that doesn't depend on car chases, expiring ticking clocks, or shoot-outs that enthrall me from the opening pages.
I think part of his attraction, beyond the intelligence in his books, is that his heroes are always in some manner disgruntled, disenchanted, or in some profound way, bereft of expected loyalties. This makes them vulnerable, sympathetic, and hard to know yet, contradictorily, easy to identify with. I expect that quality also makes some readers -- those who like black and white hats, unambiguous characters, and neatly resolved endings -- uncomfortable as a molting chicken. But as for me, I love it!
So, that's my piece. What do you have to tell me about your go-to, most liked, highly esteemed (2017), eagerly anticipated (more in 2018) author?
If it was a new-to-you author, please save your post for the New-To-Me-Authors thread. We'll be happy to click over there and learn who your favorite discovered writer of 2017 is.
I expect that it's easier to talk about books than authors when discussing favorites or ranking them, but I'd like to read why LT readers have special places in their hearts reserved for certain writers but not others. For me, that favorite writer to whom I wish eternal life is John le Carré. He manages to create intellectual suspense that doesn't depend on car chases, expiring ticking clocks, or shoot-outs that enthrall me from the opening pages.
I think part of his attraction, beyond the intelligence in his books, is that his heroes are always in some manner disgruntled, disenchanted, or in some profound way, bereft of expected loyalties. This makes them vulnerable, sympathetic, and hard to know yet, contradictorily, easy to identify with. I expect that quality also makes some readers -- those who like black and white hats, unambiguous characters, and neatly resolved endings -- uncomfortable as a molting chicken. But as for me, I love it!
So, that's my piece. What do you have to tell me about your go-to, most liked, highly esteemed (2017), eagerly anticipated (more in 2018) author?
2Cecrow
This year I discovered Dee Brown's brilliant work Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and was astonished to learn he hadn't a drop of indigenous blood in him. Read my first Graham Greene and will happily read more by him. The God of Small Things is a work of brilliance, and I feel compelled to read Arundhati Roy's new one. Defeated the monster that is Clarissa and I'm left in wonder that Richardson was able to write it, let alone write it so well. Read some more Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before, which will not be a favourite but still showcased his talent.
Next year I'll be exploring the mystery that is Austin Tappan Wright, studying Samuel Pepys, hopefully reading some Flannery O'Connor at long last, and revisiting Herman Hesse, Charles Dickens and Greene.
Next year I'll be exploring the mystery that is Austin Tappan Wright, studying Samuel Pepys, hopefully reading some Flannery O'Connor at long last, and revisiting Herman Hesse, Charles Dickens and Greene.
3pgmcc
John Le Carré is a favourite of mine also, and for similar reasons expressed by @Limelite in >1 Limelite: above. I loved A Legacy of Spies. I liked how it filled in backstory to The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Call for the Dead, and the Carla stories. I also loved its anti-Brexit message in the final pages.
Another author whose books I buy as soon as they are published is Nick Harkaway. His books are very intelligent, deal with present day issues, and are quite weird. His last book, Gnomon, is a massive tome, is very dense, and is probably not everyone's cup of tea. It is a protest book about modern day surveillance, growth of the right-wing, and the influencing of people's thoughts through manipulation.
Ken MacLeod is an author of Science Fiction stories, both far future and near future. All are excellent and Ken's work epitomises the idea that if you want to tell the truth, write fiction, and if you want to write about today, write Science Fiction. His latest trilogy, The Corporation Wars, is about globalisation, the growth of the powerful corporations, and the displacement of humans by automation and artificial intelligence.
I have had a great Autumn/Winter with A Legacy of Spies coming out in September, The Corporation Wars: Emergence (the final book in the trilogy) coming out in October, and Gnomon coming out in November.
Paul Cornell is an author whose work I like. He has a wide range of works, some graphic novels, novels, novellas, and TV programmes(He has written episodes for Dr.Who and Robin Hood amongst other shows.). I am not into graphic novels so his novels and novellas grab my attention. In October A Long Day in Lychford came out; this was the third novella in his series of stories taking place in a small, English midlands village. The first one is The Witches of Lychford. The stories are about three witches living in the village whose job it is to protect the village from invasion by evil influences. The evil in the first book was the evil supermarket chain that was going to build a large store in the village. The third story was about the evil spirits causing racism in the country and promoting the idea that England depart the EU. As you can see, Paul addresses everyday issues in his supernatural tales.
Arturo Perez Reverte is a Spanish author whose English editions I await with great anticipation. His What We Become came out earlier this year and I enjoyed it. If there is the opposite of a coming of age novel, I would suggest Reverte's last book is an example. It is about what happens at the end of one's career; nostalgia, attempts to carry on as one always did, and ultimately acceptance that things are different.
>2 Cecrow: I love Umberto Eco but I gave up on The Island of the Day Before. I might try it again. When I started reading it I had just finished Longitude by Dava Sobel and I think Eco's book suffered from the comparison with a recently read story that was very factual.
Graham Greene is another author I enjoy and having only read a few of his stories I have a wealth of material with which to indulge myself.
Dorothy L. Sayers is someone whose work I started reading a few years ago and I have not been disappointed by any of her novels as yet. I am slowly working my way through her Lord Peter Wimsey novels.
I could go on. I have tried to limit myself favourite authors whose work I read in 2017.
Great idea for a thread, by the way. I have enjoyed reading the first two posts and writing my own post has helped me reminisce on a year of good reading.
Edited to add: I may have been a bit light on why I like some of the above mentioned authors, but I am pressed for time now and might come back to fill in a few planks. E.g. I have not mentioned Dickens so far, and you are lucky I did not read a Daphne Du Maurier this year or this post would stretch to pages.
Another author whose books I buy as soon as they are published is Nick Harkaway. His books are very intelligent, deal with present day issues, and are quite weird. His last book, Gnomon, is a massive tome, is very dense, and is probably not everyone's cup of tea. It is a protest book about modern day surveillance, growth of the right-wing, and the influencing of people's thoughts through manipulation.
Ken MacLeod is an author of Science Fiction stories, both far future and near future. All are excellent and Ken's work epitomises the idea that if you want to tell the truth, write fiction, and if you want to write about today, write Science Fiction. His latest trilogy, The Corporation Wars, is about globalisation, the growth of the powerful corporations, and the displacement of humans by automation and artificial intelligence.
I have had a great Autumn/Winter with A Legacy of Spies coming out in September, The Corporation Wars: Emergence (the final book in the trilogy) coming out in October, and Gnomon coming out in November.
Paul Cornell is an author whose work I like. He has a wide range of works, some graphic novels, novels, novellas, and TV programmes(He has written episodes for Dr.Who and Robin Hood amongst other shows.). I am not into graphic novels so his novels and novellas grab my attention. In October A Long Day in Lychford came out; this was the third novella in his series of stories taking place in a small, English midlands village. The first one is The Witches of Lychford. The stories are about three witches living in the village whose job it is to protect the village from invasion by evil influences. The evil in the first book was the evil supermarket chain that was going to build a large store in the village. The third story was about the evil spirits causing racism in the country and promoting the idea that England depart the EU. As you can see, Paul addresses everyday issues in his supernatural tales.
Arturo Perez Reverte is a Spanish author whose English editions I await with great anticipation. His What We Become came out earlier this year and I enjoyed it. If there is the opposite of a coming of age novel, I would suggest Reverte's last book is an example. It is about what happens at the end of one's career; nostalgia, attempts to carry on as one always did, and ultimately acceptance that things are different.
>2 Cecrow: I love Umberto Eco but I gave up on The Island of the Day Before. I might try it again. When I started reading it I had just finished Longitude by Dava Sobel and I think Eco's book suffered from the comparison with a recently read story that was very factual.
Graham Greene is another author I enjoy and having only read a few of his stories I have a wealth of material with which to indulge myself.
Dorothy L. Sayers is someone whose work I started reading a few years ago and I have not been disappointed by any of her novels as yet. I am slowly working my way through her Lord Peter Wimsey novels.
I could go on. I have tried to limit myself favourite authors whose work I read in 2017.
Great idea for a thread, by the way. I have enjoyed reading the first two posts and writing my own post has helped me reminisce on a year of good reading.
Edited to add: I may have been a bit light on why I like some of the above mentioned authors, but I am pressed for time now and might come back to fill in a few planks. E.g. I have not mentioned Dickens so far, and you are lucky I did not read a Daphne Du Maurier this year or this post would stretch to pages.
4Limelite
>2 Cecrow:, >3 pgmcc: Thanks for both posts and the suggestions of new-to-me authors.
Grahame Greene, Eco, and Sayers are all old favorites of mine. Reverte is an author I first learned about this year and am intrigued by his reputation and a description I read of one of his novels (forget which).
It's exciting to anticipate our reading dreams for '18, but I think I'll wait until after the new year to ask fellow LTers what their author and book plans are. I don't even know what mine are!
Maybe later I'll talk a little about my runner-up favorite author of 2017. Yes, that's a teaser.
Grahame Greene, Eco, and Sayers are all old favorites of mine. Reverte is an author I first learned about this year and am intrigued by his reputation and a description I read of one of his novels (forget which).
It's exciting to anticipate our reading dreams for '18, but I think I'll wait until after the new year to ask fellow LTers what their author and book plans are. I don't even know what mine are!
Maybe later I'll talk a little about my runner-up favorite author of 2017. Yes, that's a teaser.
