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American Literature vs British Literature
I'm not sure if the US has more internationally-known authors than Britain.
After China, Britain is the world's largest book publishing nation. Germany is third. US isn't in the top 5.
Famous 20th Century British authors -
TS Eliot Beatrix Potter Enid Blyton Roald Dahl Clive Barker JK Rawlings Virginia Woolf Sir Arthur Conan Doyle GK Chesterton Thomas Hardy Rudyard Kipling Somerset Maugham Saki HG Wells Agatha Christie.
Aldous Huxley
DH Lawrence James Joyce Evelyn Waugh CS Lewis George Orwell Harold Pinter Salman Rushdie Tom Stoppard Dylan Thomas William Butler Yeats Ian Fleming Martin Amis Robery Buchanan Joseph Conrad BS Johnson Siegfried Sassoon
Adam's List,
Great, just the list I've been looking for; <<JK Rawlings>> :- should we thank the Harry Potter movies? <<Sir Arthur Conan Doyle>> :- thanks for giving us Sherlock Holmes <<HG Wells>> (my number one) - I love the "Time machine" but it was written in the 19th century <<Agatha Christie>> :- the great lady of British crime fiction. The world's best-known mystery writer and, apart from William Shakespeare, is the all-time best-selling author of any genre (sold over two billion copies in the English language) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie <<Virginia Woolf>> :- I remember "Jacob's Room" Adam, your list is outstanding!!!. << (I believe I read on another thread that you're a fan of 19th century literature?) >> Candy, I remember being called "old fashioned" on that thread. I'm a die-hard fan of 19th century British literature, and will always be. No doubt the Americans couldn't compete with the British during those glorious years. Besides, most of the American styles of writing are derived from old Europe: Edgar Poe's French style and I remember Washington Irving's (from "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" fame) Scottish influence - comes to mind.
<< Thomas Hardy >>- who could forget "The Mayor of Casterbridge"
<< Clive Barker >>- I was given "The Damnation Game" as a gift, but I've never been a fan of horror - never read it, but maybe I'll pick it up to read. "I have seen the future of horror and its name is Clive Barker," the words of Stephen King. << CS Lewis >> - everybody loves "The Chronicles of Narnia" (movie) but how many have read the books. <<GK Chesterton >> - the "prince of paradox," wrote about 80 books, several hundred poems, some 200 short stories, 4000 essays and a stage play. Great writer but not so famous these days. << Ian Fleming >> - his name is Bond, James Bond. (007) you couldn't forget that. << Enid Blyton >> - "The Famous Five" - I used to sit next to a kid in nursery school; his parents bought a lot of the series, he just liked the colourful bindings of the books - and would keep crying for more. << Rudyard Kipling >> "The Jungle Book" and "The Second Jungle Book" the movies (several versions) inspired my reading of the books, both are great books - but written in the 19th century.
Just my two cents.
Here in italy we study only british litterature, Marlowe, Spencer, Chaucher, Shakespeare, and so on.. I guess because American litterature is somewhat sprung from the british one
Today my teacher told me that we use an article 'the' before 'Shakespeare' because he is not an ordinary poet. His name is still as much alive as it was centuries ago. On top of that, he is British. I think there is no point of comparing British authors with those of American ones because at the end of the day the name of Shakespeare will shut up many people's mouths for ever. And British people will have a last laugh.
For me novels are such heavy stuff. I just can't read them on a regular basis. I'll read them only during my summer vacations if I find some stamina in me. Crime and Punishment is such a lengthy novel. I have gone through just three chapters over a month. I don't how people finish reading novels in a month or so.
A Clive Barker novel is where I got my user name, Stan. "Weaveworld" I didn't find it all that scary, actually.
I have never heard of saying "the" Shakespeare before.
"JK Rawlings>> :- should we thank the Harry Potter movies? "
She wrote the Harry Potter books that later bcame the movies, not vice versa.
<< She wrote the Harry Potter books that later bcame the movies, not vice versa. >>
The point was; the movies made the books popular. A lot of people were enticed to read the books after watching one or more of the movies, especially people outside Britain.
<< Sir Tom Stoppard >> - He is not exactly a novelist , only wrote one (I can't remember the name). He is more famous as a play writer and known for his works fpr film, tv and theatre (remember "Shakespeare in Love" and "Empire of the Sun"
<< Siegfried Sassoon >> - also not a famous novelist, more of a writer of poems and proses. I know I've studied "The Road to Ruin" (his poem) in a literature class. << Joseph Conrad >> - known as the man who modernized Charles Dickens' style of writing, and he is not exactly a hero. "Conrad's language and imagery is inescapably racist," the words of the great African author - Chinua Achebe (remember "Things Fall Apart"). << Robert Williams Buchanan >> - not exactly a man on the 20th William Butler Yeatscentury, he died in 1901, his last work was written in 1896. << Martin Amis >> - "London Fields" is his most popular book, but I'll stick with "Night Train" (1997) - thats my favorite. "The author of some of Britain's best-known modern literature" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Amis << Dylan Thomas >> "And death shall have no dominion" - the best of Welsh literature. <<William Butler Yeats >> - a hero of Irish literature, and a Nobel prize winner. Not my kind of author, thanks to a life-long interest in mysticism (I won't want to go there). Enough with this list already!, I think the later part of Adam's list consists of individuals with a "question mark" attached to their lives (controversial figures). I'm not exactly sure if some of those authors in the second list (excluding Ian Fleming, CS Lewis, and George Orwell - ofcourse) can stand up to America's finest.
We could go on all day and all night listing names of 20th century authors, both British and American. I'm sure we all have our favourites, as well as the kind of writing styles and subject matter we prefer over others.
Anyway, I'm just going to mention ONE here and now, and he's a local Edinburgh bloke, who is still churning out books, most of them crime novels, all centred on this city and involving his hero Rebus, the detective whose mission is to sort out the baddies in this city. Ian Rankin and J K Rowling Authors seem to either get their inspiration in pubs or in restaurants, in Edinburgh. Ian Rankin in the Oxford bar (I've never been in there) and JK Rowling in Nicholson's cafe (once I've been in there...waiting for a mate). http://www.ianrankin.net/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=6 http://www.rampantscotland.com/famous/bldev_famrowling.htm
Stan, the Harry Potter books were wildly popular even before the movies came out.
They were very popular because of good advertisement. What is Harry Potter novels indeed...They aren't books of the next century I suggest...
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