Gender: Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 2136 Status: User
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 9:00 pm Post subject:
possums wrote:
Thompson didn't really write novels, but then again this is the insanely broad subject of "Authors" so I don't know if Troy would count that.
Jesus, Ethan, you are such a baby. I wouldn't include Hunter S. Thompson because I think his "work" is stupid bullshit, not for any other reason. My list is composed of novelists. I suppose poets, journalists, and such are authors as well, but I have chosen to focus on novelists, and I don't see a problem with it. I left out one-hit-wonders like Nabokov and Alex Haley, but included Joseph Heller because Catch 22 is near and dear to me, as well as being my pick for the definitive military satire.
Maybe I do need to clarify: this is a top-ten list of what I consider the greatest American novelists to be. It's not the end-all, be-all of literary analysis, and I didn't claim it to be. It's based upon my knowledge and opinion. Do I have to preface my top-ten list with "in my opinion...", because it's obviously implied... It's a topic of discussion for an internet discussion board.
I'd like to point out that I didn't put Hemingway and Steinbeck on the list because [i]everybody knows they belong there" or because I "took the easy route". I know and love their work, as with all the authors on my list. Yes, they are widely regarded as great novelists. Should I leave them off, to make a statement of how edgy and cool and underground I am? No, because that would be dumb and useless.
The "easy route" is being anti- just for spite, because having a real opinion takes too much thought and effort.
Gender: Joined: 16 Mar 2006 Posts: 2774 Status: User Location: Tashkent, PA
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 10:14 pm Post subject:
Fuck you, asshole. You have no right to call me a fucking baby over some half-hearted and assed comment about how broad the term "authors" is.
And don't you dare call Nabokov a one hit wonder, he wrote Lolita, Pale Fire, Ada, and my personal favorite and probably one of the best ever written, Laughter in the Dark.
I'm not saying that you're taking the easy route just because they're not hip or not "underground." It's the easy route because EVERYONE picks them, EVER, and fpr the most part, neither author is THAT GREAT. Again, this is just my opinion, and even though it happens to be right, you don't have to agree with it. In fact, I prefer it, because I'm hip and indie and underground like that.
And I still stand firmly on the grounds that "The Visitors" is one of the best short stories ever written, and Hemingway's never done better, especially in novel form. _________________
Gender: Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 6077 Status: Moderator
Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 11:59 pm Post subject:
possums wrote:
It's the easy route because EVERYONE picks them, EVER, and fpr the most part, neither author is THAT GREAT.
if everyone picks them, then that would suggest that they ARE that great. And you're even half-admitting you don't like them mostly because they're popular.
It's great that your literary tastes are different from everyone else's, but please stop acting so high-and-mighty about it. _________________ Come into my den let me hear you cluck
You can be my hen and we can f(Bu-GAWK)
A bite to the leg, it's time to play
Baby, let me be your egg that needs to get laid.
- CEO Nwabudike Morgan
"The Chicken of Lust"
Gender: Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 6077 Status: Moderator
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:35 am Post subject:
I read it, I just disagree with you. _________________ Come into my den let me hear you cluck
You can be my hen and we can f(Bu-GAWK)
A bite to the leg, it's time to play
Baby, let me be your egg that needs to get laid.
- CEO Nwabudike Morgan
"The Chicken of Lust"
Gender: Joined: 16 Mar 2006 Posts: 2774 Status: User Location: Tashkent, PA
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:42 am Post subject:
No. I am not saying that I dislike them because of their popularity (I really just DON'T like them), and I'm not trying to act high-and-mighty. (if you couldn't get the sarcasm of "my opinion is right" you're not reading) _________________
Gender: Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 6077 Status: Moderator
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:46 am Post subject:
possums wrote:
(if you couldn't get the sarcasm of "my opinion is right" you're not reading)
sarcasm doesn't work on the internet. _________________ Come into my den let me hear you cluck
You can be my hen and we can f(Bu-GAWK)
A bite to the leg, it's time to play
Baby, let me be your egg that needs to get laid.
- CEO Nwabudike Morgan
"The Chicken of Lust"
Gender: Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 2136 Status: User
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:44 am Post subject:
possums wrote:
Fuck you, asshole. You have no right to call me a fucking baby over some half-hearted and assed comment about how broad the term "authors" is.
Good try at shifting your meaning, Ethan, but no dice. I called you a baby because you've decided to make this thread a misery because apparently my list of writers has been implanted in my head by "the man".
When I have argued against other people's suggestions, I have backed up my statements with some sort of reason. You have called Steinbeck and Hemingway "hacks", backed it up with no argument whatsoever other than the fact that you seem to think they're overrated. On that count, I somewhat agree with you, but being overrated and being a hack are totally different conditions.
You've complained about the formatting of my list not being specific enough. Seeing that everyone else seemed to grasp that I was talking about novelists (considering that my list is completely composed of them, although Bukowski did write a fair bit of poetry),and you yourself understood, and commented that I was talking about novelists, I don't understand where this gripe comes from... aside from the fact that you are using it as a crutch to further complain about me calling you a baby.
In the future, I will be sure to submit my opinions for your approval beforehand.
Such as: Nabokov only half-qualifies as an American novelist. Lolita was written in America, and translated by the author into English. I am of the understanding that the remainder of his best works were translated by others or written well before he came to America. With this in mind, I have trouble counting him as an American novelist.
Gender: Joined: 06 May 2006 Posts: 2136 Status: User
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:49 am Post subject:
And by the by, leaving F. Scott Fitzgerald off the list was a hard choice.
I mean, cripes, how many people can you cram on a top-ten list? Ten! Should I make another top-ten list, of the "top ten novelists I left off my top-ten list"? A top-ten list might be a flawed exercise, but an "honorable mentions" list is even worse. Either they made the list, or they didn't.
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