Looking for interesting current British authors
debr...@bcvms.bc.edu
I'm interested in finding authors who are currently writing in Britain and
other parts of the UK. I'm not looking for "best seller" types like US
authors John Grisham or Stephen king, but more "underground" authors like
the author of _High Fidelity_ (whose name escapes me) or Irvine Welsh (who
I know is Scottish and is hugely popular here, but I'm looking to go
beyond the hype).
We here in the US don't import a lot of British authors. Although I work
for a bookstore that imports a lot of British titles. Sadly, most of the
titles are either children's/adolescents or sci-fi.
I also want to point out that I'm not looking for the comic novel, I've
read a lot by Ben Elton, Stephen Fry etc, and although I enjoy them very
much, I'm looking for more alongthe lines of the authors mentioned in the
first paragraph.
Thanks very much, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Please email me at
debr...@bcvms.bc.edu
--
Paul Debraski * Louise Ni/ Fharrachair
debr...@bcvms.bc.edu * c/o debr...@bcvms.bc.edu
"Mr President, we must not allow *
a mineshaft gap!"-Dr. Strangelove * SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PBS
MiSTie #51769 STATION
hibb...@agt.net
debr...@bcvms.bc.edu wrote:
>
> I'm interested in finding authors who are currently writing in Britain and
> other parts of the UK. I'm not looking for "best seller" types like US
> authors John Grisham or Stephen king, but more "underground" authors like
> the author of _High Fidelity_ (whose name escapes me) or Irvine Welsh (who
> I know is Scottish and is hugely popular here, but I'm looking to go
> beyond the hype).
A.S. Byatt must be one of the best british authors at this time. I would
highly recommend 'Possessions'
John Lynch
Doug Turnbull
In article <3201DB...@fdanews.demon.co.uk>, Craig Ryan
<cr...@fdanews.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> hibb...@agt.net wrote:
> >
> > debr...@bcvms.bc.edu wrote:
> > >
> > > I'm interested in finding authors who are currently writing in Britain and
> > > other parts of the UK. I'm not looking for "best seller" types like US
> > > authors John Grisham or Stephen king, but more "underground" authors like
> > > the author of _High Fidelity_ (whose name escapes me) or Irvine Welsh (who
> > > I know is Scottish and is hugely popular here, but I'm looking to go
> > > beyond the hype).
> > The author of "High Fidelity" is Nick Hornby. He also wrote "Fever
> Pitch" - a very funny book on Football. He is, however, a best-seller.
You could try looking at the work of Nicholas Mosley, who is a highly
regarded contemporary author. His most famous novel (and hence the easiest
to find) is _Hopeful Monsters_ which won some award or other (the
Whitbread?). Anyway, I've read it and several of his other novels and
enjoyed them all. His writing is occassionally hard to follow, with
frequent unannounced shifts of narrator, but it's not too difficult. I'd
highly recommend his work.
Doug Turnbull
Aaron VanAlstine
Does anybody know when John LeCarre's new book is coming out?
AV
Craig Ryan
Tony Stanford
In <d-turnb-0208...@obiwan.ccsm.uiuc.edu>, rec.arts.books,
Doug Turnbull wrote on Fri, 2 Aug 1996:
> You could try looking at the work of Nicholas Mosley, who is a highly
>regarded contemporary author. His most famous novel (and hence the easiest
>to find) is _Hopeful Monsters_ which won some award or other (the
>Whitbread?). Anyway, I've read it and several of his other novels and
>enjoyed them all. His writing is occassionally hard to follow, with
>frequent unannounced shifts of narrator, but it's not too difficult. I'd
>highly recommend his work.
>
>Doug Turnbull
Have you read 'Accident'? I reckon that's his best.
As for other British Authors: Iris Murdoch, Anita Brookner.
Regards
--
*****************************************************************
* Tony Stanford email: to...@stanford.u-net.com *
* Bedford, UK. to...@sherlock.demon.co.uk *
*****************************************************************
Grant Dixon
On 31 Jul 1996 03:12:46 GMT, debr...@bcvms.bc.edu
(debr...@bcvms.bc.edu) wrote:
>I'm interested in finding authors who are currently writing in Britain and
>other parts of the UK. I'm not looking for "best seller" types like US
>authors John Grisham or Stephen king, but more "underground" authors like
>the author of _High Fidelity_ (whose name escapes me) or Irvine Welsh (who
>I know is Scottish and is hugely popular here, but I'm looking to go
>beyond the hype).
>
>We here in the US don't import a lot of British authors. Although I work
>for a bookstore that imports a lot of British titles. Sadly, most of the
>titles are either children's/adolescents or sci-fi.
>
>I also want to point out that I'm not looking for the comic novel, I've
>read a lot by Ben Elton, Stephen Fry etc, and although I enjoy them very
>much, I'm looking for more alongthe lines of the authors mentioned in the
>first paragraph.
>
>Thanks very much, any help would be greatly appreciated.
>Please email me at
>debr...@bcvms.bc.edu
>--
>Paul Debraski * Louise Ni/ Fharrachair
>debr...@bcvms.bc.edu * c/o debr...@bcvms.bc.edu
> "Mr President, we must not allow *
> a mineshaft gap!"-Dr. Strangelove * SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PBS
>MiSTie #51769 STATION
>
Have you reviewed any Irish writers, such as Colm Toibin. A measured
and deep analysis of characters in Ireland - post-war, and very
considered. Some may think his books (The Heather Blazing, The South)
a bit ponderous, but I think they are clearly more inspiring. He also
wrote a travelogue of a journey along the Nth Sth divide in Ireland.
Quite a compelling and insightful tale. Hope this helps.
And of course, Martin Amis.
Richard Pullen
In article <debraski-300...@bcra01p5.bc.edu>
debr...@bcvms.bc.edu "debr...@bcvms.bc.edu" writes:
> I'm interested in finding authors who are currently writing in Britain and
> other parts of the UK. I'm not looking for "best seller" types like US
> authors John Grisham or Stephen king, but more "underground" authors like
> the author of _High Fidelity_ (whose name escapes me) or Irvine Welsh (who
> I know is Scottish and is hugely popular here, but I'm looking to go
> beyond the hype).
I think that Will Self fits the bill exactly. In published order:
"The Quantity Theory of Insanity", "Cock and Bull", "My Idea of Fun",
"Grey Area" and "Junk Mail" (the last is non-fiction).
--
Richard Pullen / Tewkesbury, England /
/ email: r...@rmphep.demon.co.uk /
/ Rpu...@iee.org /
Steerpike
IMHO, my vote goes to Ian Banks. He's getting quite well known now,
but his early stuff including "The Wasp Factory" & "Walking on Glass"
is astonishing.
BTW He also writes SF as Ian M. Banks
Ron Moskovitz
Try Louis De Bernieres. His "Corelli's Mandolin" (published in the U.K.
as "Captain Corelli's Mandolin") is absolutely amazing! It is one of the
best books I've read, ever, and was capable of making me both laugh and
(almost) cry.
I'm not sure if his other books are available in the states, but
Corelli's Mandolin is fantastic. It's beautifully written, intelligent,
and compelling. I highly recommend checking it out.
-Ron
Gary Burns
[ Recommending British authors ]
Already mentioned are Banks & Welsh, both offer some
worthy reads. On the Scottish side, there's also James
Kelman (How late it was, how late; The Disaffection),
and William McIlvanney (The Big Man; Laidlaw).
Hailing from Manchester there's Jeff Noon (Vurt &
Pollen) some truly off the wall science fiction which
I enjoyed though I don't often read much in the
genre.
Gary
RRHMAH
Another Scots writer (beside Welsh and Kelman) is Alasdair Grey, author of
_Lanark_, _Poor Things_, and _A History Maker_, among several others.
A magnificent writer of short fiction (and occasional novels) is the
Anglo-Irish writer William Trevor.
And of course the usual suspects, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, Anita
Brookner, A.S. Byatt ... IMO, all well worth your time.
Holmanz
Here's some of my favorite British novelists, and my favorite of their
books:
Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children (Satanic Verses is more famous, but I
think this 'magically realistic' history of modern India is a modern
classic.)
Martin Amis - Time's Arrow (It's atypical for him, but powerful, ingenious
and nicely compact.)
Julian Barnes - Flaubert's Parrot (Less of a novel than a wide-ranging
meditation on Flaubert, but it's extremely fun and "readable" while
addressing interesting literary issues.)
David Lodge - Small World (A hilarious, mock-romance that lampoons
international literary conferences)
A.S. Byatt - Possession: A Romance (Another academic satire that borrows
the structure of the classical romance.)
Hanif Kureishi - The Buddha of Suburbia (Kureishi's better known for his
film scripts, but this is a very fine first novel.)
William Boyd - Brazzaville Beach (An anthropologist's first-person account
of bizarre events with apes in Africa is juxtaposed with a third-person
depiction of her doomed marriage in England.)
Jeanette Winterson - The Passion (A fabulist depiction of the Napoleonic
Wars and Venice by a talented writer who's ambitions seem to be getting
the better of her lately.)
Graham Swift's Waterland was extremely well-written and far-reaching, but
I also found it emotionally remote. I liked Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains
of the Day, but that's the only book of his I've read, so I've no others
to compare it to.
Good reading!
Curt
klabrie
>> You could try looking at the work of Nicholas Mosley, who is a highly
>> regarded contemporary author. His most famous novel (and hence the easiest
>> to find) is _Hopeful Monsters_ which won some award or other (the
>> Whitbread?). Anyway, I've read it and several of his other novels and
>> enjoyed them all. His writing is occassionally hard to follow, with
>> frequent unannounced shifts of narrator, but it's not too difficult. I'd
>> highly recommend his work.
>>
>> Doug Turnbull
>
>
Interesting aside, did you know that Nicholas Mosley is related to the Mitford
family by marriage. His father, Oswald Mosley, the famous british facist,
married Diana Mitford (sister of Nancy and the recently deceased Jessica) so she
is his stepmother. She is still living and has a very interesting
autobiography (I believe its only published in the UK).
klabrie
In article <fHvpHCAn...@stanford.u-net.com>, Tony Stanford <to...@stanford.u-net.com> says:
>
>In <d-turnb-0208...@obiwan.ccsm.uiuc.edu>, rec.arts.books,
> Doug Turnbull wrote on Fri, 2 Aug 1996:
>
>>regarded contemporary author. His most famous novel (and hence the easiest
>>to find) is _Hopeful Monsters_ which won some award or other (the
>>Whitbread?). Anyway, I've read it and several of his other novels and
>>enjoyed them all. His writing is occassionally hard to follow, with
>>frequent unannounced shifts of narrator, but it's not too difficult. I'd
>>highly recommend his work.
>>
>>Doug Turnbull
>
>As for other British Authors: Iris Murdoch, Anita Brookner.
>
>Regards
>
Its horrible. Very much like a trashy romance novel.
Kristin Abkemeier
debr...@bcvms.bc.edu (debr...@bcvms.bc.edu) wrote:
> I'm interested in finding authors who are currently writing in Britain and
> other parts of the UK. I'm not looking for "best seller" types like US
> authors John Grisham or Stephen king, but more "underground" authors like
> the author of _High Fidelity_ (whose name escapes me) or Irvine Welsh (who
> I know is Scottish and is hugely popular here, but I'm looking to go
> beyond the hype).
I'm surprised that no one so far has mentioned the Granta issue from 1993
about the twenty best young British novelists. That includes a number of
people who have been mentioned in this thread already (Louis de Bernieres,
Will Self, Ian Banks, Kazuo Ishiguro, Jeanette Winterson) as well as others
worth looking at (Lawrence Norfolk, Adam Lively, Tibor Fischer). Lawrence
Norfolk's first novel, _Lempriere's Dictionary_, was a best seller in many
European countries--but not in the UK. It's a highly textured and detailed
suspense-mystery-thriller-whatever set in the 18th century. I read _Sing
the Body Electric_ by Adam Lively and haven't seen others of his on bookshelves,
although I suppose that I could special order. Tibor Fischer does happen to
write hilariously darkly comical novels, too dark probably to allow them to
reach the mainstream over here. I highly recommend both _Under the Frog_,
about life in and escape plans from 1950s Soviet-threatened Hungary, and
_The Thought Gang_, about a Cambridge philosophy professor teamed up with a
murderer on a bank robbery spree across the south of France.
But do get hold of that back issue of Granta, from Spring 1993. That will
expose you to a range of different views.
--
=========================================================================
Kristin Abkemeier (312) 702-1218 (voice)
Dept. of Physics and James Franck Institute (312) 702-5863 (FAX)
The University of Chicago ab...@fafnir.uchicago.edu
5640 S. Ellis Ave
Chicago, IL 60637 http://rainbow.uchicago.edu/~abke
=========================================================================
(Vibrations of love and anger and the ponderance of life and existence)
skerr
In article <4u8a2a$j...@ka.worldbank.org>,
Oooooooh yes, I agree about the latest Murdoch. Really a dreadful read. My
first Murdoch and I'm sure I'll never be able to bring myself to read another.
I'd much rather read a "trashy romance novel". At least you know what you're
getting there.
Kristin Abkemeier
skerr (eil...@interlog.com) wrote:
> In article <4u8a2a$j...@ka.worldbank.org>,
> >Whatever you do, stay away from the latest Murdoch (Jackson's Dilemma).
> >Its horrible. Very much like a trashy romance novel.
> Oooooooh yes, I agree about the latest Murdoch. Really a dreadful read. My
> first Murdoch and I'm sure I'll never be able to bring myself to read another.
I haven't read the latest Murdoch novel, but I was at an A. S. Byatt book
signing where someone asked her what she thought about Murdoch's latest
because Byatt said that she considered Murdoch an influence on her own writing.
Byatt said that she agreed that the book was not up to Murdoch's usual
standard but that she also knew that Murdoch has not been very well of late.
I think the consensus was that this was anomalous--I'm sure that you'll be
quite safe reading so much of her earlier work, as her novels from the 1950s
must be fantastic if they influenced someone of Byatt's stature to write!
Maureen Scobie
Add The Return of John McNabb by Scottish writer Andrew Greig to the
list of good books. Greig moves the Buchan thread into a very
contemporary setting with likeable characters. Christy, the female
protagonist, part of the feisty crew who are out to reclaim land and
rights in Scotland, is especially likeable. Greig has another novel
called The Electric Brae which I have not read and a number of poetry
books (which are good.) He is the writer who wrote so convincingly of
mountain climbing (all imagined) that he was invited to join several
Everest expeditions (he accepted!)
Maureen.
Stephen P. Guthrie
In article <Dvrqu...@midway.uchicago.edu>,
Kristin Abkemeier <ab...@fafnir.uchicago.edu> wrote:
>I haven't read the latest Murdoch novel, but I was at an A. S. Byatt book
>signing where someone asked her what she thought about Murdoch's latest
>because Byatt said that she considered Murdoch an influence on her own writing.
>Byatt said that she agreed that the book was not up to Murdoch's usual
>standard but that she also knew that Murdoch has not been very well of late.
>I think the consensus was that this was anomalous--I'm sure that you'll be
>quite safe reading so much of her earlier work, as her novels from the 1950s
>must be fantastic if they influenced someone of Byatt's stature to write!
Maybe you aren't aware that Iris Murdoch is the sister of A.S. Byatt.
Kristin Abkemeier
Stephen P. Guthrie (s...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU) wrote:
> Maybe you aren't aware that Iris Murdoch is the sister of A.S. Byatt.
No, but I was aware that they weren't sisters. A. S. Byatt is the sister
of Margaret Drabble, however.
Dave Healy
kla...@worldbank.org (klabrie) wrote:
>>> You could try looking at the work of Nicholas Mosley, who is a highly
>>> regarded contemporary author. His most famous novel (and hence the easiest
>>> to find) is _Hopeful Monsters_ which won some award or other (the
>>> Whitbread?). Anyway, I've read it and several of his other novels and
>>> enjoyed them all. His writing is occassionally hard to follow, with
>>> frequent unannounced shifts of narrator, but it's not too difficult. I'd
>>> highly recommend his work.
>>
>Interesting aside, did you know that Nicholas Mosley is related to the Mitford
>family by marriage. His father, Oswald Mosley, the famous british facist,
>married Diana Mitford (sister of Nancy and the recently deceased Jessica) so she
>is his stepmother. She is still living and has a very interesting
>autobiography (I believe its only published in the UK).
Which means that his brother is the Max Mosley of Formula One fame,
yes?
Dave
The opinions expressed| "Who is she to say he can't be trusted.....
herein are solely mine| and come to think of it, how does she know?"
and not my employers' | 'Can't Be Trusted' - The Bluetones
Alayne McGregor
klabrie (kla...@worldbank.org) writes:
> Interesting aside, did you know that Nicholas Mosley is related to the Mitford
> family by marriage. His father, Oswald Mosley, the famous british facist,
> married Diana Mitford (sister of Nancy and the recently deceased Jessica) so she
> is his stepmother. She is still living and has a very interesting
> autobiography (I believe its only published in the UK).
If you're referring to _A LIfe of Contrasts_, the only thing I'd do
with that book is throw it in the garbage. It's a disgusting
self-justification of her and her husband's political attitudes and
prejudices, plus a great deal of self-pity about their treatment in WWII.
_Hons and Rebels_ and _A FIne Old Conflict_ by Jessica Mitford, are, by
contrast, wonderful reads -- and the difference is not primarily in the
politics.
--
Alayne McGregor aa...@freenet.carleton.ca
ala...@ve3pak.ocunix.on.ca
mcgr...@cognos.com
Alice Turner
Kristin Abkemeier wrote:
>
> Stephen P. Guthrie (s...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU) wrote:
>
> > Maybe you aren't aware that Iris Murdoch is the sister of A.S. Byatt.
>
> No, but I was aware that they weren't sisters. A. S. Byatt is the sister
> of Margaret Drabble, however.
Right. What probably confused you is that Byatt wrote a critical book
about Murdoch (probably started as an academic thesis). Byatt's first
novel, -A Virgin in the Garden- is very Murdoch-esque, though she veered
off to an independent voice later in the same series, the third of which
(I haven't read it) is just out this summer.
Sheena Gordon
Craig Ryan <cr...@fdanews.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>hibb...@agt.net wrote:
>>
>> debr...@bcvms.bc.edu wrote:
>> >
>> > I'm interested in finding authors who are currently writing in Britain and
>> > other parts of the UK. I'm not looking for "best seller" types like US
>> > authors John Grisham or Stephen king, but more "underground" authors like
>> > the author of _High Fidelity_ (whose name escapes me) or Irvine Welsh (who
>> > I know is Scottish and is hugely popular here, but I'm looking to go
>> > beyond the hype).
A L Kennedy, Janice Galloway, and Ian Banks are all good Scottish
writers. Whilst I wouldn't describe them as "underground", neither
would I liken them to "US best seller " types. However, their voices
are clearly individual.
--
Sheena Gordon
She...@cqm.co.uk
Glasgow,Scotland
John Dawson
Could I put in a good word for another Whitbread prizewinner,
Lindsay Clarke's Chymical Wedding.
It's a fascinating tale set in two time zones - shades of Peter Ackroyd
here - based on the true story of a woman who wrote a book explaining
the meaning of the writings of Hermes Trismegistus, and her father who
was so angry that she'd given away the secrets that he had all the
copies recovered and burned. Well, not all the copies, I've seen one
myself.
His other books are Sunday Whiteman, and Alice's Masque. He has a poetic
writing style that's worth reading for its own sake.
--
John Dawson - at home in Kendal, Cumbria
See my Lake District Walks Web Site at: http://www.jondaw.demon.co.uk/
or at: http://www.netlink.co.uk/users/ldnet/
Now with 35 detailed walks and 89 photographs
Andrew Dinn
Kristin Abkemeier (ab...@fafnir.uchicago.edu) wrote:
: Lawrence
: Norfolk's first novel, _Lempriere's Dictionary_, was a best seller in many
: European countries--but not in the UK. It's a highly textured and detailed
: suspense-mystery-thriller-whatever set in the 18th century.
I've just finished this and am now working through his second novel,
`The Pope's Rhinoceros'. Norfolk's plotting, detail, sense of the
bizarre and ability to use or abuse literary convention are quite
stunning but most of all he excels when he launches into great
passages of descriptive prose. They have an architectural grandness
and a flow which is quite overwhelming. The opening pages of the
Pope's Rhino is a great example if you want to take a peek in the
bookshop before committing to fork out the 20 quid for it in hardback.
`Lempriere's Dictionary ' has just come out in paperback in the UK so
you can pick it up for 6-7 pounds. Apparently, remaindered copies of
the hardback have recently been floating around in London but I saw
nary a one here in Edinburgh and had to make do with the paperback.
Andrew Dinn
-----------
And though Earthliness forget you,
To the stilled Earth say: I flow.
To the rushing water speak: I am.
David E Latane
I'm much more current with the poets, but here are a few suggestions
for fiction writers--
Fred D'Aguiar (a poet who's taken to fiction lately)
Alasdair Grey (quintessence of Scottish surrealism, best in Lanark
and janine 1982)
Pat Barker (I just finished _Regeneration_ which I expected not to
like because I know too much about Sassoon, but it was marvelous)
A.L. Kennedy, short stories
n lately)
Alasdair Grey (quintessence of Scottish surrealism, best in Lanark
and janine 1982)
Pat Barker (I just finished _Regeneration_ which I expected not to
like because I know too much about Sassoon, but it was marvelous)
A.L. Kennedy, short stories
D. Latane'
Home Page for _Stand Magazine_ (Newcastle upon Tyne)
http://saturn.vcu.edu/~dlatane/stand.html
paul ilechko
ed...@dial.pipex.com (Steerpike) wrote:
#>IMHO, my vote goes to Ian Banks. He's getting quite well known now,
#>but his early stuff including "The Wasp Factory" & "Walking on Glass"
#>is astonishing.
don't forget Canal Dreams, maybe his best book. Also check out Peter
Ackroyd, Graham Swift, James Kelman.
Paul.
This is a sig. This is nothing but a sig. Please do
not confuse this sig with a message. pa...@superlink.net
RRHMAH
Alice Turner <a...@interport.net> wrote
>Right. What probably confused you is that Byatt wrote a critical book
>about Murdoch (probably started as an academic thesis). Byatt's first
>novel, -A Virgin in the Garden- is very Murdoch-esque, though she veered
>off to an independent voice later in the same series, the third of which
>(I haven't read it) is just out this summer.
Pedantically, I will note that _The Virgin in the Garden_ was Byatt's
third novel. It was preceded by _Shadow of a Sun_ and _The Game_. (This
last involving sibling rivalry between two sisters which sets one
speculating (probably unfairly) on the relationship between Susan Drabble
(A.S. Byatt) and Margaret Drabble.) _TVITG_ is the first of a projected
tetralogy, the second of which is the excellent _Still Life_, the third of
which, _Babel Tower_, just published, I, too, have not yet read.
Rich Horton
Francis Muir
RRHMAH writes:
I will note that _The Virgin in the Garden_ was Byatt's
sets one speculating (probably unfairly) on the relationship
between Susan Drabble (A.S. Byatt) and Margaret Drabble.)
In a recent radio interview A S Byatt said that she chose the
initial form over Antonia Susan to de-emphasise her femaleness.
Her daughter is known as Antonia Byatt (also a writer) and this
daughter and her grand-children all know her as "A.S." As far as
I am aware, she was never called Susan within the family circle. The
Drabbles do not read each others novels but it is for good reason;
they found that they both appropriated bits of their joint past
and did not wish to feel that "the yellow vase over the mantel" couls
not be used because the other had. I imagine their only area of
major disagreement is over Martin Amis: he is a near neighbour and
frequent guest of Margaret's but certainly not one of A.S's favorite
people -- you might recall the acid comments she made over the size
of the advance of MA's last masterpiece.
Fido
Rachel
John Dawson <jo...@jondaw.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Could I put in a good word for another Whitbread prizewinner,
>Lindsay Clarke's Chymical Wedding.
>
>It's a fascinating tale set in two time zones - shades of Peter Ackroyd
>here - based on the true story of a woman who wrote a book explaining
>the meaning of the writings of Hermes Trismegistus, and her father who
>was so angry that she'd given away the secrets that he had all the
>copies recovered and burned. Well, not all the copies, I've seen one
>myself.
You've seen a copy? So you know the real secrets of alchemy?
I didn't realise the Chymical Wedding was based on a true story.
Tell me more...?
I too found it fascinating: in structure, it is reminiscent of
ASByatt's 'Possession', but with a much more unusual story.
Rachel.
Dave Healy
pa...@superlink.net (paul ilechko) wrote:
>ed...@dial.pipex.com (Steerpike) wrote:
>#>IMHO, my vote goes to Ian Banks. He's getting quite well known now,
>#>but his early stuff including "The Wasp Factory" & "Walking on Glass"
>#>is astonishing.
>don't forget Canal Dreams, maybe his best book. Also check out Peter
>Ackroyd, Graham Swift, James Kelman.
I have to say that I thought Canal Dreams was dreadful; I'd say
Espedair Street was his best "real world" book, with Use of Weapons
his best SF effort.
Alice Turner
RRHMAH wrote:
sibling rivalry between two sisters which sets one
> speculating (probably unfairly) on the relationship between Susan Drabble
> (A.S. Byatt) and Margaret Drabble.)
Thanks for the correction...but *Susan* Drabble? I thought Byatt was
known as Antonia? On the other hand, from interviews I have seen, I
gather that she is somewhat given to reinvention.
John Dawson
In article: <4umanv$9...@thighmaster.admin.lsa.umich.edu> Rachel
>
> John Dawson <jo...@jondaw.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> >Could I put in a good word for another Whitbread prizewinner,
> >Lindsay Clarke's Chymical Wedding.
> >
> >It's a fascinating tale set in two time zones - shades of Peter Ackroyd
> >here - based on the true story of a woman who wrote a book explaining
> >the meaning of the writings of Hermes Trismegistus, and her father who
> >was so angry that she'd given away the secrets that he had all the
> >copies recovered and burned. Well, not all the copies, I've seen one
> >myself.
>
> You've seen a copy? So you know the real secrets of alchemy?
> I didn't realise the Chymical Wedding was based on a true story.
> Tell me more...?
"A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery" by Mary Anne Atwood was
republished by the Yogi Society in about 1991. ISBN 0911662642
The current price here is UKP 17.99
IIRC the story of the writing, printing and subsequent destruction is
recounted in the Introduction.
Of one thing I am certain - the riches promised are not material.
Sheena Gordon
s...@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Stephen P. Guthrie) wrote:
>Maybe you aren't aware that Iris Murdoch is the sister of A.S. Byatt.
Margaret Drabble is her sister, not Iris Murdoch. :-]
L E Carlin
A couple of my favorite British authors are Pat Barker (Booker Prize
winner for _The Ghost Road_) and Catherine Fox (a new author; her first
novel is _Angels and Men_).
Leslie.
Tony Towers
In article <4u43tb$l...@soap.news.pipex.net> ed...@dial.pipex.com (Steerpike) writes:
>IMHO, my vote goes to Ian Banks. He's getting quite well known now,
I'll back that up, but the man's name is Iain Banks.
>BTW He also writes SF as Ian M. Banks
Equally astonishing. The last line of Feersum Endjinn was awe inspiring.
--
Tony Towers
Holmanz
Another talented Ian is Ian McEwan. His "Black Dogs" is a fascinating
novel while weighing in at a lean 149 pages (hardback). "Brevity is the
soul of wit..."
Curt Holman
klabrie
In article <4uc21u$6...@tabloid.amoco.com>, zvd...@amoco.com (Dave Healy) says:
>
>kla...@worldbank.org (klabrie) wrote:
>
>
>>>> You could try looking at the work of Nicholas Mosley, who is a highly
>>>> regarded contemporary author. His most famous novel (and hence the easiest
>>>> to find) is _Hopeful Monsters_ which won some award or other (the
>>>> Whitbread?). Anyway, I've read it and several of his other novels and
>>>> enjoyed them all. His writing is occassionally hard to follow, with
>>>> frequent unannounced shifts of narrator, but it's not too difficult. I'd
>>>> highly recommend his work.
>>>
>>family by marriage. His father, Oswald Mosley, the famous british facist,
>>married Diana Mitford (sister of Nancy and the recently deceased Jessica) so she
>>is his stepmother. She is still living and has a very interesting
>>autobiography (I believe its only published in the UK).
>
>yes?
>
Gwen A Orel
Martin Amis is certainly interesting. _Time's Arrow_ is a masterpiece!
Gwen
--
"Live as one already dead." --Japanese saying
I live in fear of not being misunderstood.-- Oscar wilde
Bill Lane
John Mortimer is excellent, especially his barrister/sleuth Rumpole.
Also, I believe Roald Dahl, best know for kid books, is British. His
"Roald Dahl Omnibus" is must reading for short fiction writers. As
shocking and clever as Flannery O'Connor, if not as "significant."
--
Bill Lane
writer
tho...@goodnet.com
Ralf A. Engeldinger
Janice Galloway: The trick is to keep breathing