Who is your favourite author, and why?

[Bluenote]

Well this is getting a bit off topic. Can we move this discussion to its own thread? Then I can bore you with my musical tastes

Certainly , and I assure you that I won't find your musical taste boring , it's most definitely a case of " each to their own"...........

 

[Meadow337]

moved

http://www.bookandreader.com/threads/blues-jazz-and-musical-tastes.25470/

 

[Peder]

I love the stories of Jorge Luis Borges for their thrilling complexity, their luminous quality.

If you could point me to one with "thrilling" complexity and "luminous" quality I would greatly appreciate it. I have been trying to find those qualities in his work, but without success so far. So, please, a title or two that you have read. Seriously

 

[pontalba]

If you could point me to one with "thrilling" complexity and "luminous" quality I would greatly appreciate it. I have been trying to find those qualities in his work, but without success so far. So, please, a title or two that you have read. Seriously

That makes two of us.

 

[Robert]

Cussler is a good author, he is an entertaining read and he definitely fits the bill of "page turner." He's not in my pantheon of "favorite" though-he doesn't dare come and sit at the table with me, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, and Steinbeck.

I like Cussler's early works, but not his later stuff. I have wondered if he still writes his own novels.

 

[canuck]

I like Cussler's early works, but not his later stuff. I have wondered if he still writes his own novels.

Doesn't he co-author his latest books with another writer. I read that James Patterson hardly ever does his own writing now, he gives the writer a plot line and lets him go to it, maybe oversees it but doesn't write it himself. Maybe Cussler does the same. I guess it's Dirk Pitt Jr. now who gets into all the scrapes?

 

[Robert]

Doesn't he co-author his latest books with another writer. I read that James Patterson hardly ever does his own writing now, he gives the writer a plot line and lets him go to it, maybe oversees it but doesn't write it himself. Maybe Cussler does the same. I guess it's Dirk Pitt Jr. now who gets into all the scrapes?

I don't know if he co-authors or if he allows his co-author to write the book in his style. Either way, Cussler's books are now so poorly written that it sickens me.

 

[canuck]

I don't know if he co-authors or if he allows his co-author to write the book in his style. Either way, Cussler's books are now so poorly written that it sickens me.

It's too bad, they used to be good adventure stories, even my elderly aunt was still reading them in her late 80's.

 

[Robert]

It's too bad, they used to be good adventure stories, even my elderly aunt was still reading them in her late 80's.

They were a lot of fun to read. It's interesting to go back and read his early Dirk Pitt novels just to see how much Dirk Pitt has changed over time. Dirk Pitt was actually much closer to the 007 of the movies then the James Bond found in the Fleming novels.

 

[canuck]

They were a lot of fun to read. It's interesting to go back and read his early Dirk Pitt novels just to see how much Dirk Pitt has changed over time. Dirk Pitt was actually much closer to the 007 of the movies then the James Bond found in the Fleming novels.

I read all the Ian Fleming novels and saw most of the movies - with all the different incarnations of 007. I liked Q and I think my favourite Bonds were Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. The most recent one is o.k. but not as sophisticated as the previous ones. However I'm getting away from Clive Cussler. I did enjoy his earlier books. Picked one up about a year ago and just couldn't get into it at all.

 

[Robert]

I read all the Ian Fleming novels and saw most of the movies - with all the different incarnations of 007. I liked Q and I think my favourite Bonds were Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. The most recent one is o.k. but not as sophisticated as the previous ones. However I'm getting away from Clive Cussler. I did enjoy his earlier books. Picked one up about a year ago and just couldn't get into it at all.

Cussler was a fun read, but I have to move on and look for something else.

 

[Sparhawk]

I read all the Ian Fleming novels and saw most of the movies - with all the different incarnations of 007. I liked Q and I think my favourite Bonds were Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan. The most recent one is o.k. but not as sophisticated as the previous ones. However I'm getting away from Clive Cussler. I did enjoy his earlier books. Picked one up about a year ago and just couldn't get into it at all.

Oh happy days! Someone that also thinks that the new James bond is not the bees knees! I so agree with you, James bond is so much more than just a tough guy and that is how they have been showing him in the new movies.

 

[Robert]

Oh happy days! Someone that also thinks that the new James bond is not the bees knees! I so agree with you, James bond is so much more than just a tough guy and that is how they have been showing him in the new movies.

True. Fleming's 007 was more vulnerable, subject to self doubt.

 

[Sparhawk]

He was also a bit more... I have forgotten the word, but they are defiantly leaving out some of the depth that made bond interesting.

 

[pontalba]

I'm one that thinks Sean Connery is the ultimate Bond. However in spite of being a blond I really like Daniel Craig. I didn't expect to, but I definitely do.
I felt he showed much vulnerability in the first two films, and see promise in the ones to come.

As much as I like Timothy Dalton, as Bond, he was to soft, as was Brosnan. They both lack the hard edge that Bond has to keep up.
And I think Roger Moore was perfect in that old series, The Saint, but didn't care for him as Bond either.

And, just to keep this thread on track, I'll say that Fleming was pretty darned good. I only wish the films had followed the stories he wrote!

 

[canuck]

I can't remember how the books and the movies compared. In fact, I don't remember a whole lot about the books except that I seemed to be on a James Bond kick - this was probably around 1966 as I remember reading them when I was expecting our youngest son, in fact I was finishing off one of the books while I was in the hospital (after the birth that is)! They used to keep you in for several days back then. I liked Sean Connery, he certainly was a handsome Bond but a bit more rugged that Moore or Brosnan. It's probably a good job we don't all like the same type.

 

[pontalba]

The only film to date, as far as I know, that follows pretty closely is the new version of Casino Royale. Except for the technology, that film is very close to the book. The others, Broccoli only bought the titles, and did what he pleased. I'm not saying I didn't like them. But I'll say this.....The Spy That Loved Me...the book, was excellent, while the film had NOTHING in common, and wasn't that good, imo.

 

[ChaosTheory]

Agatha Christie, probably. Maybe. It's hard to narrow down. But I love mysteries and have been reading Christie since I was 10; it probably stemmed from watching the Poirot episodes of "Mystery" on PBS as a little kid lol.

My other go-to favorites would be Mark Twain, Lovecraft, Poe, David Foster Wallace. They all own their own style

 

[Cristian Velan]

My favourite writer is Nikolai Gogol. For me, he's a genius, not only because he is a hudge literary talent, but it was a trully observer of the world around him. If anyone want to learn practical psychology, Gogol is a must read

 

[Roxbrough]

My favourite author is Philip K. Dick.
If you look at the films made from his writing you will see what a fabulous author he is.