Hello All, I'd like to know: What, to you, are examples of books that are "ingenious" - clever, excellent, perhaps outright brilliant? I have my favorites, like Orwell's 1984 and a few more. There are also a few poets I consider to be brilliant at writing. Where should I look to find examples of "excellent", "brilliant", "ingenious writing"? Which writers - living or dead - have produced the most brilliant prose? Which writers have produced the most memorable plot, dialogue or characters, and in which specific books? Thanks in advance for any suggestions, Dryriver
Hemingway. What was so brilliant about his prose was how damn easy he made it look and (IMO) how powerful it was for being so spare.
James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, William Gass, Anthony Burgess are the first names that come to my mind when I think of brilliant prose. When it comes to characters, it's actually a similar list (writers who care deeply about their prose tend to care deeply about every aspect of their writing), and I would definitely add John Steinbeck and possibly John Gardner. And Charles Dickens, of course. Whenever I start putting together lists like this, I find myself frustrated by my own ignorance of non-English-language literature. I've never read Marcel Proust, Thomas Mann, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, or any of the great Russians, among many others.
I like rich prose - An eclectic mix of words that flow like poetry. Angela Carter, Vladimir Nabokov, Lygia Fagundes Telles. James Joyce's Ulysses, Orwell is excellent, too - have you tried Animal Farm? I love Richard Addams Watership Down. Bunny-folkore! The last line of Thackery's Vanity Fair - 'Come children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for the play is played out.' Though everything prior to it was hard going - lol! Best character created - non-human - Winnie The Pooh. Human - Miss Havisham - from Great Expectations, Harriet M. Welsh - from Harriet the Spy. Books that read like puzzles - anything by Alain Robbe-Grillet , The Cannibal by John Hawkes. Most bizarre idea - The edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. A horror novel that surpasses every horror out there - The Auctioneer by Joan Samson
