Comments on: Jim McCarthy on having a voice

By: Elizabeth Lynd

Elizabeth Lynd — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:52:37 +0000

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon and When We Were Romans by Matthew Kneale. All about the voice and crafting and so well done. Both writers draw a unique main character (both boys, one a teen and one a child) whose lack of understanding creates both sympathy and empathy–which was surely the point.

By: DGLM

DGLM — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:31:12 +0000

Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone! Tere, I totally agree with The Fortress of Solitude. Great stuff. And Craven, The Book Thief has been hanging out in my to-be-read pile for months. I really need to move it to the smaller must-read pile! And M, thanks for mentioning two agency clients--thrilled that you enjoy their work!

-Jim

By: Tech Pubs

Tech Pubs — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:07:39 +0000

Wow … what a great critique idea! Wish I'd been there. You can learn so much from those two most important pages …. I may be strange but I'm all for knowledgeable critique!

By: Craven

Craven — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:42:19 +0000

I just read "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. He has an incredible and unique voice that filled me with envy. I dreaded the approach of the last page.

By: Julie Kibler

Julie Kibler — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:26:40 +0000

I've been burning through Adriana Trigiani's books lately (Very Valentine; Lucia, Lucia; Big Stone Gap trilogy; etc.). Her voice has been rattling around in my head for weeks, it's so distinct.

By: AudryT

AudryT — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:39:52 +0000

I just cracked open "Cheerful Money" and already, I am thoroughly entertained. Not only does it let you peek into an elite world from by-gone days, but it's replete with eccentric character fully rendered life by the author.

By: sherry stanfa-stanley

sherry stanfa-stanley — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:37:35 +0000

You are so dead-on with this post. Secret Life of Bees is one novel that strikes me as having a great voice.

I was at that SCWW conference and in the romance/women's fiction slushfest. I didn't submit pages, but agreed that a strong voice was what was missing from several.

Loved talking with you there. You'll be hearing from me, as soon as I'm certain my voice is damn straight.

By: M

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:54:01 +0000

That memoir sounds fabulous. And Amazon has it. Score.

A couple of authors with very distinctive voices come to mind:

Carl Hiaasen- anything he's written works, but Stormy Weather is one of my favorites. So wonderfully kitschy.

Lisa See- particularly her family's memoir On Gold Mountain. Breathtaking.

Maxine Hong Kingston- I first read her memoir A Woman Warrior in high school. It's been with me since, and I reread it every couple of years.

Eoin Colfer- Artemis Fowl. 'Nuff said.

Holly Black- No one else could have written her Modern Faerie Tale trilogy (Tithe, Valiant, Ironside).

Daniel Handler- The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, or as Lemony Snickett- everything he writes is so uniquely his.

You didn't ask for poetry, but Seamus Heaney fits the bill.

Sarah Cross- her debut Dull Boy was rockin'.

And then there's Lisa McMann and Carrie Ryan, whose books you probably and definitely have read. But they qualify, too.

And also--alright. I could go on forever, so I'm going to quit. Happy reading!

By: Vodka Mom

Vodka Mom — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:46:37 +0000

i adored this post.

...and I'm sending vodka. No note.

By: Tere Kirkland

Tere Kirkland — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:35:15 +0000

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem is one of the books I've read in recent years that comes immediately to mind when someone says "voice".

"Like a match struck in a darkened room:

Two white girls in flannel nightgowns and red vinyl roller skates with white laces, tracing tentative circles on a cracked blue slate sidewalk at seven o'clock on an evening in July."

This is the style of voice I love to read, but could never write.