Comments on: Great writing

By: black expressions book club

black expressions book club — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:12:14 +0000

Yes it seems that great writing AND great storytelling is much too rare to demand it Yes, it is TOO much to ask For me, it's always been Hemingway.

By: Sangu

Sangu — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:19:57 +0000

Daphne du Maurier is one of my favourite writers ever - because her prose is always, always beautiful AND because she tells great stories. So I think I look for the complete package in my favourite novelists. That said, great characters will always win me over, however badly a chapter's been 'written'. But it really, really helps to be a great writer too. The Time Traveler's Wife is a good example of great writing, great story, and great characters (in my opinion).

By: Ara Burklund

Ara Burklund — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:33:35 +0000

Ooh! I have to add Janet Fitch to this list. : )

By: MaryWitzl

MaryWitzl — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:49:36 +0000

Marilynne Robinson for sure. Kazuo Ishiguro, A. S. Byatt, Barbara Kingsolver, James Baldwin, Khaled Hosseini, and Amy Tan. It takes me ages to read their books because I have to read certain passages over and over, they're so beautiful.

By: Ara Burklund

Ara Burklund — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:20:21 +0000

John Irving, Chuck Palahniuk, Emily Giffin, and Amy Tan.

Great post, Jim. I laughed out loud at the opening quote. : )

By: C.R. Boone

C.R. Boone — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:47:55 +0000

One of my favorite YA authors is Sarah Dessen. Her stories are a snapshot of teenage life, weaving complex characters in and out of universal emotional experiences.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:24 +0000

Cormac McCarthy. If you can tolerate his penchant for eschewing punctuation. The opening two pages of All The Pretty Horses is remarkable. Poetry pure and simple.

By: K. M. Walton

K. M. Walton — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:23:16 +0000

John Green, Lev Grossman, Sherman Alexie, Anne Lamott, Anita Diamant

By: Jenn (From the Mixed-Up Files)

Jenn (From the Mixed-Up Files) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:48:05 +0000

I second Jhumpa Lahiri. Eudora Welty, Alice Munro, Raymond Carver, and Leif Enger are others I turn to when I want to be inspired. I think they all are masters at writing an artful sentence (different styles, each) and telling a captivating story.

By: Judith Mercado

Judith Mercado — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:53:52 +0000

Julio, not Jose, Cortazar … you'd never know I was in the middle of reading his Rayuela, would you?