Most influential or best writers of our generation?

Even though she isnt a great writers, I think J.K Rowling was pretty important. She got tons of people back into reading, including me. I may have moved on to other books, but her books were what got me into reading so for that I appreciate her. Its hard to say who is important or influential until the future when their influence is more apparent, but in terms of writing ability these are best to me. By best of our generation i mean writers who still write a lot.

1. Kazuo Ishiguro- His older books are his most popular, but his recent work is his best.

2. Mark z danielewski- House of leaves alone makes him a favorite.

3. Audrey Niffenegger

4. Amitav Ghosh

5. Nadeem Aslam

6. Khaled Hosseini

7. Chuck Palahnuick- His last two books were crap, but Survivor is one of my favorites.

8. George R.R Martin

9. Jose saramago

10. Paulo Coelho

11. Gene Wolfe

12. A.S Byatt

13. Clive Barker

I was tempted to put in stephen king, but he is a better storyteller than a writer. I still think he is a good writer, but its his storytelling that makes him stand out.

I don't know. I don't keep up with a lot of current books. I've been stuck in late 19th century Russia for too long.

I don't know. I don't keep up with a lot of current books. I've been stuck in late 19th century Russia for too long.

jazznate

There are some great books from that era, I am getting into it slowly with Leo Tolstoy and such.

Even though she isnt a great writers, I think J.K Rowling was pretty important. She got tons of people back into reading, including me. I may have moved on to other books, but her books were what got me into reading so for that I appreciate her. Its hard to say who is important or influential until the future when their influence is more apparent, but in terms of writing ability these are best to me. By best of our generation i mean writers who still write a lot.

8. George R.R Martin

I was tempted to put in stephen king, but he is a better storyteller than a writer. I still think he is a good writer, but its his storytelling that makes him stand out.

Film-Guy

Martin is the only one on that list I'm familiar with (or, at least, very familiar with). I will agree that Rowling, if nothing else, got people into reading (for me, though, it was Brian Jacques' Redwall series, which I've always thought was much better than Harry Potter :P).

I'd also like to add Cormac McCarthy to your list. With the exception of The Road, I haven't read a book by him that I didn't love.

As to Stephen King, I'd agree that he is a much better storyteller than a writer. I do think he has some great writing, though (I've always loved The Stand).

I agree with chessmaster on stephen king.

Paulo CoelhoFilm-Guy

[QUOTE="Film-Guy"]

Even though she isnt a great writers, I think J.K Rowling was pretty important. She got tons of people back into reading, including me. I may have moved on to other books, but her books were what got me into reading so for that I appreciate her. Its hard to say who is important or influential until the future when their influence is more apparent, but in terms of writing ability these are best to me. By best of our generation i mean writers who still write a lot.

8. George R.R Martin

I was tempted to put in stephen king, but he is a better storyteller than a writer. I still think he is a good writer, but its his storytelling that makes him stand out.

chessmaster1989

Martin is the only one on that list I'm familiar with (or, at least, very familiar with). I will agree that Rowling, if nothing else, got people into reading (for me, though, it was Brian Jacques' Redwall series, which I've always thought was much better than Harry Potter :P).

I'd also like to add Cormac McCarthy to your list. With the exception of The Road, I haven't read a book by him that I didn't love.

As to Stephen King, I'd agree that he is a much better storyteller than a writer. I do think he has some great writing, though (I've always loved The Stand).

The Stand is quite a good book, though the ending of it is a bit odd and anti climatic. His dark tower series is my favorite followed by Pet Semetary, which creeps me out each time I read it. Even though king is a popular writer i think he is much better than people give him credit for, his book on writing for example is probably the best non fiction book about writing I can think of.

[QUOTE="chessmaster1989"]

[QUOTE="Film-Guy"]

Even though she isnt a great writers, I think J.K Rowling was pretty important. She got tons of people back into reading, including me. I may have moved on to other books, but her books were what got me into reading so for that I appreciate her. Its hard to say who is important or influential until the future when their influence is more apparent, but in terms of writing ability these are best to me. By best of our generation i mean writers who still write a lot.

8. George R.R Martin

I was tempted to put in stephen king, but he is a better storyteller than a writer. I still think he is a good writer, but its his storytelling that makes him stand out.

Film-Guy

Martin is the only one on that list I'm familiar with (or, at least, very familiar with). I will agree that Rowling, if nothing else, got people into reading (for me, though, it was Brian Jacques' Redwall series, which I've always thought was much better than Harry Potter :P).

I'd also like to add Cormac McCarthy to your list. With the exception of The Road, I haven't read a book by him that I didn't love.

As to Stephen King, I'd agree that he is a much better storyteller than a writer. I do think he has some great writing, though (I've always loved The Stand).

The Stand is quite a good book, though the ending of it is a bit odd and anti climatic. His dark tower series is my favorite followed by Pet Semetary, which creeps me out each time I read it. Even though king is a popular writer i think he is much better than people give him credit for, his book on writing for example is probably the best non fiction book about writing I can think of.

The Dark Tower series is probably my favorite work of his, followed by The Stand and The Shining. I actually have King's On Writing in storage back at college, but haven't gotten to it yet. I'll probably get around to it at some point this school year. :)

Wow erm, I can't answer. All my books are twenieth century back. My fave writers are Hemingway, Steinbeck and Rand, and i'm currently reading Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' to give you an idea of who I mean. I prefer writers like Wilde and so on, because I know what i'm getting, where as if you read the synopsis on the back you could get duped. Thats why I never buy modern books, the review on the back will hardly say 'it's crap, stick with Twain.'

House of Leaves is the only good (and by "good" I mean "successful") thing Danielewski has written; all his other books are incomprehensible postmodern garbage both in terms of how they're presented and how they've fared amongst his readers.

I'm not sure who would be the most influential. I agree that Rowling got a lot of kids into reading, which is always a good thing, I suppose. I don't like Palahniuk's style, but Fight Club was definitely influential (for better or worse). I like Martin, but I don't see how he's influential.

Wow erm, I can't answer. All my books are twenieth century back. My fave writers are Hemingway, Steinbeck and Rand, and i'm currently reading Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' to give you an idea of who I mean. I prefer writers like Wilde and so on, because I know what i'm getting, where as if you read the synopsis on the back you could get duped. Thats why I never buy modern books, the review on the back will hardly say 'it's crap, stick with Twain.'

AikiSpirit

I couldnt stand Ayn Rand, too much pretentious self indulgent preachy philosophy and not enough story or good characters.

[QUOTE="Film-Guy"]

[QUOTE="chessmaster1989"]

Martin is the only one on that list I'm familiar with (or, at least, very familiar with). I will agree that Rowling, if nothing else, got people into reading (for me, though, it was Brian Jacques' Redwall series, which I've always thought was much better than Harry Potter :P).

I'd also like to add Cormac McCarthy to your list. With the exception of The Road, I haven't read a book by him that I didn't love.

As to Stephen King, I'd agree that he is a much better storyteller than a writer. I do think he has some great writing, though (I've always loved The Stand).

chessmaster1989

The Stand is quite a good book, though the ending of it is a bit odd and anti climatic. His dark tower series is my favorite followed by Pet Semetary, which creeps me out each time I read it. Even though king is a popular writer i think he is much better than people give him credit for, his book on writing for example is probably the best non fiction book about writing I can think of.

The Dark Tower series is probably my favorite work of his, followed by The Stand and The Shining. I actually have King's On Writing in storage back at college, but haven't gotten to it yet. I'll probably get around to it at some point this school year. :)

Definitely read it; it's surprisingly inspiring.

[QUOTE="AikiSpirit"]

Wow erm, I can't answer. All my books are twenieth century back. My fave writers are Hemingway, Steinbeck and Rand, and i'm currently reading Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' to give you an idea of who I mean. I prefer writers like Wilde and so on, because I know what i'm getting, where as if you read the synopsis on the back you could get duped. Thats why I never buy modern books, the review on the back will hardly say 'it's crap, stick with Twain.'

Film-Guy

I couldnt stand Ayn Rand, too much pretentious self indulgent preachy philosophy and not enough story or good characters.

Have you ever read The Foutainhead. It has some of the best characters in fiction.

House of Leaves is the only good (and by "good" I mean "successful") thing Danielewski has written; all his other books are incomprehensible postmodern garbage both in terms of how they're presented and how they've fared amongst his readers.

I'm not sure who would be the most influential. I agree that Rowling got a lot of kids into reading, which is always a good thing, I suppose. I don't like Palahniuk's style, but Fight Club was definitely influential (for better or worse). I like Martin, but I don't see how he's influential.

Theokhoth

Its hard to say whether someone will be influential or not, heck Marin is called the American Tolkien by some people and while tolkien didnt do tons of new things with his books he still managed to be influential. I think Martin has an influence within a certain crown or genre he excells in.

[QUOTE="Theokhoth"]

House of Leaves is the only good (and by "good" I mean "successful") thing Danielewski has written; all his other books are incomprehensible postmodern garbage both in terms of how they're presented and how they've fared amongst his readers.

I'm not sure who would be the most influential. I agree that Rowling got a lot of kids into reading, which is always a good thing, I suppose. I don't like Palahniuk's style, but Fight Club was definitely influential (for better or worse). I like Martin, but I don't see how he's influential.

Film-Guy

Its hard to say whether someone will be influential or not, heck Marin is called the American Tolkien by some people and while tolkien didnt do tons of new things with his books he still managed to be influential. I think Martin has an influence within a certain crown or genre he excells in.

I will say, Martin is my favorite fantasy writer after Tolkien (not that that's saying a lot, as I'm not a huge fantasy fan :P).

[QUOTE="Film-Guy"]

[QUOTE="AikiSpirit"]

Wow erm, I can't answer. All my books are twenieth century back. My fave writers are Hemingway, Steinbeck and Rand, and i'm currently reading Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' to give you an idea of who I mean. I prefer writers like Wilde and so on, because I know what i'm getting, where as if you read the synopsis on the back you could get duped. Thats why I never buy modern books, the review on the back will hardly say 'it's crap, stick with Twain.'

AikiSpirit

I couldnt stand Ayn Rand, too much pretentious self indulgent preachy philosophy and not enough story or good characters.

Have you ever read The Foutainhead. It has some of the best characters in fiction.

If by "best" you mean "archetypal" then yeah. Otherwise, they weren't third-dimensional or realistic or. . well, anything required of good fictional characters.

Dr. Seuss

[QUOTE="Film-Guy"]

[QUOTE="AikiSpirit"]

Wow erm, I can't answer. All my books are twenieth century back. My fave writers are Hemingway, Steinbeck and Rand, and i'm currently reading Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' to give you an idea of who I mean. I prefer writers like Wilde and so on, because I know what i'm getting, where as if you read the synopsis on the back you could get duped. Thats why I never buy modern books, the review on the back will hardly say 'it's crap, stick with Twain.'

AikiSpirit

I couldnt stand Ayn Rand, too much pretentious self indulgent preachy philosophy and not enough story or good characters.

Have you ever read The Foutainhead. It has some of the best characters in fiction.

Yeah, I read Fountainhead, Anthem, and Atlas Shrugged and I found them all too preachy. Her long monologues are so mind numbingly self indulgent and preachy that they get in the way of the story. Fountainhead did have more interesting characters than her other stories, but I still didnt like it. Anthem was just awful in every way. I appreciate her books for their influence, but I find her agenda gets in the way.

[QUOTE="Film-Guy"]

[QUOTE="Theokhoth"]

House of Leaves is the only good (and by "good" I mean "successful") thing Danielewski has written; all his other books are incomprehensible postmodern garbage both in terms of how they're presented and how they've fared amongst his readers.

I'm not sure who would be the most influential. I agree that Rowling got a lot of kids into reading, which is always a good thing, I suppose. I don't like Palahniuk's style, but Fight Club was definitely influential (for better or worse). I like Martin, but I don't see how he's influential.

chessmaster1989

Its hard to say whether someone will be influential or not, heck Marin is called the American Tolkien by some people and while tolkien didnt do tons of new things with his books he still managed to be influential. I think Martin has an influence within a certain crown or genre he excells in.

I will say, Martin is my favorite fantasy writer after Tolkien (not that that's saying a lot, as I'm not a huge fantasy fan :P).

He writes some of the best characters I have read, they are all complex and layered in a song of ice and fire. His 2 short story collections Dreamsongs 1 and 2 are worth reading too. Also Armageddon rag, and Fevre dream are fantastic.

[QUOTE="chessmaster1989"]

[QUOTE="Film-Guy"]

Its hard to say whether someone will be influential or not, heck Marin is called the American Tolkien by some people and while tolkien didnt do tons of new things with his books he still managed to be influential. I think Martin has an influence within a certain crown or genre he excells in.

Film-Guy

I will say, Martin is my favorite fantasy writer after Tolkien (not that that's saying a lot, as I'm not a huge fantasy fan :P).

He writes some of the best characters I have read, they are all complex and layered in a song of ice and fire. His 2 short story collections Dreamsongs 1 and 2 are worth reading too. Also Armageddon rag, and Fevre dream are fantastic.

I haven't read anything of his besides A Song of Ice and Fire, which, I agree, had some amazing characters (although it did have a few that I didn't like as much, but for the most part they were good). I always loved Tyrian, Jamie (in the latter two books), Daeneries (sp.?), John Snow, Arya, and others.

Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer

avatar_genius

All joking aside I actually liked her book The Host.

[QUOTE="AikiSpirit"]

Wow erm, I can't answer. All my books are twenieth century back. My fave writers are Hemingway, Steinbeck and Rand, and i'm currently reading Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' to give you an idea of who I mean. I prefer writers like Wilde and so on, because I know what i'm getting, where as if you read the synopsis on the back you could get duped. Thats why I never buy modern books, the review on the back will hardly say 'it's crap, stick with Twain.'

Film-Guy

I couldnt stand Ayn Rand, too much pretentious self indulgent preachy philosophy and not enough story or good characters.

...not to mention she was an evil so-and-so.

I couldn't agree more sir!

Her writing was genius, like I said I suggest people read The Fountainhead. Wilde slept with a rent boy. Hemingway was a miserable basterd. I don't think a writers personal life should change how we see there work. In 1991 the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month club held a survey, and Rands 'Atlas Shrugged' was second to the Bible in the book that made the most difference in the American readers' lives.

No love for Paul Auster?

Her writing was genius, like I said I suggest people read The Fountainhead. Wilde slept with a rent boy. Hemingway was a miserable basterd. I don't think a writers personal life should change how we see there work. In 1991 the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month club held a survey, and Rands 'Atlas Shrugged' was second to the Bible in the book that made the most difference in the American readers' lives.

AikiSpirit

I dont care what the library of congress or anyone else thinks, I still think she is a not a great writer. I dont care about her personal life, I dont know anything about it. I just think she is too preachy and writes dull and uninteresting stories with boring characters and overly self indulgent philosophy.

The most influential one unfortunately, is probably Stephanie Meyers. :( jaydough

Why is she the most influential?

Her writing was genius, like I said I suggest people read The Fountainhead. Wilde slept with a rent boy. Hemingway was a miserable basterd. I don't think a writers personal life should change how we see there work. In 1991 the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month club held a survey, and Rands 'Atlas Shrugged' was second to the Bible in the book that made the most difference in the American readers' lives.

AikiSpirit

Rand is a mediocre writer at best, in my opinion. Rand was a homophobic, self-centred, evil ****. It's hard to overlook that when it's so tightly wound into her books (well, maybe not her being homophobic, but the rest still stands :P ) I'll forgive Hemingway for his misanthropy because he was an awesome writer. Objectivism is servely flawed. Rand sucks because her books were essentially a way in which she could preach her dumb philosophy to the masses, with little literary merit.

/rant

Adam Rapp writes some good stuff. I like his works.

[QUOTE="AikiSpirit"]

Her writing was genius, like I said I suggest people read The Fountainhead. Wilde slept with a rent boy. Hemingway was a miserable basterd. I don't think a writers personal life should change how we see there work. In 1991 the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month club held a survey, and Rands 'Atlas Shrugged' was second to the Bible in the book that made the most difference in the American readers' lives.

Forever_Changes

Rand is a mediocre writer at best, in my opinion. Rand was a homophobic, self-centred, evil ****. It's hard to overlook that when it's so tightly wound into her books (well, maybe not her being homophobic, but the rest still stands :P ) I'll forgive Hemingway for his misanthropy because he was an awesome writer. Objectivism is servely flawed. Rand sucks because her books were essentially a way in which she could preach her dumb philosophy to the masses, with little literary merit.

/rant

In my opinion she was one of the greatest writers. I plan to read Twains 'A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court' when i've finished TCAMB, just because its so much fun! He was years ahead of his time. I've also been trying to find 'The Sixteenth Round' by Rubin Carter, but it's not on any books store's ordering lists :( I think some of the most infulential books arent always by writers, for example 'The Autobiograhpy of Malcolm X' is hugely influential.

[QUOTE="jaydough"] The most influential one unfortunately, is probably Stephanie Meyers. :( Film-Guy

Why is she the most influential?

Salman Rushdie. Cormac McCarthy. Johnathan Safron Foer. These are a few that you didn't mention that popped into my head.Locke562

+1

Can't claim to have read anything other than Everthything is Illuminated but it was brilliant. I have read enough by McCarthy, however, to conclude that he is one of the greatest writers ever.

[QUOTE="Locke562"]Salman Rushdie. Cormac McCarthy. Johnathan Safron Foer. These are a few that you didn't mention that popped into my head.Forever_Changes

+1

Can't claim to have read anything other than Everthything is Illuminated but it was brilliant. I have read enough by McCarthy, however, to conclude that he is one of the greatest writers ever.

I think Suttree is his best book by far, that Child of god, and Blood Meridan. Have you ever read Jose Saramago?

I'm only really familiar with Mark Z. Danielewski and Clive Barker from those. I'm quickly becoming a big fan of Barker's work, having recently read Weaveworld and The Damnation Game (with Imajica, The Great and Secret Show and the Books of Blood on the back-burner) and really enjoying them both, especially Weaveworld, which was fantastic. I haven't read a book as brimming with shear imagination in a long while.

As for Danielewski, I did enjoy House of Leaves and can see that it probably wouldn't have worked as well as a traditional narrative, but it was a bit too all over the place for my tastes. The constant changes in style and structure started to become a little jarring after a while for me, but on the other hand that's part of what makes it so unique.

[QUOTE="Forever_Changes"]

[QUOTE="Locke562"]Salman Rushdie. Cormac McCarthy. Johnathan Safron Foer. These are a few that you didn't mention that popped into my head.Film-Guy

+1

Can't claim to have read anything other than Everthything is Illuminated but it was brilliant. I have read enough by McCarthy, however, to conclude that he is one of the greatest writers ever.

I think Suttree is his best book by far, Child of god, and Blood Meridan.

Suttree is great but my favourite is All the Pretty Horses, followed by Blood Meridian. Suttree is definitely unjustly underrated though!

I'm only really familiar with Mark Z. Danielewski and Clive Barker from those. I'm quickly becoming a big fan of Barker's work, having recently read Weaveworld and The Damnation Game (with Imajica, The Great and Secret Show and the Books of Blood on the back-burner) and really enjoying them both, especially Weaveworld, which was fantastic. I haven't read a book as brimming with shear imagination in a long while.

As for Danielewski, I did enjoy House of Leaves and can see that it probably wouldn't have worked as well as a traditional narrative, but it was a bit too all over the place for my tastes. The constant changes in style and structure started to become a little jarring after a while for me, but on the other hand that's part of what makes it so unique.

Silent-Hal

Barker is a fantastic writer, his only book I didnt like was Mister B. Gone which was his most recent. His only downside is that his characters can sometimes be a bit flat and 1 dimensional.