SRH left the following comment on yesterday's post:
**I understand not seeing the essay, but maybe you could show us the list of books you came up with/are coming upo with.Authors and readers should always share book titles with each other :)**
Fair enough. The books that have most touched my life (in order of importance) are:
1. "Stranger in a Strange Land" Robert Heinlein
2. "Catcher in the Rye" J.D. Salinger
3. "Dune" Frank Herbert
4. "Starship Troopers" Robert Heinlein
5. "Lord of the Flies" William Golding
6. "Watership Down" Richard Adams
7. "Animal Farm" George Orwell
8. "The Grapes of Wrath" John Steinbeck
9. "Call of the Wild" Jack London
10. "Setting Free the Bears" John Irving
The list is actually much longer than that (like all writers, I read A LOT!) but the top ten should give you a hint of the oddities that run through my twisted little psyche. Now, I know the "thread" I saw that linked these books together in my own head but now that I have them written down here, I wonder what you folks make of them. Anyone care to throw out how they see these fitting together? Drop a comment.
So, I was back to work on "First" today. Got another 1,500 words . . . a bit slow for me but they were good words. I'm still struggling against the desire to set it aside and move onto the next project that fits better into the "theme" I talked about yesterday. I'm worrying that "First" is too formulaic a fantasy and I have this sudden need to write something more meaningful to me personally. I refuse to do it though. "First" is a solid story and I think it's well written. I won't just abandon it. What's the worst case here: I finish it and decide I don't like it? So what? I will be that much a better author for the effort. Best case: I'm worrying over nothing and I love the book when it's finished.
It's a win-win.
I added a few links to my sidebar (bottom of the list, over on the left) to sites I found that have generously linked to my little blog here. I'm a big fan of the courtesy link. I figger if somebody's willing to link to my ramblings I should return the favor. All the sites I have links to are well worth your time. They're (almost) all writing related and have a wide variety of perspectives. A lot of good stuff to be learned out in there in Blogland! If you haven't been to any of these site, stop in and see what other folks have going on . . .
Later!
3 comments:
I am familiar with all but "Setting Free the Bears."
Interesting list, I am surprised as a fantasy author LOTR is not on there. "Lord of the Flies" is an amazing piece of literature, it would definitely make my top 10 list.
Thanks for the list, and I made a mistake yesterday, the author of "The Sparrow" is Mary Doria Russel, not Maria. Oops, I guess I just liked having the same vowel shift at the end of 2 words.
Hey there, thanks for the courtesy link! :D
Interesting links of important books. I might try and think of my list.
I hate it when people hear I write fantasy. They think I'm either a fan of LotR or Harry Potter. I'm a fan of neither. :P
LOTR, while certainly the most entertaining books I've ever read (I've re-read them at least 20 times now)wasn't "life altering" for me, if you'll forgive the melodramatic sound of that. I adore it but it didn't change my outlook the way the others did.
"Setting Free the Bears" is AMAZING! I love Irving in general (Garp, Water Method Man, Cider House Rules, etc.) but this is his finest piece as far as I'm concerned.
CARLIE:
You're welcome! Don't sweat the stereotype. The day folks start comparing your work to Tolkien and Rowling, you'll learn to love 'em! :-)
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