Your Top Three Favourite Authors

[Farwa]

I see... I think I'm going to check it out. Why is it difficult to finish - is it fat, does it use difficult words, or is it written in a complicated way?

[rosy_posy]

One of the main reasons it can be hard to get through (I found) is that there are hundreds of different names in it, and some of them sound really very similar. I had to keep checking at the back (there's a list of people) to see who was who! And it's written in a very grand sort of style, which some people find hard to get through. It's wonderful to read aloud though - the words just roll off your tongue.

[Farwa]

Well, I'm going to check it out! It seems like a cool book!
That's the fun of coming together on good forums like this - you get such good book suggestions of this sort!

[floragord]

THE SILMARILLION is an account of the Elder Days of the First Age of Tolkien's World, the ancient drama to which the characters in LORD OF THE RINGS refer and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The tales are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord dwelt in Middle Earth and the High Elves made war for the recovery of the Silmarils. The three Silmarils were jewels created by Feanor, most gifted of the Elves. Included in the book are several shorter works. AINULINDALE is a myth of the creation and in VALAQUENTA the nature and power of each of the gods is described. The AKALLABETH recounts the fall of the great island kingdom of Numenor at the end of the Second Age and OF THE RINGS OF POWER tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age. It is a huge epic but... I would only reconsider reading it if I were to suffer from regular insomnia which medicinal herbs didn't alleviate

[burlingtonbertram]

What a relief to read your last sentence. I was itching to get on my anti-Lord Of The Rings hobby-horse but didn't want to offend you. Now I don't have to risk it.

[floragord]

Ooooh, I don't really "do" offended too often BurlingtonBertram, life's too short!! Does your anti Lord of the Rings hobby-horse mean you aren't a fan of JRRT ?

[burlingtonbertram]

I could write a long diatribe about the flaws in The Lord of The Rings, but won't. I admire his knowledge of folklore, linguistics and his ability to put an epic together though. I still enjoy 'The Hobbit', to a degree.

The most bitter opponent of something is always the apostate LOL. When I was 15 and should having been hanging about on the seafront or the amusement arcades meeting girls, I was stuck in a variety of attics rolling dice and moving little lead figures about a gaming table. I hold Tolkien entirely responsible for the Dungeons & Dragons habit of my mid-teens.

[walter raleigh]

I'm enjoying this "three favourite authors" thread (or sometimes more than three!) It's interesting to see which authors have made a real impression on people.

The problem is that three authors isn't really enough to judge an impression. It seems obvious (although, strangely, two people haven't) that Enid will be featured, so it only leaves two others to pick. I have been impressed by many authors, and to get a true flavour, I would probably like to see people's top ten.

If you ask, so you shall receive. (eventually...)

1. Alan Moore
2. George Orwell
3. Stephen King
4. Enid Blyton
5. P.G. Wodehouse
6. John Wyndham
7. Donald E. Westlake
8. Isaac Asimov
9. Robert Westall
10.Bill Bryson

With Dick Francis, Terry Pratchett, Piers Anthony, Ed McBain, Lawrence Block bringing up the rear.

[Farwa]

Perhaps I should change the topic title to "Top Ten Favourite Authors" now!

[Moonraker]

I'd not even heard of four of those authors!

[Farwa]

That's cool! Now you can check them out!

[Ming]

1) Enid Blyton
2) Agatha Christie
3) P. G. Wodehouse

[burlingtonbertram]

I'm enjoying this "three favourite authors" thread (or sometimes more than three!) It's interesting to see which authors have made a real impression on people.

The problem is that three authors isn't really enough to judge an impression. It seems obvious (although, strangely, two people haven't) that Enid will be featured, so it only leaves two others to pick. I have been impressed by many authors, and to get a true flavour, I would probably like to see people's top ten.

If you ask, so you shall receive. (eventually...)

1. Alan Moore
2. George Orwell
3. Stephen King
4. Enid Blyton
5. P.G. Wodehouse
6. John Wyndham
7. Donald E. Westlake
8. Isaac Asimov
9. Robert Westall
10.Bill Bryson

With Dick Francis, Terry Pratchett, Piers Anthony, Ed McBain, Lawrence Block bringing up the rear.

Billy Bryson is very amusing; I particularly enjoyed Notes From A Small Island. For anyone who hasn't read it, he is an American, but a UK resident, who takes a valedictory trip around the UK (walking and by public transport). It is very funny. I read it once whilst running a polling station (the world's most boring job) and any number of voters said they had both read it and enjoyed it.

[Courtenay]

I haven't read the whole of Bill Bryson's Down Under, just the first couple of chapters or so and the odd flick-through - I must read it properly one day - but I have to say, unlike many writers from elsewhere, he gets Australia very accurate!

[Katharine]

The only Bill Bryson book I've read is Mother Tongue. It was quite a while ago, and from what I remember it was quite good, although a lot to take in.