Out of the all authors I’ve read, these three have come to be my absolute favorites. I’ve read or own most of their major works. Now I’m interested to see who else I should read.
O’Connor is my favorite out of the three. Capote was my favorite before her. I find O’Connor to be very similar to Capote, but slightly better at almost everything, especially humor. The one thing Capote has that I don’t find as strong in O’Connor is this sort of wistful, nostalgic quality that never fails to fill my face with tears.
Conrad is a little different. His writing is significantly more complex and usually requires I have my dictionary open. When I do though, i find his prose to be the most wonderful thing. Somehow he makes the world around the story feel like a living breathing creature, where it almost feels magical or a fantasy.
My Favorite works from them:
•Youth – Joseph Conrad. I read this to get a feel for his style before reading Heart of Darkness. Blew my mind.
•The River – Flannery O’Connor. Not sure, just love it.
•A Christmas Memory – Capote. Cried all the way through. Love it
Although these are somewhat more “literary” leaning authors, I’m not reading and analyzing these works much. I’m mainly reading for pure aesthetic pleasure.
The things I think i love that they all do: atmosphere. complex characters. strange stuff. What I feel is well written. Supreme Sensibilities.
Other authors I love: Shirley Jackson, Lovecraft, and Harper Lee.
Authors I appreciate: Stephen King. Twain. Kafka. Dostoyevsky. Bret Easton Ellis. Austen. Salinger.
Authors I didn’t care for: Hemingway, Bradbury, Didion, Gaiman.
Note: the authors I didn’t care for, I only read one book or maybe a handful of short works. I say this because If I would have started with Heart of Darkness for Conrad, he might end up in the didn’t care for category, so I’m open to second chances.
Thank you 🙂
by prfctanglbby
1 Comment
Take a look at Katherine Mansfield. She may be a bit more hard-edged than O’Conner; but does some good work