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I thought Pat Conroy books were a feast of words. They didn’t so much inspire me, but made me feel more inadequate.
Heh.
I often think that I can aspire to write as well as authors I read. But not Cormac McCarthy. I read his prose and just tuck my literary tail between my legs and admit my limitations!
...Good and bad stories in the genres I enjoy have.
In a way, I too have been inspired by some of the bad work. The Science Fiction field has always had a lively market for short stories. I read the pro SF magazines, hoping for the next big thing, but often found myself reading subpar work and thinking to myself, "I could probably do better than that." So, years ago, I gave it a try and sold several dozen stories to the mags.
Yes: Mordecai Richler, J.P. Donleavy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Phillip K. Dick, Samuel R. Delaney, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Rex Stout, Ursula K. Le Guin, Paul Rimstead, Trent Frayne and a host of others.
Yes: Mordecai Richler, J.P. Donleavy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Phillip K. Dick, Samuel R. Delaney, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Rex Stout, Ursula K. Le Guin, Paul Rimstead, Trent Frayne and a host of others.
Yes, indeed! That's a fine list of inspirers!
I've always loved the way good fiction can transport me into a place or a time I know nothing about, but the work allows me to believe I know. I find myself at home inside a good novel, sharing the experiences of the people who only exist in words and in my mind.
Telling a good story is transportive. A reader gets to be taken on a very good trip every time. The best trips are always those that live on in one's memory, and the best trips of all are taken with a person's imagination.
To me, the best fiction writers all say "Welcome aboard, friend. Let's go for a ride and see something you haven't seen before."
Yes: Mordecai Richler, J.P. Donleavy, J.R.R. Tolkien, Phillip K. Dick, Samuel R. Delaney, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Rex Stout, Ursula K. Le Guin, Paul Rimstead, Trent Frayne and a host of others.
While J.R.R. Tolkien more or less founded the modern sword-and-sorcerer genre, I think that Ursula K. Le Guin reached its pinnacle with A Wizard of Earthsea, a book of both remarkable impact as well as economy. It is one I often go back to read, and it is always rewarding.
I am sad to say that I have never read any Philip K. Dick that I enjoyed much at all, much to my chagrin. So it usually is with me and science fiction.
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