20th century novelists

Logan wrote: I've read work by the majority of these. Vonnegut, Kafka, Orwell, Borges, Burroughs, Beckett, Joyce, and Hesse rank amongst my favourites. And I'll give votes to Conrad (I did enjoy reading Heart of Darkness by him in college) and Faulkner too. As for Rushdie, I'm bigger on him as an individual and listening to him speak than as a writer, but then I've only read The Satanic Verses by him (well, not strictly true). Some favourites not on the list include Aldous Huxley, Günter Grass, Philip K. Dick and Stanislaw Lem.

The conspicuous absentee for me is Nabokov. Maybe not the greatest, but easily the most brilliant, of 20th century novelists.

Logan wrote:   It's partially Dick's sense of paranoia that makes his books so good for me. And maybe not in th same class as the more classic literary giants in this poll, but I love Arturo Pérez-Reverte (The Club Dumas) and José Saramago (Blindness) as well as Kazuo Ishiguro, especially for Never Let Me Go (though that's a 21st century novel). And Cormac mcCarthy's The Road is one of my modern favourites (and Margaret Atwood with Oryx and Crake), but this is an aside and not that relevant to the general topic.

jamesbaldwin wrote: Logan wrote:   It's partially Dick's sense of paranoia that makes his books so good for me. And maybe not in th same class as the more classic literary giants in this poll, but I love Arturo Pérez-Reverte (The Club Dumas) and José Saramago (Blindness) as well as Kazuo Ishiguro, especially for Never Let Me Go (though that's a 21st century novel). And Cormac mcCarthy's The Road is one of my modern favourites (and Margaret Atwood with Oryx and Crake), but this is an aside and not that relevant to the general topic. Blindness by Saramago is great. Cormac McCarthy is very loved in Italy. I really like No Country for Old Men. I never read Dick. I'm not a fan of science fiction. But anyway, <span style="color: rgb33, 33, 33; font-family: inherit; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">can you recommend me a book of his where paranoia prevails (or almost) on science fiction?</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> </span>

Seen the film, but I haven't yet read No Country for Old Men.

I don't think you have to like sci-fi to enjoy Dick -- some of his work is not of the genre and he's a very different kind of writer from, say Isaac Asimov, who also was a scientist. I put Dick in the same loose category as Vonnegut for their "fantastic" works. While there's a sense of paranoia in many of his short stories and other works, the novel that springs to my mind is "Ubik" (those who have seen Black Mirror's Bandersnatch might have noticed UBIK in it).

Some of my other favourite Dick's include "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", "Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb", "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said", and "A Scanner Darkly". The alternate history "The Man in the High Castle" is another interesting one.

I found his Valis trilogy quite challenging to get through.

jamesbaldwin wrote: Cormac McCarthy is very loved in Italy. I really like No Country for Old Men.

I wouldn't like to use the word "missing" because there are only 25 spaces for options and one can't know everything that the OP has read and related to (unless you do like what I've done and cram as many into the space as possible), and that could imply being neglectful to some (not saying it's meant that way), but Albert Camus is a brilliant mention. Gabriel García Márquez I have not read that I recall.

Edited by Logan - January 30 2019 at 10:37

Logan wrote: I wouldn't like to use the word "missing" because there are only 25 spaces for options and one can't know everything that the OP has read and related to (unless you do like what I've done and cram as many into the space as possible), and that could imply being neglectful to some (not saying it's meant that way), but Albert Camus is a brilliant mention. Gabriel García Márquez I have not read that I recall.

Edited by Snicolette - January 30 2019 at 11:32

Logan wrote: jamesbaldwin wrote: Logan wrote:   It's partially Dick's sense of paranoia that makes his books so good for me. And maybe not in th same class as the more classic literary giants in this poll, but I love Arturo Pérez-Reverte (The Club Dumas) and José Saramago (Blindness) as well as Kazuo Ishiguro, especially for Never Let Me Go (though that's a 21st century novel). And Cormac mcCarthy's The Road is one of my modern favourites (and Margaret Atwood with Oryx and Crake), but this is an aside and not that relevant to the general topic. Blindness by Saramago is great. Cormac McCarthy is very loved in Italy. I really like No Country for Old Men. I never read Dick. I'm not a fan of science fiction. But anyway, <span style="color: rgb33, 33, 33; font-family: inherit; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">can you recommend me a book of his where paranoia prevails (or almost) on science fiction?</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> </span> Seen the film, but I haven't yet read No Country for Old Men. I don't think you have to like sci-fi to enjoy Dick -- some of his work is not of the genre and he's a very different kind of writer from, say Isaac Asimov, who also was a scientist. I put Dick in the same loose category as Vonnegut for their "fantastic" works. While there's a sense of paranoia in many of his short stories and other works, the novel that springs to my mind is "Ubik" (those who have seen Black Mirror's Bandersnatch might have noticed UBIK in it). Some of my other favourite Dick's include "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", "Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb", "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said", and "A Scanner Darkly". The alternate history "The Man in the High Castle" is another interesting one. I found his Valis trilogy quite challenging to get through.

jamesbaldwin wrote: Logan wrote: jamesbaldwin wrote: Logan wrote:   It's partially Dick's sense of paranoia that makes his books so good for me. And maybe not in th same class as the more classic literary giants in this poll, but I love Arturo Pérez-Reverte (The Club Dumas) and José Saramago (Blindness) as well as Kazuo Ishiguro, especially for Never Let Me Go (though that's a 21st century novel). And Cormac mcCarthy's The Road is one of my modern favourites (and Margaret Atwood with Oryx and Crake), but this is an aside and not that relevant to the general topic. Blindness by Saramago is great. Cormac McCarthy is very loved in Italy. I really like No Country for Old Men. I never read Dick. I'm not a fan of science fiction. But anyway, <span style="color: rgb33, 33, 33; font-family: inherit; line-height: 24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">can you recommend me a book of his where paranoia prevails (or almost) on science fiction?</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> </span> Seen the film, but I haven't yet read No Country for Old Men. I don't think you have to like sci-fi to enjoy Dick -- some of his work is not of the genre and he's a very different kind of writer from, say Isaac Asimov, who also was a scientist. I put Dick in the same loose category as Vonnegut for their "fantastic" works. While there's a sense of paranoia in many of his short stories and other works, the novel that springs to my mind is "Ubik" (those who have seen Black Mirror's Bandersnatch might have noticed UBIK in it). Some of my other favourite Dick's include "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", "Dr. Bloodmoney, or How We Got Along After the Bomb", "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said", and "A Scanner Darkly". The alternate history "The Man in the High Castle" is another interesting one. I found his Valis trilogy quite challenging to get through. Thaks, Logan,  I begin with Ubik! https://www.mondadoristore.it/Ubik-Philip-K-Dick/eai978883473031/ If you want to try with the most important italian novel,  https://theamericanmag.com/zenos-conscience/

I thought that would be about Zeno's paradoxes. Will look for it, thanks.   And just to mention a popular Italian that would have made my list of novelists in the 20th Century: Umberto Eco. I particularly enjoyed Foucault's Pendulum.