Thread: Favorite American Author
Who are your favorite American authors?
Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe.
Jennifer Roberson, Terry Brooks, & James Patterson (Is he American? I didn't really check...)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe; Charles W. Chestnutt is pretty amazing too.
Toss up between Thoreau and Twain, who will always have a special place in my heart because Tom/Huck were the first novels I read, about the time I started school, beginning an annual tradition of TomX2, HuckX1 every summer. The only thing sadder than Tom trying to turn his friends into Robin Hoods Merry Men is me trying to turn my friends in into Tom and his friends. Thoureau's just so darn deep though, and a personal hero; much more honorable than Emerson: "This is what I believe more than anything else, but I'm not going to do it, and will try to stop David from doing so either." Jerk. Thoreau may have spent a night in jail, but Emerson was in there his whole life, refusing to come out of it.
Jordan's in there somewhere, and of course Kerouac, another personal hero. We could all do worse than to fall in Love with God (hey, it's on topic, and it's the end of the Dharma Bums; what can I do?)
Hawthorne, he makes Emerson look liberated; bleah, I'd rather discuss Blake. Each to his own, but that's not American either.
Jordan's in there somewhere, and of course Kerouac, another personal hero. We could all do worse than to fall in Love with God (hey, it's on topic, and it's the end of the Dharma Bums; what can I do?)
Hawthorne, he makes Emerson look liberated; bleah, I'd rather discuss Blake. Each to his own, but that's not American either.
Edgar Allan Poe
don't really know any other though...
don't really know any other though...
Mark Twain, Lloyd Alexander, and Christopher Stasheff. I personally tend to prefer European authors (Why, I do not know, since I am American), but I do really like these three authors. Asimov is good, too.
Elizabeth Haydon (I'm pretty sure she's American), Scott Lobdell (hehe), and Emily Dickinson (I like sad songs and writing)
Symphony of Ages, right?
Morambar said:
Sounds like a Blakean comment to me.
Oh, and regarding your comment about Hawthorne not being liberated, that may be true in some ways, but his thinking and writing goes much deeper than this. I think you could find that he was liberated in many ways; in fact, there are some hidden gems of knowledge I found in The House of the Seven Gables. He is a very confused man actually -- trying to figure out how to reconcile the fact that fiction writing was against his religion, yet it was his main calling in life.
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Thoreau may have spent a night in jail, but Emerson was in there his whole life, refusing to come out of it.
Thoreau may have spent a night in jail, but Emerson was in there his whole life, refusing to come out of it.
Sounds like a Blakean comment to me.
Oh, and regarding your comment about Hawthorne not being liberated, that may be true in some ways, but his thinking and writing goes much deeper than this. I think you could find that he was liberated in many ways; in fact, there are some hidden gems of knowledge I found in The House of the Seven Gables. He is a very confused man actually -- trying to figure out how to reconcile the fact that fiction writing was against his religion, yet it was his main calling in life.
Orson scott Card... but do not know if he is american at all...
Backtrack: my whole complaint against Emerson is his writing was far more liberated than his life. That furnished great fodder for conflict with Thoreau, but it also explains his role as mentor; I've always felt Emersons profound respect for the younger man was based on Thoreaus uncompromising commitment to truth above all. Thoreau had the strength, and perhaps the youth, to take stands Emerson never could (although Emerson wasn't BORN 40.) Thus we have the mix of pride that his friend dares march to the beat of his own drum, and frustration Thoreau seemed to demand conflict with the established order; gradual change meant temporary injustice, and this is unacceptable to the idealist. For his part, Thoreau was amazed at the insights and intellectual gifts of Emerson, but saw them in some ways squandered on "the hobgoblin of little minds."
It's an old argument between myself and a good friend over whether Emerson was a hypocrite for not living his ideals or Thoreau was a hypocrite for disregarding a society that could never attain the absolute standards he set himself. Emerson had the position to advance their shared goals, but this position ironically tied his hand in many ways; Thoreau was ever mindful of and faithful to the dream, but this largely isolated him and greatly diminished the influence he might otherwise have had (though the Thoreau partisan in me notes that between Tolstoy, and thence Gandhi and MLK, Civil Disobedience alone has had a profound effect on the world.) And I can't help thinking a posh sinecure in Cambridge is a poor setting for "Self Reliance." ;-p
Short form of the above: nobody's perfect.
It's an old argument between myself and a good friend over whether Emerson was a hypocrite for not living his ideals or Thoreau was a hypocrite for disregarding a society that could never attain the absolute standards he set himself. Emerson had the position to advance their shared goals, but this position ironically tied his hand in many ways; Thoreau was ever mindful of and faithful to the dream, but this largely isolated him and greatly diminished the influence he might otherwise have had (though the Thoreau partisan in me notes that between Tolstoy, and thence Gandhi and MLK, Civil Disobedience alone has had a profound effect on the world.) And I can't help thinking a posh sinecure in Cambridge is a poor setting for "Self Reliance." ;-p
Short form of the above: nobody's perfect.
Wow, big backtrack. Glad you came back here, Morambar. So, is that posh sinecure yours or Thoreau’s? 
Yes, I agree that it gets frustrating for one not to live the life they preach about. To be honest, I don’t know much about Thoreau or Emerson. I must do my due diligence and take a refresher course on them. I haven’t read any of their works for about 13 years, and I don't know if what I read when I was 17 was truly understandable to me at the time.
Unfortunately, most people don’t live the life they live in their heads though. I, myself, often dream about not living by the constraints that society has put in place, but instead, I am one of the most socially-constrained people there is ’ A Little Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes. I love to study writers, such as Blake though, who speak about breaking down boundaries, gaining experience to gain wisdom, but it’s much easier to think about than do (which is to your point I suppose). I, however, also do believe that we live in society, so it is a part of us, we can’t just cast it away unless we ourselves want to be cast away. Even though, if we were to continue this line of thinking with Freud, society itself is a sign of the neurotic being known as man. So, as you said, which is really better?
Glad you came back here, Morambar. So, is that posh sinecure yours or Thoreau’s? Yes, I agree that it gets frustrating for one not to live the life they preach about. To be honest, I don’t know much about Thoreau or Emerson. I must do my due diligence and take a refresher course on them. I haven’t read any of their works for about 13 years, and I don't know if what I read when I was 17 was truly understandable to me at the time. Unfortunately, most people don’t live the life they live in their heads though. I, myself, often dream about not living by the constraints that society has put in place, but instead, I am one of the most socially-constrained people there is ’ A Little Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes. I love to study writers, such as Blake though, who speak about breaking down boundaries, gaining experience to gain wisdom, but it’s much easier to think about than do (which is to your point I suppose). I, however, also do believe that we live in society, so it is a part of us, we can’t just cast it away unless we ourselves want to be cast away. Even though, if we were to continue this line of thinking with Freud, society itself is a sign of the neurotic being known as man. So, as you said, which is really better?
As to the last question, I think the ideal is to be "in the world but not of it" of course. As to the other question; I live in Texas, and Thoreau didn't spend much time in Cambridge, nor did he teach long, so whom do you think I meant?
Sorry to reck the mood, but they have Authors in America????????? 
NO, i like John Steinbeck, I liked Of Mice and Men, i think i did it for school
NO, i like John Steinbeck, I liked Of Mice and Men, i think i did it for schoolI don't know...whom did you mean? You tell me.
I had in mind Emerson (must sleep soon.) And belated thanks for the welcome; you got here too quickly for me to correct my oversight. What I get for not sleeping. :8)
Who John Steinbeck?
American authors? I prefer English authors, historically. But among Americans, I suppose Longfellow for "Evangeline," Poe for "The Raven" and "Annabelle Lee," and Stephen Leacock for everything he wrote.
I like Steinbeck OK, though more for themes than anything else. I can't say too much more than that; the only one I've actually read is Grapes of Wrath, but there's a part in there with the Joads "getting work" at an armed camp they can't leave, where they pick CA fruit (like illegal aliens do now that we have minimum wage laws, except the Joads didn't get sprayed with DDT) and the camp is frighteningly like the many set up to rebuild New Orleans: you can have a job, or you can leave the camp, but you can't do both, and we have guards to make certain. This isn't going to be here long, is it? I'm sorry, but it IS on topic, and it's in the book. I can't help it if it's also in the news now, too. :8)
As to Gandalf-olorin, my you sure like it depressing, huh? ;-p
As to Gandalf-olorin, my you sure like it depressing, huh? ;-p
Hm...There is something to be said for the classics, and I could name off a few favorites there, but you've also got to consider some of our more recent authors. Orson Scott Card (definitely American); and ok not incredibly recent, but Jack London, Robert Frost, and a childhood favorite of mine Laura Ingalls Wilder; Isaac Asimov (an American when he began writing); Ursula K. LeGuin; ...and that's all that I have energy to verify right now...it's officially 2am. I'm going to sleep.
I love Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game was an amazing book! Also, I got to meet him once, he is my friend's father. He is really a nice guy. He said that they might be starting an 'Ender's Game' movie soon!
I also like Stephen Crane, who wrote 'The red badge of courage'
I also like Stephen Crane, who wrote 'The red badge of courage'
Michael Crichton
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Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton
How could I forget!!!
Mine is Edgar Allan Poe
George R.R. Martin the author of Game of Thrones
H.P Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe. I like their twisted storys and minds!
Mark Twain, but I'm currently pretty into Steven Clinton's book, My Name is Tucker Wilson, which I have on kindle.
I love Bukowski, he's very honest in his writing.
Fitzgerald is also one of favourites.
I'm also compelled to mention George R.R. Martin. 
