August 06, 2009
Just One More Book
Neil Hollands in Book Group Buzz writes an interesting question.
If you could get one author, dead or alive, to write one more book, who would it be?
Shakespeare as a Hollywood action film writer?
Post-apocalypse Jane Austen?
How about Jules Verne in the 21st century?
Some of my favorite writers are still cranking out books; Richard Russo, John Irving.
Many authors are so tied to their time period that it's hard to imagine them writing in today's world yet it makes one consider just what makes those classics, well, classic. Is it the time period or is the universal message that permeates through barriers of time?
The work of Charles Dickens is so steeped in the drudge and grim of the Industrial Age it's hard to imagine his work set in any other period and yet these works must speak to the universal human condition of other periods for them to still touch readers.
Mark Twain is another author that seems to reflect a certain time period but doesn't his biting humor and easy memory of childhood stay with current readers? He'd have a lot to say about today's society and politics.
I'd love to hear what authors come to mind for others answering this question.
Posted by swortman at 09:06 AM | Comments (0)