The All-Time Greatest American Author

subllibrm said:
Is this a thread about him or are you asking for nominations?
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Haven't read much of either, but given the choice between the two, I'd choose Hemingway over Faulkner.

And since I'm a sucker for a well-crafted short story, let me throw Edgar Allan Poe and Flannery O'Connor into the hat.
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
Which book would you recommend by her? I’m not sure I can recall reading her works, but I definitely know the name.
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O"Connor wrote two novels, Wise Blood and The Violent Bear It Away, but I have read neither as yet. Two volumes of short stories were published, A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories, and Everything that Rises Must Converge.

I have the posthumous The Complete Stories, which includes the contents of the first two plus previously uncollected stories (many of which were early, and not of the same quality as her later ones). I would recommend that one. My favourite stories of hers in particular are "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," "Good Country People," and "Revelation."
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
Faulkner had a writing style unlike anyone else I’ve ever encountered. He was notorious for very looooong sentences.
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Hence my preference for Hemingway. The tech writer in me prefers short and straightforward sentences. I assume it was the influence of his journalism career. In my American lit course in university, I was captivated by Hemingway when we read In Our Time. It was probably my favourite book on the syllabus.

But while I enjoyed As I Lay Dying, it didn't thrill me half as much. A little too circumspect in places, maybe? I haven't figured out why Faulkner's style wasn't influenced by his writing B-movies. I'd read it again, and the rest of his books (and Hemingway's) are definitely on my list for when I get around to them.
 
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