Who are you envious of?

[AMoveableBeast]

It's interesting to me how skewed much of this is toward fantasy and sci-if. Genre fiction really has come a long, long way. It must surely be entirely mainstream by this point.

Off-Lit: Agree with DFW. That man can write in a way that is practically unparalleled. From a technical standpoint, he is make-you-hate-yourself-good. Jonathan Franzen, a terrific author in his own right, said that reading Wallace was the death of the idea that one might be best at writing from a proficiency standpoint, and that all that was left was a mad scramble toward desperate inventiveness.

I'd also add Vladimir Nabokov who is, to me, an absolute master of language on every level--with a big brain and bigger balls.


On-Lit: I envy Etaski's her wonderful fan base. I wish I could write sex like Creamer. I've always been impressed by Bramblethorn's acumen. More than anything, however, I admire and am jealous of the work ethic and confidence of truly productive members of Lit who also produce quality work: lovecraft68, TxTallTales, blackrandi, and the like.

 

[ElectricBlue]

You want to join us girls? No worries cobber!

No no, you're fine, carry on without me.

I think you need a man like a fish needs a bicycle, but the thought was nice ... if a little scary.

ps: Cobber? Cobber? That's just no, too. Wrong decade, wrong century, just... wrong. You'll be calling a fucking prawn a shrimp next!


I've tried reading Alexandria Quartet three or four times, I just bog down in the sand about the same place every time. I don't think I ever made it to the second volume. Same with Revolt of Aphrodite. They've got a fascination, that's for certain, and so evocative - I can picture the long sands and the river and the sea, and the clothes the characters wear, but I can't remember a thing about the characters themselves. I feel like I should try again one day, both sets of novels. But I say that about Thomas Pynchon as well....

LeCarre, absolutely. I re-read randomly every five years or so.

 

[Kimikimidoll]

I wish I could be funny like Terry Pratchett. He was freakiqng amazing, from puns to hilarious situational comedy to brilliant, poignant dialogue. And still clever, intelligent and witty.

I miss him. *sniff*

Since I suck at being funny, I'll continue writing violent, dark and creepy shit instead

Seriously, he died like one and half years ago and I still can't get over it...

 

[Blind_Justice]

Seriously, he died like one and half years ago and I still can't get over it...

Same here. With him and Adams gone, its looking grim for funny sci-fi or fantasy. Asprin had his moments and apart from "Good Omens", I haven't read much Gaiman.

 

[Kimikimidoll]

Same here. With him and Adams gone, its looking grim for funny sci-fi or fantasy. Asprin had his moments and apart from "Good Omens", I haven't read much Gaiman.

I like his art but the text is too preachy (Gaiman).
And poor Adams too. So sudden.

 

[KindofHere]

.............

 

[Kimikimidoll]

Fantasy has always been mainstream, from cats coming back from the dead to the mighty eye in the sky and gods who play pipes.

Fantasy is the one truism, from the fables of old to the modern day tales that take 5 years between stories to unfold.

Lit is 1/10 talent, 7/10 fuck scene and 2/10 starved for a genre.

How many people who read lit started out looking for the next cock in pussy wonder? We talk about what we like and know and then carry off to that which is easier to access.

There is no skew, simple interest.

kitty!
mine was a street bred tabby

 

[AMoveableBeast]

Fantasy has always been mainstream, from cats coming back from the dead to the mighty eye in the sky and gods who play pipes.

Fantasy is the one truism, from the fables of old to the modern day tales that take 5 years between stories to unfold.

Lit is 1/10 talent, 7/10 fuck scene and 2/10 starved for a genre.

How many people who read lit started out looking for the next cock in pussy wonder? We talk about what we like and know and then carry off to that which is easier to access.

There is no skew, simple interest.

I grew up as a huge fantasy nerd. And sure, there were books, but, for the most part, writers and readers of such novels were looked down on by purists. And the genre didn't make the kind of money it does now.

Superheroes, sci-fi, and fantasy was all niche stuff.

Today those are the blockbusters, the heavy hitters.

 

[KindofHere]

............

 

[legerdemer]

Off Lit: Graham Greene, Grace Paley, John Le Carré - for their style as well as their depth. I appreciate DFW's non-fiction more than his fiction, but it can be hard slogging - the writing drawing attention to itself for its own sake.

On Lit: My reading's been pretty limited here, but dr_mabeuse and AMoveableBeast move me, though in different directions. The quality of their work is inspiring. The side effects are quite nice as well...

 

[Kimikimidoll]

People got over being smug and decided they wanted to be entertained. Evolution.

Agreed. We've had sci-fi and heroes forever, in all cultures.
Myths and fables. Fantasy was always better than reality.

 

[legerdemer]

Agreed. We've had sci-fi and heroes forever, in all cultures.
Myths and fables. Fantasy was always better than reality.

I'm perhaps not as big a fantasy nerd as others on here (starting with Greek mythology, moving on to Tolkien, Moorcock, and yes, Rowling) but I admit that I have an extra soft spot for writers who can make the fantastic seem as realistic as RL. I would put Gaiman in that category.

 

[NotWise]

I don't envy anyone. I only want to be better--and better, and better.

 

[KindofHere]

...........

 

[NotWise]

If you don't envy anyone, then you'll never improve.

That isn't true.

Okay, maybe I envy Pilot's ability to reel off story after story, pausing only to sing for his community.

But aside from that, I know what I want to say, and I know how I want to say it. Envy for someone else's success will not get me closer to my own.

 

[KindofHere]

.......

 

[Carnal_Flower]

xxelliebabexx.. She consistently produces long, eloquent stories with ease. She seems like a natural born writer. I struggle with every word.

 

[SamScribble]

It seems to me that a lot of the better quality stuff here on Lit is sci-fi or fantasy. I can read the occasional sci-fi or fantasy work and appreciate the craft. But I never feel ‘Gosh, I wish that I had written that’.

The stuff I post here is mainly ‘experimental’. Lit is somewhere that I try things out; run them up the flag pole (and see if anyone salutes).

In the short term, my stuff often fails. But, interestingly, if I leave a story up, it sometimes floats higher and higher on the scoreboard. Currently, I have a story that started out at 3.xx and is now sitting at 4.6x. I am sure that there is an explanation; I just don’t know what it is.

Despite having been a reasonably successful writer for more than 50 years, I also have a rather short attention span. If a writer doesn’t grab me within the first page, I’m probably not going to read the second page.

Here on Lit, one of the best stories that I have read over the past couple of years is a story by JBJ. Yeah, I know. Don’t throw rotten tomatoes at me; I’m just telling you the way that it is.

In the non-Lit world, there are quite a few writers whom I admire. Unfortunately, many of them are dead. Other Litizens have already mentioned Graham Greene, John Le Carré, Lawrence Durrell, James Joyce, and a few others. I’ll vote for them too. And I’ll vote for Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, and JP Donleavy. The Australian authors Peter Carey and Robert Drewe are also worthy of a shout.

 

[Hypoxia]

All the best writers are dead. To attain immortality, kill yourself now. The world will be better.

 

[Kimikimidoll]

All the best writers are dead. To attain immortality, kill yourself now. The world will be better.

Come, join us

 

[LizVegas79]

Agreed. We've had sci-fi and heroes forever, in all cultures.
Myths and fables. Fantasy was always better than reality.

I've always felt that the best fantasy is actually a mirror of the RW. But I haven't read nearly as much as you all.

I guess I'm most envious of that youthful zeal that believes in the magic of the moment without any consequence.

Somewhere along the way I feel like I've grown too old and too pragmatic to share in that faith. But yet, I still miss the (blind?) confidence it once instilled in me. Does anyone else know that feeling?

 

[Kimikimidoll]

I've always felt that the best fantasy is actually a mirror of the RW. But I haven't read nearly as much as you all.

I guess I'm most envious of that youthful zeal that believes in the magic of the moment without any consequence.

Somewhere along the way I feel like I've grown too old and too pragmatic to share in that faith. But yet, I still miss the (blind?) confidence it once instilled in me. Does anyone else know that feeling?

I know what you mean, and I hate it. Then my mind takes over and says, oi, imagine how more messed up our lives will be if there was magic. We've got technology and we're already poisoning ourselves with it..

Maybe I just want things easy. Maybe I'm just lazy as shit. Maybe I just want to see a unicorn.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Same here. With him and Adams gone, its looking grim for funny sci-fi or fantasy. Asprin had his moments and apart from "Good Omens", I haven't read much Gaiman.

I enjoy most of Gaiman's work, but I wouldn't recommend him for comedy. That was much more Pratchett's style.

I started reading Pratchett early in high school, and got bored after about six books. It was cute but not really doing it for me. Then years later I came back to him, and found that he'd really improved as an author just around the time that I stopped reading; there's teeth under the fluff.

There are plenty of authors whose work I admire and enjoy. (Some of them, I even admire as people.) Clive Barker has a wonderful sort of voluptuous carnality that blurs desire and horror. Maugham and le Carré are fantastic character artists (along with several other spies turned authors; I guess it's a useful skill for a spy). Tanith Lee writes chilling horror-fantasy. I could go on.

But I don't think "envy" quite fits there. They all tell brilliant stories that I love reading, but those aren't the stories that I need to write. If I could hijack, say, le Carré's muse and write intricate spy stories... well, the money would be nice, but I think it would feel dissatisfying. Writing is such a personal thing, I wouldn't be me if I was writing le Carré's stories, and I'm a little attached to being me.

 

[Kimikimidoll]

I started reading Pratchett early in high school, and got bored after about six books. It was cute but not really doing it for me. Then years later I came back to him, and found that he'd really improved as an author just around the time that I stopped reading; there's teeth under the fluff.

I agree. My crush gave me one of his books as a birthday gift when I was 14; I started reading it to impress him, then I got impressed by the book, bought the whole lot.

While in college I started re-reading his books and picked up many things in the text that I missed earlier. It somehow got funnier with each read.

But I don't think "envy" quite fits there. They all tell brilliant stories that I love reading, but those aren't the stories that I need to write. If I could hijack, say, le Carré's muse and write intricate spy stories... well, the money would be nice, but I think it would feel dissatisfying. Writing is such a personal thing, I wouldn't be me if I was writing le Carré's stories, and I'm a little attached to being me.

See above reference of me being an envious, bile spitting bitch.

What I'm saying here, we all have that ideal we'd like to reach.
On a good day we know that it's silly to try and be 'like' someone; we each have our own set of skills that should be polished.
On a bad day you wish you can just siphon all that talent away for yourself to feed the ever-growing hunger inside yourself.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

No no, you're fine, carry on without me.

I think you need a man like a fish needs a bicycle, but the thought was nice ... if a little scary.

ps: Cobber? Cobber? That's just no, too. Wrong decade, wrong century, just... wrong. You'll be calling a fucking prawn a shrimp next!


I've tried reading Alexandria Quartet three or four times, I just bog down in the sand about the same place every time. I don't think I ever made it to the second volume. Same with Revolt of Aphrodite. They've got a fascination, that's for certain, and so evocative - I can picture the long sands and the river and the sea, and the clothes the characters wear, but I can't remember a thing about the characters themselves. I feel like I should try again one day, both sets of novels. But I say that about Thomas Pynchon as well....

LeCarre, absolutely. I re-read randomly every five years or so.

LeCarre is the best or the worst, he has no middle place. I own all his early efforts, and you cant pay me to waste time with what follows them.