How To Write

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I went thru my library, selecting 10 of the best books that demonstrate how to write better than any HOW TO WRITE book.

1. GODS POCKET by Pete Dexter.
2. COGANS TRADE by George V.Higgins
3. THE UNFORGIVEN by Alan Le May
4. BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy
5. CALL FOR THE DEAD by John Le Carre
6. A RAGE IN HARLEM by Chester Himes
7. BLIND MAN WITH A PISTOL by Chester Himes
8. THE PALE CRIMINAL by Philip Kerr
9. THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Hemingway
10. FAREWELL MY LOVELY by Raymond Chandler

 

[jomar]

I don't get Cormac McCarthy, I think. Old Men was good, I thought he got The Road Pulitzer for his body of work since that was nothing special, and Blood Meridian was an interesting read but a meandering WTF. He certainly has the literati enamored. Maybe I should have majored in English.

 

[Serafina1210]

Every Chandler novel was worse than the one before. The Big Sleep is worth the whole pile. And if you're listing books of that kind, how can you leave out Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon?

 

[lovecraft68]

I don't get Cormac McCarthy, I think. Old Men was good, I thought he got The Road Pulitzer for his body of work since that was nothing special, and Blood Meridian was an interesting read but a meandering WTF. He certainly has the literati enamored. Maybe I should have majored in English.

I think I am the only person who saw No country for old men and said. "
What?" boring as hell.

 

[jomar]

I think I am the only person who saw No country for old men and said. "
What?" boring as hell.

There ya go. Xavier Bardem was excellent, though.

 

[litmlove]

I went to my library and found the one book that everyone should have.

The Elements of Style by Strunk & White.

Every Chandler novel was worse than the one before. The Big Sleep is worth the whole pile. And if you're listing books of that kind, how can you leave out Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon?

If the writing is of the quality of the acting (from the movies), then they were wonderful. Wait...

I think I am the only person who saw No country for old men and said. "
What?" boring as hell.

I doubt it, but there are many of us who loved it.

"No Country for Old Men" is a drama of rare quality. Javier Bardem exudes real evil. As a film it is like a simple monster-chase/slasher movie with random cruelty, but then it is also a slow burning drama on good-vs-evil, retirement, and life. Oscar bait with real substance.

For some reason I think you might like "Road to Perdition". It pretends to be a simple 1920s gangster movie when it is in fact a slow burning drama about father/son relationships.

Everyone else ignore this post - I am trying not to derail this thread

 

[Serafina1210]

Strunk and White is an awful book that has done immeasurable harm to generations of writers. See this:

http://m.chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497

Writing on this site would be much better if all the authors burned their copies.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

I went thru my library, selecting 10 of the best books that demonstrate how to write better than any HOW TO WRITE book.

1. GODS POCKET by Pete Dexter. - 1983 -
2. COGANS TRADE by George V.Higgins - 1974 - Crime
3. THE UNFORGIVEN by Alan Le May - 1957 - Western
4. BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy - 1985- Western
5. CALL FOR THE DEAD by John Le Carre - 1961 - Crime
6. A RAGE IN HARLEM by Chester Himes - 1957 - Crime
7. BLIND MAN WITH A PISTOL by Chester Himes - 1969
8. THE PALE CRIMINAL by Philip Kerr - 1990 - Crime
9. THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Hemingway - 1952 - Fiction
10. FAREWELL MY LOVELY by Raymond Chandler - 1940 - Crime

Just learned a lot about JBJ's taste in books. And, apparently, no one has written anything worthwhile since the advent cellphone.

Oh, and he included Hemingway. I never cared for Hemingway.

Love the boldness of your list. However, like most lists, it's merely a conversation starter.

 

[TxRad]

How To Write

The short answer: Put everyone's books down and put one word in front of another until the page is full. Rinse and repeat until the story is done.

 

[FantasyXY]

I think I am the only person who saw No country for old men and said. "
What?" boring as hell.

No you weren't the only one. There were at least two. I literally fell asleep.

 

[DesEsseintes]

How to write: Read Beckett, in chronological order. Watch as his writing becomes sparer and sparer, more and more condensed, until it is like watching a motion-stop film of carbon being heated and pressurised into a diamond.

In his last novella, written shortly before his death, the very last sentence (of an old, dying man) is "Oh all to end." Now does that mean that he wishes it would all end? Or that he is desperately frightened that everything he has ever known is drawing to a close? The ambiguity is so perfect, the writing so taut, that in the last sentence he ever published Beckett still does not tell us whether death is a consummation devoutly to be wished, or an appalling fate. Perhaps, typically for Beckett, he thought it was both.

If you think Hemingway knew how to construct a spare sentence - and he did, of course, few better - read late Beckett. Every paragraph a masterpiece of compression. I agree on much of the list, though it is a little too US-centric for my taste - perhaps hardly surprising, and I'm sure mine would be equally Euro-centric.

 

[Aynmair]

Could you be convinced to post your list?

How to write: Read Beckett, in chronological order. Watch as his writing becomes sparer and sparer, more and more condensed, until it is like watching a motion-stop film of carbon being heated and pressurised into a diamond.

In his last novella, written shortly before his death, the very last sentence (of an old, dying man) is "Oh all to end." Now does that mean that he wishes it would all end? Or that he is desperately frightened that everything he has ever known is drawing to a close? The ambiguity is so perfect, the writing so taut, that in the last sentence he ever published Beckett still does not tell us whether death is a consummation devoutly to be wished, or an appalling fate. Perhaps, typically for Beckett, he thought it was both.

If you think Hemingway knew how to construct a spare sentence - and he did, of course, few better - read late Beckett. Every paragraph a masterpiece of compression. I agree on much of the list, though it is a little too US-centric for my taste - perhaps hardly surprising, and I'm sure mine would be equally Euro-centric.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I don't get Cormac McCarthy, I think. Old Men was good, I thought he got The Road Pulitzer for his body of work since that was nothing special, and Blood Meridian was an interesting read but a meandering WTF. He certainly has the literati enamored. Maybe I should have majored in English.

If youre Romantic you wont get Cormac McCarthy, but the man do know how to forge some indelible images. Dead babies, shooting puppies, the snake-bit horse, etc. Oprah tried to interview McCarthy but got no where.

 

[lovecraft68]

How To Write

The short answer: Put everyone's books down and put one word in front of another until the page is full. Rinse and repeat until the story is done.

Yes, this goes with my motto(well Nike's but its the best slogan ever created) Just do it.

I started four years ago and never read a how to book. I just kept plugging and learning and am still learning, but I have gotten much better and will continue to do so because I just keep going. Sometimes its fun, sometimes its work, but its always writing.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/...blood_meridian_early_drafts_and_history_.html

BLOOD MERIDIAN

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Every Chandler novel was worse than the one before. The Big Sleep is worth the whole pile. And if you're listing books of that kind, how can you leave out Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon?

I'm alone in my belief that Chandler got better as he went. I was enchanted with BACKPLAY and THE LONG GOODBYE.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Yes, this goes with my motto(well Nike's but its the best slogan ever created) Just do it.

I started four years ago and never read a how to book. I just kept plugging and learning and am still learning, but I have gotten much better and will continue to do so because I just keep going. Sometimes its fun, sometimes its work, but its always writing.

Wrong, Boy Wonder.

When I was 18 an old lady said to me that a little learning from those who know saves years of fucking around trying to find your ass.

 

[Serafina1210]

I read Playback but have forgotten it. The Long Goodbye I think of as an extended whine.

 

[lovecraft68]

Wrong, Boy Wonder.

When I was 18 an old lady said to me that a little learning from those who know saves years of fucking around trying to find your ass.

When I was 18 I met a woman in her forties who taught me that. But she taught me by tying me down and shoving her toes in my mouth until I licked them good enough for her to decide I was worth her smothering me with her pussy.

Oh, wait those were different kinds of lessons. Carry on.:caning:

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

How to write: Read Beckett, in chronological order. Watch as his writing becomes sparer and sparer, more and more condensed, until it is like watching a motion-stop film of carbon being heated and pressurised into a diamond.

In his last novella, written shortly before his death, the very last sentence (of an old, dying man) is "Oh all to end." Now does that mean that he wishes it would all end? Or that he is desperately frightened that everything he has ever known is drawing to a close? The ambiguity is so perfect, the writing so taut, that in the last sentence he ever published Beckett still does not tell us whether death is a consummation devoutly to be wished, or an appalling fate. Perhaps, typically for Beckett, he thought it was both.

If you think Hemingway knew how to construct a spare sentence - and he did, of course, few better - read late Beckett. Every paragraph a masterpiece of compression. I agree on much of the list, though it is a little too US-centric for my taste - perhaps hardly surprising, and I'm sure mine would be equally Euro-centric.

Le Carre, Kerr, and Chandler (for all intents and purposes) are Brits.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I read Playback but have forgotten it. The Long Goodbye I think of as an extended whine.

I concede most critics don't like the later Chandler. Poodle Springs is a 57' Mercury customized by a nigger.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I read Playback but have forgotten it. The Long Goodbye I think of as an extended whine.

Playback is the only book where Marlowe got laid, and the only setting outside of Los Angeles.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I went to my library and found the one book that everyone should have.

The Elements of Style by Strunk & White.


If the writing is of the quality of the acting (from the movies), then they were wonderful. Wait...



I doubt it, but there are many of us who loved it.

"No Country for Old Men" is a drama of rare quality. Javier Bardem exudes real evil. As a film it is like a simple monster-chase/slasher movie with random cruelty, but then it is also a slow burning drama on good-vs-evil, retirement, and life. Oscar bait with real substance.

For some reason I think you might like "Road to Perdition". It pretends to be a simple 1920s gangster movie when it is in fact a slow burning drama about father/son relationships.

Everyone else ignore this post - I am trying not to derail this thread

The movie is grand, the books suck. The author wrote like 3 of them built around the boy.

 

[DesEsseintes]

Le Carre, Kerr, and Chandler (for all intents and purposes) are Brits.

Well, Chandler is debatable, as you know, but I was thinking of Europe more broadly.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Well, Chandler is debatable, as you know, but I was thinking of Europe more broadly.

Chandler was raised in Britain and came to America as a young man, my grandfather was raised in Britain and emigrated to America as a young man.