Survey: Best Modern Novels

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:40 pm

What are the three best modern novels you've ever read?

Blair · Post by **Blair** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:01 pm

I don't read novels, generally.

But I did read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which was very cool.

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:20 pm

I don't either, really. I read A Clockwork Orange a couple months ago. That was pretty good, I thought.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Dan Rowden · Post by **Dan Rowden** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:11 pm

What would motivate you to bother?

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:25 pm

Because I'm going to write one, and I want it to be original.

Carl G · Post by **Carl G** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:40 am

Matt Gregory wrote:Because I'm going to write one, and I want it to be original.

Why?

And, what hope do you have, if you don't read novels?

Shahrazad · Post by **Shahrazad** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:47 am

Les MisÃ©rables is the best I've read. Very long -- 5 volumes.

.

Shahrazad · Post by **Shahrazad** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:47 am

Wait -- how recent is modern?
.

HUNTEDvsINVIS · Post by **HUNTEDvsINVIS** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:06 am

I mostly like non-fiction. Especially fond of biographies. Suppose psychologically it gives me some sort of closeness to freaks of history, so I can feel more normal. Escapism. I am also very sceptical of fiction because the characters tend to do things that are unjustifiable/irrational. if I ever get round to writing my books, I will see to it that it is as logical as possible.

What sort of novels will you be writing, Matt? which themes? I would like to write science fiction, but a really good psychological tear jerker might also be churned from my brain. maybe one about two very different geniuses who become totally disillusioned with the world. The only thing each really seeks is the company of true genius. Yet ultimately the one gains the hope to enjoy life after crippling depression and the other goes insane. The insane one is a brilliant musician who begins to hate the masses he plays for and is plagued by the past. He starts to produce satanic music ( anything to get away from the average crowd ) and slowly goes nuts. He ultimately kills the only true soul mate he could ever have found ( the other disillusioned yet recovering genius ) in a rage of insanity, after which he is brutally murdered by his own satanic fans.

needs a lot of work, i know.

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:13 am

Carl G wrote:
Matt Gregory wrote:Because I'm going to write one, and I want it to be original.
Why?

So people will read it.

And, what hope do you have, if you don't read novels?

I'll just make it easy to write.

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:16 am

Shahrazad wrote:Les MisÃ©rables is the best I've read. Very long -- 5 volumes.

Wait -- how recent is modern?

I might try it. If people like it as much as the reviews on Amazon portray, then it must be good. But by "modern", I was thinking of not yet classic, but destined to be. Les MisÃ©rables is already a classic.

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:31 am

HUNTEDvsINVIS wrote:I mostly like non-fiction. Especially fond of biographies. Suppose psychologically it gives me some sort of closeness to freaks of history, so I can feel more normal. Escapism. I am also very sceptical of fiction because the characters tend to do things that are unjustifiable/irrational. if I ever get round to writing my books, I will see to it that it is as logical as possible.

I think authors do that to make a deeper, more psychological point than can be depicted with everyday behavior.

What sort of novels will you be writing, Matt? which themes?

I don't know what kind of dramatic theme. Probably something real simple. It's going to be a creative outlet for me, mostly, but I'm still trying to figure out an audience to target.

I would like to write science fiction, but a really good psychological tear jerker might also be churned from my brain. maybe one about two very different geniuses who become totally disillusioned with the world. The only thing each really seeks is the company of true genius. Yet ultimately the one gains the hope to enjoy life after crippling depression and the other goes insane. The insane one is a brilliant musician who begins to hate the masses he plays for and is plagued by the past. He starts to produce satanic music ( anything to get away from the average crowd ) and slowly goes nuts. He ultimately kills the only true soul mate he could ever have found ( the other disillusioned yet recovering genius ) in a rage of insanity, after which he is brutally murdered by his own satanic fans.

needs a lot of work, i know.

That doesn't sound bad, actually. I thought about writing a story about demonic possession and making it an extended exploration of the problem of free will, but I don't think I could write much more than 20 or 30 pages on that.

Trevor Salyzyn · Post by **Trevor Salyzyn** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:04 am

All the fiction I loved when I was younger is crap by my present standards. Then again, I'd be immensely surprised if I could find a piece of fiction -- even a classic -- that is really worth reading.

Modern books that will become classics: The Golden Compass, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (although Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is far superior; it is as close to philosophy as fiction has ever been... The Outsider, Nausea, and The Bible do not count as philosophy, even though the authors were arguably philosophers), The Princess Bride, and somehow the god-awful but amazingly well-researched Memoirs for a Geisha (no, I did not waste my money seeing the movie... the book was painful enough). In some circles, I suspect that A Spell for Chameleon might be considered a classic, if not for the fact that Piers Anthony has so far written 30-something sequels to that one rare stroke of genius, and completely ruined his chances for posthumous fame. Due to his bumbling obsession with producing books at all costs, his output is scratchy single-ply toilet paper.

I do not recommend reading a single one of these books. Instead, I recommend not reading or writing fiction, since the definition of fiction is "lie". Making money off of lies is disgusting.

Carl G · Post by **Carl G** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:12 am

HUNTEDvsINVIS wrote:I mostly like non-fiction....
I am...very sceptical of fiction...

I would like to write science fiction, but a really good psychological tear jerker might also be churned from my brain.

I will see to it that it is as logical as possible.

It is not logical to think you can write good fiction if you are skeptical of fiction and don't read much of it.

Matt appears to be in the same boat:

I don't either, really [read novels, generally].

I'm still trying to figure out an audience to target.

How about those who, like you, prefer non-fiction? [/humor]

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:43 am

Carl, with all due respect, you're talking out of your ass. I'm not skeptical of fiction and I probably read more novels than you. Well, alright, probably not considering the zeal with which you're attacking this topic, but I do read like three or four a year. I'm just not as obsessed with it as I am with reading philosophy. Plus, I think your thinking of novels is too narrow. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a novel.

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:49 am

Trevor,

I recommend not reading or writing fiction, since the definition of fiction is "lie". Making money off of lies is disgusting.

Just because something is made up doesn't make it a lie. I'm making up these thoughts right now and they're totally true. I may even make up some more thoughts later, who knows? Am I lying by saying that?

Elizabeth Isabelle · Post by **Elizabeth Isabelle** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:52 am

Matt Gregory wrote:Trevor,
I recommend not reading or writing fiction, since the definition of fiction is "lie". Making money off of lies is disgusting.
Just because something is made up doesn't make it a lie. I'm making up these thoughts right now and they're totally true. I may even make up some more thoughts later, who knows? Am I lying by saying that?

Thus Spake Zarthustra was also technically fiction. It was philosophy under a fictional dress.
.

Carl G · Post by **Carl G** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 5:04 am

Matt Gregory wrote:Carl, with all due respect, you're talking out of your ass.

Meaning what? I don't know what I'm talking about? I'm making stuff up?

I'm not skeptical of fiction

I didn't say you were. I said you were in the same boat in that you're not much of a fiction reader, by your own admittance, thus cannot write good fiction.

and I probably read more novels than you.

Okay, but I can probably piss farther.

Well, alright, probably not considering the zeal with which you're attacking this topic,

Not attacking with zeal; just applying logic.

Plus, I think your thinking of novels is too narrow.

Based on what? Is there a dispute here about what constitutes a novel?

My dictionary says:

"A fictional prose narrative of considerable length, relating a series of events or circumstances in a self-consistent sequence incorporating some overall pattern or plot, and usually displaying the thoughts and sensations as well as the acts of the characters."

This works for me. How about you?

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:00 am

Elizabeth Isabelle wrote:Thus Spake Zarthustra was also technically fiction. It was philosophy under a fictional dress.
.

Exactly.

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:04 am

Carl G wrote:
Matt Gregory wrote:Carl, with all due respect, you're talking out of your ass.
Meaning what? I don't know what I'm talking about? I'm making stuff up?

You're telling me I can't do something without much of a basis. It's not like I'm proposing something extraordinarily difficult. It's not. Tons of people do it. You're just trying to ruin my fun. I know your game.

Worksforme.

Do you have a greatest modern novel or not?

Steven Coyle · Post by **Steven Coyle** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:16 am

Matt -

Ever heard of Philip K. Dick?

Word on the street is he wrote some really interesting sci-fi novels.

If memory serves, he wrote Blade Runner, and more recently A Scanner Darkly.

http://www.philipkdick.com/works_novels.html

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:23 am

Yeah, Blade Runner used to be my all-time favorite movie until I saw V for Vendetta. The last movie I saw was A Scanner Darkly. It wasn't bad. I thought the plot was kind of clichÃ©, just felt too familiar, but it was alright. I haven't read any of his books, though. I hear they're pretty thoughtful. Do you read a lot of sci-fi?

Steven Coyle · Post by **Steven Coyle** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 6:55 am

Ah, cool.

You should look into his written material.

I'm not into sci-fi presently. Though after I finish with the Thinking Man's Collection, I'll probably make a trip to the local library and check out PKD.

Matt Gregory · Post by **Matt Gregory** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 7:08 am

I really liked Dune a lot. I read the whole series, but the first one blew away all the rest.

DHodges · Post by **DHodges** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 9:10 am

Steven Coyle wrote:If memory serves, he wrote Blade Runner, and more recently A Scanner Darkly.

I don't know when he wrote Blade Runner, but I read A Scanner Darkly back around 1979. I think the movie Blade Runner might have been made from the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

I would suggest checking out Neal Stephenson. particularly the Baroque Cycle and Cryptonomicon. His shorter works are also very good.

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Survey: Best Modern Novels

Survey: Best Modern Novels

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