Poll: Who is the greatest novelist, poet, writer, etc. of all time? Come on: vote!
Submitted by 1922 on Tue, 08/10/2004 - 07:00
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I am sure I've forgotten several writers or poets that are surely great, too. Put the names of these writers or poets into your comments, and I'll add them to the list. Thank you.
Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Goethe, and...wait for it...Dickens! I think you have to include Dickens in that category. Perhaps he hasn't had as many centuries to implant his legendary status as Shakespeare, but he certainly rivals him (and I believe surpasses him) in the gift of cultural depiction, and he captured an era (the Victorian era of England) like no other has ever done before him. His classics have become staples of literature and even modern media, including what's purported to be the best selling English novel ever, A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, Hard Times, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Nicholas Nickelby, the list goes on. When Charles Dickens had quill and ink, simply put, it was the best of times...
Stephen King in the same league as Dante, Chaucer and Shakespeare? SERIOUSLY? I mean, he's written the odd thoughtful story, but.... I'm just at a loss for words.
When you talk about Dante, Chaucer and Shakespeare, don't forget to mention Goethe (who's in my opinion a leap better than Shakespeare).
Predictable, I know, but I'm going to have to go with Shakespeare. Sometimes, a writer just has his reputation for a reason;)
I can be a little less predictable with my favorite play by Willie, though; instead of Hamlet, Lear, or Othello (all great, of course), my absolute favorite is The Tempest.
Johnny Waco
Cool! The Tempest is my second-favorite, just behind King Lear.
I've always believed you have good taste.
;)
Johnny Waco
I definetly need to read more by Shakespeare...
I didn't notice Gerard Manley Hopkins who wrote perhaps the greatest poem of all time... "The Wreck of the Deutschland"
Never heard of him or the poem. A useful link perhaps?
Jorge Luis Borges, he's one of my favorite writers, he wrote a facinating story called "El Sur" (The South) about the very nature of death; William Burroughs, I would hope you all know who he is; Saki, and Hunter S. Thompson
Have you read Naked Lunch by William Burroughs?
I haven't (but plan) and that's why I ask.
No, I read "Queer", I haven't been able to get a hold of "Naked Lunch" (I know that seems strange that I can't get it, because they sell it at every bookstore in the country, but my mum would freak if she found me reading it, so I have to be careful, how I get it.)
Oh, and what about Irving Welsh?
Nope. He wrote 'Trainspotting', right?
Naked Lunch: Sad, sad. :(
Yip, I mean yes, he did.
On the rougher, shorter, poetic end of the scale is there any room for Bob Dylan? He certainly wouldn't win in comparison to the great novelists, but I think he might deserve a space on the list.
No problem. I have added him.
And Jack Kerouac. Am I getting on your nerves? I'm not so used to thinking in lists, sorry.
Anyways, how can you make a LIST of great writers on a page called LISTology and not mention Nick Hornby?
Thanks so much for your suggestions!
Really, how could I forget my favourite writer Ephraim Kishon? He is ... or rather was :( so great. And have I finally found someone else (here) who knows him?
Sorry, I mistyped Stephen Crane (just one n).
Yeah, Kishon is hard to beat, isn't he? I live in Switzerland, he is rather popular around here...
So far, I like his short stories much better than his novels - is there a longer text by him you could recomend?
Oh, I'm sorry, but I had overseen your comment till now.
Kishon was the greatest satirist (at least for me).
Sorry, but I haven't read any of his novels (for which reason ever and oh yes, what a shame!). But all his short stories (with a few exceptions, and I have read a lot by him) are tremendous!
Did you read his shorts and novels in German?
Yes, in german.
Toll, ich auch.
Meine drei Lieblingskurzgeschichten sind:
Das Wunder von Eilat
Du sprechen Rumänisch?
Feine Hausmannskost
Oh, and what about dear Edgar Allen Poe? And Jane Austen and Eudora Welty. And maybe even Ephraim Kishon, Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal or Arthur Miller.
I missed Stephen Cranne, Tennessee Williams, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Jean-Paul Sartre on the list.
Vonnegut
All right.
Well i've not read enough by the contenders to make a proper judgment. Shakespeare may be the greatest and hats off to Homer for longevity. I've long had great respect for Diderot (glad to find him here). St Exupéry is a pleasant surprise. Lots of excellent choices in the selection. Did i miss Racine, Marquez, Yeats, Goethe, Milton, Virgil, Pushkin, Tennyson, Keats? I'd have liked to see a few from the Far East, e.g Chinese T'ang dynasty poets Li Po and Tu Fu and Japanese Nobel-winning novelist Kawabata.
Thanks very much for your suggestions.
P.S.: Goethe was already in. If I had forgotten Goethe, it would have been the same as if I had neglected Beethoven in a poll for the greatest composer of all time.
Wow, this is a pretty inclusive list, but you neglected several older authors I adore, especially Fyodor Dostoevsky and Euripides.
I'm going to have to think on this one a bit...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Thank you, I have added Dostoevsky and Euripides to the list.
One name stands out above all others - Shakespeare.
Some of these names are on this list in error (perhaps many are), for various reasons. For example, Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee only wrote one book each.
You are right. So, I have cancelled Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee from the list. Thank you for your comment, and if you know a few other great writers or poets, let me know!
I would certainly add Hermann Hesse. Winston Churchill was also a great writer, although not a novellist or poet.
Both were Nobel prize winners.
I agree with lbangs in that the list is certainly inclusive. I have difficulty with bracketing the likes of Ray Bradbury, John Grisham, Ian Fleming, Michael Crichton, Frank Herbert, Stephen King, (etc. etc.) in the same category of 'greatest writer' as Shakespeare, Dickens, Chaucer, Wilde and Homer. I could probably also question many more of the inclusions (Simenon, Clancy, Updike, Hammett), except that firstly it would be unfair of me because I have not read them, and secondly that it is only my (subjective) opinion.
Great idea for a list though, and I hope that we see some more votes to get more opinions.
I feel it's quite difficult to compare modern writers to likes of such legends as Shakespeare and Homer. Shakespeare seems to have the highest volume of high quality work. And Homer has the most enduring works. I chose John Milton just because I thought Paradise Lost was so amazing, as well as Samson Agonistes. I guess when these difficult comparisons come up, I tend to chose one of the greats that probably wouldn't get much recognition in the poll by other voters.