Who are the best young British/US novelists?

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Maybe it's a bit off-topic but I'm curious...

― Simone, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

nicola barker

― mark s, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I think Ben Richards is terrific. His prose is (deliberately) very plain, but no-one else captures London right now as well as he does. All four of his novels are worth having a look at.

― Mark Morris, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Mark - I'd been meaning to read some Nicola Barker. Good place to start?

― Tom, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

wide open

― mark s, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

so did anyone read zadie smith's white teeth? hype to be believed or dismissed?

and who would be deemed a "young" novelist? or, rather, how OLD would they be?

― fred solinger, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

anyone between 18-35 years old!

― Simone, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

donald antrim. i think he's under 35 anyway.

― gareth, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I haven't read _White Teeth_, but that sucker is extremely popular around here -- it's been on library reserves (where I work at UCI) for over four months now and people keep asking when they can check it out for themselves! But yes, is it hype or not -- anyone? An initial browse through plot details made me think of Salman Rushdie's work...

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

greg tate wrote a breathless review of it in the village voice, but i distrust him ever since that unfortunate pearl jam review. besides, i'm opposed to buying hardcover books and i need more convincing than *that* to go out and purchase it.

― fred solinger, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I don't really read books by modern authors, but the last good modern book I read was "The Great Longing" by Marcel Moring, he's Dutch. I tried to read "Goodbye Johnny Thunders" but it was a yawnfest. I bought the "Age of Wire and String" by Ben Marcus, but it's not my sort of thing.

― jel, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Fred: ever hear of a library? You wouldn't have to spend anything in case it was crap.

― The Library Geek, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

i admit, i have only seen the movie. but High Fidelity has to probably be based on a brilliant book. i know the guy's next novel is being made into a movie as well.

― Luptune Pitman, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

clive barker.

― Kevin Enas, Friday, 6 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

That guy Toby Litt was real good for his 1st 2 but i heard his last book sucked. Alan Warner...I dunno, are these guys "young"?

― Duane Zarakov, Saturday, 7 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Henry Miller -- hey, he was young when he wrote the stuff...

― Sterling Clover, Sunday, 8 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

mark - thanks for recommending nicola barker. the library here has a copy of her book of short stories, _Love Your Enemies_. i had to request it from the book depository. it was only out in '93, and the book looks untouched. anyway, i read the first story and was really impressed. it's obvious that she knows how to craft a story - in fred's sense of the term ;) - but it's her voice and her POV that i find intriguing. anyway, thanks!

― youn, Wednesday, 11 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I would heartily recommend a Scottish novelist called Alan Warner. 'Morvern Caller', 'These Demented Lands' and 'The Sopranos' are all works of peerless genius. Especially 'The Sopranos'. His thick Scottish dialect can be a little tricksy at first, but stay with it and you'll be richly rewarded.

― Johnathan Barnes, Wednesday, 11 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

It wasn't the first story. It was the second - "Necessary Truth". Right now I just read "John's Box". These two stories are incredible. You know how it is after you read something like this and you feel you must talk to someone, but really there is no one appropriate to talk to in person about this right now so that is why I am telling you. Anyway it's been a long time since I felt as though a story communicated something essential - it's incredible! If you read this you might think it is somewhat pedantic - the way I imagine lots of people do with Delmore Schwartz's stories in _In Dreams Begin Responsibilities_. But really, the characters are not just mouthpieces for philosophical ideas. They embody the ideas. They show their relevance.

― youn, Friday, 13 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

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