Sci-2 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 What works - shorts or novels - do you feel were written with incredibly beautiful style? Which of these books is written well but has a terrible plot and/or characterization?Off the top of my head, I think two talented authors when it comes to prose - and very different prose - are Bakker and Valente.Night Circus I think has a beautiful, flowing prose but the characterizations are surface level and thus while it has beautiful imagery the work suffers in that it is hard to care what happens to the characters.I love Borge's writing style. I think Kafka, what little I've read, has an interesting style. I'm not quite ready to put my finger on what he's doing though.ETA: grammar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Valente is the obvious outstanding genre prose writer, and frankly the only one I can think of off the top of my head where prose is one of the major beacons of her work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickg Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 <p><p>Yeah, was gonna say valente also. But there is gene Wolfe, Jeff Vandermeer, Michael Cisco, J M McDermott too.I'm reading Downbelow Station and I really like Cherryh's prose. The book is a bit slow but imo the writing makes up for it.I thought The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan was very well written also. I wasn't blown away by the plot but the characterization was well done.Also, I agree with Bakker, Borges, and The Night Circus. I would also throw im Patricia McKillip. Re reading the Riddle Master right now and it has beautiful prose. I'm partial to Jack Vance also. And PKD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Oh, Sarah Micklem's Firethorn had nice prose, I think. (I guess I don't really pay attention to prose, as such.) And, y'know, I really like Terry Pratchetts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Gene Wolfe/thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Steve Erickson (note the spelling) - His prose serves to make his fractured narratives like Zeroville or The Sea Came in at Midnight even better.Brian Evenson - Last Days is even more chilling due to the style Evenson employs, but he's even better when he writes short fiction. Especially read his collections The Wavering Knife and Altmann's Tongue.I like much of Jeff VanderMeer's fiction, but I most like his short fiction, which allows him to showcase the range of styles he uses. "The Third Bear" and "The Situation," among others, benefit from him tailoring the prose to fit the scenes. Some are beautiful to read because of this extra effort.Téa Obreht's The Tiger's Wife was a pure joy to read. Simple as that.Michael Cisco creates weirdness on an epic scale due to his writing. The Narrator or The Great Lover, his two most recent novels, showcase this best.Patricia McKillip's The Riddle-Master trilogy is haunting in its lyrical qualities.Lord Dunsany is a must to read, as any of his story collections from a century ago showcase his talents as a prose (and poetry) writer.I think that'll do for starters (and several of the ones already listed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 Guy Gavriel Kay is always the first name that comes to mind for me when we're talking about beautiful prose. There are heartachingly beautiful passages in all of his works.Ursula K. Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, the aforementioned Valente and Dunsany and McKillip. I consider Tolkien's prose to often be quite beautiful, especially in its descriptive passages -- there's a sense of purpose, of myth-making, and of the rhythm that's all quite admirable. Samuel R. Delaney. Mervyn Peake.And yeah, Mickelem was a diamond in the rough -- grabbed the first book at random and I was truly impressed with her writing. Think I recently got a hold of the second novel, need to find some reading time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 I would add Jeffrey Ford to the list,especially his short stories -1. The Physiognomy (1997)Collections -The Fantasy Writer's Assistant: And Other Stories (2002)The Empire of Ice Cream (2005)The Drowned Life (2008) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted December 24, 2011 Author Share Posted December 24, 2011 thanks for replies and recs.also, how the heck could I forget Attanasio? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Selig Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Mervyn Peake is my number one pick for sheer beauty of the prose.Most of my other picks are mentioned already (McKillip, Valente, Le Guin, Wolfe), so I'll just add M. John Harrison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Hal Duncan. Say what you want about The Book of All Hours - and I know many people think it's a pretentious mess, though I'm of the school of thought that, much like Wolfe's New Sun, it's something that really needs and rewards a reread - but you can't deny it's fucking stylish in its writing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grack21 Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Ick, MJH prose makes me want to vomit out my brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser_not_appearing_yet Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 IMO Mieville is peerless within speculative fic - but thats very much a personal taste in style. He's one of those you either 'get' or you hate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickg Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 IMO Mieville is peerless within speculative fic - but thats very much a personal taste in style. He's one of those you either 'get' or you hate.I like mieville also. And Hal Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 I don't notice prose unless it it really jumps out at me(god knows I am not one to judge), but Mieville, Micklem (who is suddenly in every thread), and Valente were all good from this years reads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horselover Fat Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 James Tiptree isone of my favorite authors, her short stories are second to none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Mervyn Peake.is my number one pick for sheer beauty of the prose :agree: from what i've read of Gormenghast. He actually reminds me more of Pratchett than of, say, Valente in terms of whats impressive about the prose. It's not so much beauty or lyricism, but this ability to deliver some insight or image thats just astonishing or heartbreaking in a handful of words.ETA - Kate Griffin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Headless Ned Posted December 25, 2011 Share Posted December 25, 2011 Angela Carter is wonderful, Ray Bradbury,Robert Holdstock also.Mervyn Peak has a wonderfully demented and vivid style. Clive Barker's occasional bursts of imagination are often quite startling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted December 25, 2011 Author Share Posted December 25, 2011 ETA: PresentationRegarding Catherynne M. Valente, her entire first novel Labyrinth is on her site:http://www.catherynn...lente.com/free/Here is part of the Labyrinth's opening: "Roads. Oh god, I cannot speak of it, but the Roads have filledme entirely, stuffed and crammed into every corner, oozing outof my body like icy caviar. They are my avenue-bracelets andmy fat sapphire street chokers, my gold scarab short-cutarmbands and my boulevard harem anklets, they are mycobblestone coin belts and my alleyway-agate earrings. LongPaths criss-cross my torso like ammunition belts, and the innumerabledead-ends pierce my breasts beautifully, hangingpendulously, swinging with laughter, slapping triumphantlyagainst my bronzed belly.And. There are here tremors ofDoorways. They appear in themorning like dew-dampened butterflies, manic and clever.They travel in packs. At night the hinges change from right toleft, or vanish completely. Some are no more than flaps of fur,iridescent in the light of the Walls, or sweeping veils of gauzeand silk, long curtains like a woman’s hair. Like my hair. Someare hard and ornate, carved with a fantastic code of Arabic andGreek, letters drawn in a paste of crushed diamonds and thehooves of a drowned horse, written with the elegant tip of ablack cigarette holder. These have heavy knockers and bulbousknobs, brassy and baronial, in intricate shapes; I have seen aknob like a griffin’s fierce mouth, open in a scream with hertongue made of rose quartz, feathers fanning out magnificentlyin silver on the face of the Door. And a falcon-claw knocker allof amber, the reptilian talon, the three terrible nails ending intheir razor points, all wrapped about with the leather ofbondage, the flying trails of a hunter’s bird cascading down thepolished Door, ending in a large lacquered ball with which tostrike and enter.But they are not beautiful to me, any longer. They clusterwhispering and break and dance in and out of vision. And theyhunt...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted December 26, 2011 Share Posted December 26, 2011 Clark Ashton Smith's short stories are amazingly poetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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