21st Century Literature discussion

Are there authors you felt you had to grow into? Which ones?

yes - Definitely Don Delilo and Cormac McCarthy. To a certain extent Zadie Smith

Robert wrote: "yes - Definitely Don Delilo and Cormac McCarthy. To a certain extent Zadie Smith"

For the longest time, I was convinced I wouldn't like Delilo, but I have no idea why I thought this (or what type of writer I thought he was). Then I read White Noise, dropped all pre/mis-conceptions, and never turned back.

I think Sebald may be a writer I have to grow into. So far, I've only read Austerlitz. Neil Gaiman might be another for me.

I tend to "grow out of" authors rather than grow into them.

I had to grow into Margaret Atwood. She was so ubiquitous in Canada growing up that I tried her books early -- around 13 or 14 and yuck, no. I expect any age after adulthood would have been fine for her though.

William Faulkner

Proust, Nabokov and Woolf for me. Though Woolf is still hit and miss.

Salman Rushdie.

I abandoned Midnight Children thrice before finally finishing it, though it should be easy for me, as it is set in India. Now I’m facing same thing with The Satanic Verses.

Emily wrote: "I had to grow into Margaret Atwood. She was so ubiquitous in Canada growing up that I tried her books early -- around 13 or 14 and yuck, no. I expect any age after adulthood would have been fine fo..."

Yes, Margaret Atwood is an obvious choice. I read The Handmaid's Tale when I was a student and found it disappointing, and didn't give her a proper chance until I was well into my 40s. Since reading The Blind Assassin I have read several more and the only one that disappointed me was The Testaments,

My other nominations are less clear-cut - AS Byatt and Iris Murdoch.

Murdoch's The Bell was another book I read as a student, and though I quite liked it, it took me a long time to return to her, but eventually I read all of her novels.

With Byatt there was less of a gap, but my first one was a short story collection that I was given (Little Black Book of Stories) - again one I quite liked but it didn't enthuse me to read more for about 10 years, and it was only after Possession that I started reading as many as possible.

Hugh wrote: "Emily wrote: "I had to grow into Margaret Atwood. She was so ubiquitous in Canada growing up that I tried her books early -- around 13 or 14 and yuck, no. I expect any age after adulthood would hav..."

That's interesting, I tried both Murdoch and Byatt when I was younger and got nowhere and I have books by both in my TBR that I want to get to soon.

Ellie wrote: "William Faulkner"

Definitely agree. I failed miserably the first time I tried. Every few years I’ve gone back to his work and each time I’ve found a greater appreciation.

Emily, I came to Murdoch quite late, but try to read at least one of her novels every year.

The more I read these comments, the less I think I "grow into" authors, in general.

Marc wrote: "Robert wrote: "yes - Definitely Don Delilo and Cormac McCarthy. To a certain extent Zadie Smith"

For the longest time, I was convinced I wouldn't like Delilo, but I have no idea why I thought this..."

They had made White Noise into a movie with Adam Driver.

Jennifer wrote: "They had made White Noise into a movie with Adam Driver."
I'll have to check that out---seems like it would adapt really well to film. Thanks!