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Who do you consider a Great Author of the last 50 years or so (first well-known work after 1970)? I'd like to get a feel for who's who in modern literature. Any language/culture. Fiction only. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 7 months ago by Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Bonus points for any books you believe are classics from that time period. Any language, but only fiction please.

I'm really excited to see what Lemmy has.

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[–] pingveno@lemmy.ml 10 points 7 months ago (4 children)

I hesitate to call her a great author in her own right and I detest her attitude towards transwomen. That said, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series transformed the young adult fiction genre from a bit of a wasteland of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy novels into a quality genre with significant cross-generational appeal.

I'll mention Orson Scott Card as well, but his books have worn thin over time as he squeezes every penny out of the Enderverse. Ender's Game got me through a miserable hospital stay as a young child, so it will always have a special place in my heart. Speaker for the Dead I also loved.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Harry Potter is successful despite of Rowling's writing, not because of it.

[–] pingveno@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yes, it's not so much that she's a great writer on the level of many of the others listed here. But in terms of cultural impact, she made a huge splash.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

She did. The impact of those stories is probably greatest among the writers listed here.

[–] Hasherm0n@lemmy.world 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I loved Orson Scott Card's books when I was younger, even the later Ender books. Unfortunately he's also a pretty terrible person much like Rowling.

[–] pingveno@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 months ago

And it pokes through in his books, along with this "I am very smart" attitude that a lot of his characters have.

[–] idkmybffjoeysteel@hexbear.net 4 points 7 months ago

I have read Ender's Game something like twenty times now over the course of only a few years and the drop off in quality between this book and his others is severe.

[–] survivalmachine@beehaw.org 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You detest Rowling's attitudes towards transwomen, but your only other suggested author is a huge anti-gay advocate? Riiiiight ...

[–] pingveno@lemmy.ml 4 points 7 months ago

I am gay, so if you're trying to suggest something then you're barking up the wrong tree.