Hunter S Thompson - Page 2

Gatz · 12-11-2007, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adschofield

Greatest American writer? Easy there chief.

1. Hemingway

2. Everybody else

But I do like Thompson...I just finished his book, "Hell's Angels," and it was pretty good. But I don't think he's in the class of Hemingway.

Other Favorite American Authors
-John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath- greatest American novel)
-Kurt Vonnegut (Very underrated)
-J.D. Salinger
-Henry David Thoreau

Tolstoy, Nabokov, and George Orwell are some other favorites of mine

Eh, I definitely think Hemingway is overrated, so is his style. Fitzgerald was the best lost generatioin writer in my opinion, I just don't like Steinbeck, even though he's easy to read.
A note on Salinger, I liked Catcher in the Rye, and I think he did a masterful job with the novel, but Nine Stories impressed me much more than his novel.

someone447 · 12-11-2007, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adschofield

Greatest American writer? Easy there chief.

1. Hemingway

2. Everybody else

But I do like Thompson...I just finished his book, "Hell's Angels," and it was pretty good. But I don't think he's in the class of Hemingway.

Other Favorite American Authors
-John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath- greatest American novel)
-Kurt Vonnegut (Very underrated)
-J.D. Salinger
-Henry David Thoreau
-Mark Twain (Huck Finn is one of my favorite books)

I think all those guys are better than Thompson

Tolstoy, Nabokov, and George Orwell are some other favorites of mine

I can't stand Hemmingway. Reading him makes me want shoot myself in the head with a shotgun.

Thoreau has some pretty good stuff, Mark Twain is absolutely amazing. Animal Farm is my favorite book ever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatz

Well Salinger and Nabokov both wrote around that time, but if I am looking at his type of fiction, I prefer Ken Kesey over Thompson.
Meh, it's arbitrary, I am just not into that group of writers. I still think though, calling Thompson one of the greatest american authors, even of the 20th century, as another poster said, is a hyperbole. I am more into european fiction than american fiction anyways.

I definitely like european fiction more than american.

They were 20 years before HST. I really like Ken Kesey, but I think HST is quite a bit better. I am not only thinking about HST's novels, in fact, I like much of his writings for magazines better. The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved is my favorite magazine article of all time.

adschofield · 12-11-2007, 10:54 PM

Funny story about Hemingway...When he married his second wife, he was forced to convert to Catholicism, and while he was in Spain on his honeymoon, he became impotent. His wife told him several times to go pray in one of the nearby churches in Spain. He left the hotel for a while, and jokingly went into the church to pray. Let's just say that he was a Catholic until he had, as my English teacher who is a huge Hemingway fan puts it, "a gun cleaning accident."

adschofield · 12-11-2007, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone447

I can't stand Hemmingway. Reading him makes me want shoot myself in the head with a shotgun.

Thoreau has some pretty good stuff, Mark Twain is absolutely amazing. Animal Farm is my favorite book ever.

I definitely like european fiction more than american.

They were 20 years before HST. I really like Ken Kesey, but I think HST is quite a bit better. I am not only thinking about HST's novels, in fact, I like much of his writings for magazines better. The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved is my favorite magazine article of all time.

George Orwell is my favorite author, no doubt about it. 1984 and Animal Farm were brilliant. However, I identify most with Hemingway

Vikes99ej · 12-11-2007, 10:57 PM

R.L. Stine is a pretty good author.

someone447 · 12-11-2007, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adschofield

George Orwell is my favorite author, no doubt about it. 1984 and Animal Farm were brilliant

I liked Animal Farm much, much, much more than 1984, but I read them both in HS, and I need to read them again.

adschofield · 12-11-2007, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone447

I liked Animal Farm much, much, much more than 1984, but I read them both in HS, and I need to read them again.

Animal Farm is a much more enjoyable read, but I thought 1984 was better, although it's written like Orwell's essays at times.

Even though I really like Orwell, I relate much more to Hemingway

someone447 · 12-11-2007, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adschofield

Animal Farm is a much more enjoyable read, but I thought 1984 was better, although it's written like Orwell's essays at times.

Even though I really like Orwell, I relate much more to Hemingway

That might be why I like Thompson so much. I relate more to his writing than any other author I have read.

Have you ever read A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole? I started reading it, but didn't get a chance to finish it because I had to return it to the library before I moved. I got through about the first third, and it was one of the funniest books I have ever read.

adschofield · 12-12-2007, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone447

That might be why I like Thompson so much. I relate more to his writing than any other author I have read.

Have you ever read A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole? I started reading it, but didn't get a chance to finish it because I had to return it to the library before I moved. I got through about the first third, and it was one of the funniest books I have ever read.

No, but I have heard good things...I had completely forgot about that book until now...I may have to take a trip to the library today