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My favorite English writer, ever, even more than JK Rowling.
The only reason I’m willing to consider reading Terry Pratchett one day, is that some of the quotes in the Discworld thread reminded me of things I’ve read in Jonathan Swift. My favorite book of his is “Essays on Polite Conversations”, which is basically a play making fun of small talk, which I found in a compilation of his works, but it’s available almost nowhere nowadays. I also enjoy A Modest Proposal (which is not taught in most BYs for some reason). Gulliver’s travels is pretty good. A Tale Of A Tub proves that censorship was no more effective back then than it is now. And The Bickerstaff papers show that people are just as gullible as they always were.
If you that sort of satire, you should also read Nikolai Gogol. Also for excellent satire in general, Mark Twain (you’ve probably read some of his stuff already–his short stories are the best, though) and Edith Wharton (kind of like Jane Austen but funnier).
That’s a shame–some of the very bestest writers are female (ahemToniMorrisonaAHEMahem). Here are some Edith Wharton quotes:
“She sang, of course, “M’ama!” and not “he loves me,” since an unalterable and unquestioned law of the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English-speaking audiences.”
“It was easy enough to despise the world, but decidedly difficult to find any other habitable region.”
“‘Who’s “they”? Why don’t you all get together and be “they” yourselves?'”
How is he related to Dayan Moshe Swift?
And now since I can’t resist…here’s a list of supremely awesome female writers:
Katherine Mansfield
Amy Tan
Pearl S. Buck
Kate Atkinson
TONI MORRISONNNNN
George Eliot
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Willa Cather
Cynthia Ozick
Virginia Woolf
Lois Lowry
Muriel Barbery
oom- i think you forget afew
louis lowry
daiana wynee jones
emily dickinson
George Eliot? That’s a girl?
That’s a pen name.
Are these books kosher as in no lewd scenes?
torah613: Yeah, George Eliot was female. That is the name her books are published under, so I use that.
And of course Wilder isn’t great–she is SUPREMELY AWESOME.
ym613: Got Lois Lowry. 🙂 A lot of people have recommended DWJ to me, and I have to say, if Miyazaki made a film out of one of her novels, then it’s gotta be good. 😀 And Emily Dickinson is excellent, but I really haven’t read enough of her to give a good rec.
WIY: Which books?
The books generally written by the list of authors you posted.
Most of them. Though Kate Atkinson definitely qualifies for lewd. But you should probably look the plots up for yourself before reading (as I do), and NOT take my opinion on it, as I do differentiate between lewdness and “content” (which I am guessing you don’t). 🙂
second promotion of a modest proposal!!! loved learning that!
🙂
“Muriel Barbery”
I have found a point wherein I disagree with you, OOM…
But I generally agree with your other authors (at least the ones I’ve read, which, come to think of it, aren’t many). I LOVE Lois Lowry’s books.
The Hedgehog book? It was a teeny bit pretentious but I still like it a lot. It was very well written. And ULTIMATE PLOT TWIST. D:
A TEENY bit pretentious?
It was a bit too much philosophy delivered by elitist people who think they’re smarter than everyone else, but that’s my opinion. Good writing, if a bit flowery.
Okay it was a lot pretentious. But really that was mostly Paloma and that is very in character for her age (I recall learning the word “sophomoric” at that age from my exasperated mother :P). I liked Renee. :'(
Well, I guess the difference is that I didn’t like Renee. You’re not meant to like Paloma, at least not in the beginning, so since your other alternative is Renee, whether you like or hate her is whether you like or hate the book.
I felt more sorry for Paloma than anything else. She was obviously deluded.
hmmm I see.
A list of excellent female writers is lacking without Beverly Cleary.
Ben: And Carolyn Keene
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Margaret Peterson Haddix
I could care less about the subject of Woman writers but I saw the name George Eliot it reminded me of a story. Here’s how it goes.
My uncle runs an organization for sick children so he travels around a lot. One time he passed by Far Rockaway and stopped into R’ Freifeld’s yeshiva to daven Mincha. Before he left he noticed some CDs for sale. The CDs were different lectures given by R’ Freifeld so picked one up to have something to listen to on the way home. My Uncle relates that the lecture was not too interesting for him since it was given to college students.
A few days later he entered a Hospital to visit one of his patients. The Patient told my Uncle that there is another Jewish patient in a different room and suggested my uncle go talk to her. My Uncle reluctantly went since my Uncle usually only goes to people who call him for his assistance. On the way to the other patient my Uncle frantically tried to think of something positive to say when he sees the patient but to no avail. Upon entering the patient’s room still apprehensive not knowing what to say he noticed the girl was reading a book by George Eliot. He instantly had a flashback to the Shiur from R’ Freifeld. In the Shiur R’ Freifeld asked the students if they knew that the writer George Eliot was a women and most students were surprised by that and were even more surprised that R’ Freifeld knew. My uncle seeing that the patient was reading a book by George Eliot introduced himself and asked the patient “Did you know that George Eliot was a woman”? My uncle dresses in Chassidishe Garb so you can imagine it was an eye opener for the patient and it lead to a pleasant conversation. Now my uncle knew why he picked up that CD by R’ Freifeld.
are there any frum female writers that are well-known in the book world, or write for more wider audiences?
Absolutely not frum, but a great writer: Ayn Rand.
Frieda Friedman for children.
Carolyn Keene is not necessarily a woman. That’s a pseudonym for a whole group of writers, some of whom are men.
Haifagirl: really? Ayn Rand is (in)famous for her flamboyant atheism and belief in the legalization of srufs. Her philosophy was that moral laws don’t exist and that man’s aim in life is simply happiness, at any cost. It goes without saying she is not a Jewish role model, and her beliefs are antithetical to Torah and basic human decency.
my bad, not srufs, I meant legalization of drugs.
Yes, she was an atheist. But you are simplifying her philosophy to the extreme.
There is nothing antithetical to Torah about rewarding accomplishment rather than incompetence. At least, not that I know of.
[…]rewarding accomplishment rather than incompetence.
I think you are simplifying (or at least whitewashing) her philosophy. What I got from reading Atlas Shrugged is that the unfortunate are all soulless grasping vermin that seek to leech off the successful and drag them down to shame and mediocrity. I very much agree with the essential ideas (as you have stated) of hard work and vision being valued, but she takes these ideas to an extreme that doesn’t even make any sense.
Also, about her writing–in my personal opinion, she is not a great novelist. True, she has very good technical style, being that English is not her first language and all, but that isn’t the only criterion of good writing.
Ayn Rand preached atheism, as part of the all-encompassing cult-like philosophy of life she invented (“objectivism”), and her books were meant to convince people to adopt her warped worldview. Her books exalted ruthless selfishness as the highest value, and displayed utter contempt for poor people. Much like Nietzsche, she meant to turn Western Judeo-Xian values upside down.
I think it’s highly inappropriate for a Jew to read a book by a someone (particularly a Jew like Ayn Rand) who invented and evangelized for a new atheistic ideology. However, I’m not surprised that some read her anyway, since its politics coincide with some people’s right-wing economic views.
People have every right to conclude that conservative economic and welfare policies are better — even though, at least in Israel, you’d be hard-pressed to find any gadol supporting right-wing economic policies like cutting welfare and such — but they shouldn’t conclude that then any author who shares such views is kosher.
Perhaps many people enjoy her writing, but it’s also commonly observed that reading her books tends to warp people’s personalities, making them less kind and pleasant and more ruthless and cruel. I’ve noticed this personally in people I know. It’s often temporary, but not always.
I’m not concerned about her advocacy for legalization of drugs. It’s a genuine empirical question whether making drugs illegal causes more harm than good. I’m not aware of Chazal showing any interest in banning or restricting certain substances and throwing people in jail if they disobey.
Ayn Rand’s books preached midas s’dom. A self-centered society where charity is a crime, was her ideal. She held about as an anti-Torah philosophy as one could have.
Midas S’som is an excellent analogy to the ‘utopia’ Rand constructed in her ridiculous works. She may have been a fine writer, and definitely convinced many people that she was right. However, it’s clear that anyone who calls themselves frum or God fearing should view her philosophy with disgust.
She believed knowledge was based on sensory perception(eliminating morality), despised all forms of religion, and believed the highest purpose of man is his own selfish happiness.
Here’s the money quote: “An individual should exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself.” That’s a disgusting ideology, which will only lead to a culture of selfishness, hedonism, and the abandonment of good deeds.
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