Neglected/Underrated Writers

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Have at it!

Including writers who might be famous outside our likely circles.

Relevant links...
The Neglected Books Page
Writers No One Reads

[brendanconnell]

Let's start out with Paul Féval. Until recently not much of his work was in English, but thanks to Brian Stableford, a good bit it now is. Most of it is more "dark" than actually supernatural, but he did write a reasonable amount of supernatural fiction. Actually, he wrote so much, that his "reasonable amount" is probably as much as the sum total works of many other authors. His son, who had the same name, also wrote a number of books, including a very long pastiche combining D'Artagnan and Cyrano de Bergerac.

[Ancient History]

Ernest Hogan - who is probably outside of most circles. He's an Hispanic science fiction writer (ghost knows there's not enough of those) , who mostly does some surrealistic short stories these days, but I've always really, really liked his first two novels - High Aztech and Cortez on Jupiter. The former especially occupies a nice middle ground between cyberpunk and magical realism, playing with ideas of language, religion, and viruses in a way that's...well, fun and clever. I like to sandwich it as the middle of an imaginary trilogy between Bruce Bethke's Headcrash and Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.

[qcrisp]

I'm going to mention two, one of whom I always mention. Somewhere online there should be a 'Book I'd Like to be Buried With' essay by me on this author, but I can't find it. So, I shall recommend using the medium of song:

Kodagain - The Nagai Kafu Way of Life - YouTube

Secondly, I'll recommend this book (and author):

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1593673.Inland

I take it discussion and not just recommendation is desired, but I don't have the time or energy at present.

[brendanconnell]

Quentin sent me a book of Kafu's and it is quite good. Though the way he tells stories is very different than what I am used to. I think in most western literature there is this expectation of an evenly told tale that starts at one place and conveniently goes to its expected destination, but with Kafu (and maybe other Japanese writers?), the stories sometimes feel more like someone hanging out at a train station without even having purchased a ticket.

[Michael]

Quote Originally Posted by Ancient History

Ernest Hogan - who is probably outside of most circles. He's an Hispanic science fiction writer (ghost knows there's not enough of those) , who mostly does some surrealistic short stories these days, but I've always really, really liked his first two novels - High Aztech and Cortez on Jupiter. The former especially occupies a nice middle ground between cyberpunk and magical realism, playing with ideas of language, religion, and viruses in a way that's...well, fun and clever. I like to sandwich it as the middle of an imaginary trilogy between Bruce Bethke's Headcrash and Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.

Just ordered the kindle version. This thread is awesome.

[dr. locrian]

Matt Cardin.

In an alternate reality, Matt is enjoying the kind of literary success and attention that Laird Barron currently enjoys. Matt is one of the finest prose writers alive. His critical skills and creative imagination are nothing short of astonishing.

[Biely Králik]

Brian Hodge, one of the greatest contemporary horror writers.

[xylokopos]

Ferdynand Ossendowski.

His Beasts, Men and Gods is the only book I have read entirely on screen, at Project Gutenberg. It almost defies classification. It became a best-seller when it came out in New York in 1922. Then it fell into obscurity along with the rest of his work. His books were banned in his native Poland until 1989, because he had fought with Ungern-Sternberg against the Bolsheviks. Strangely enough, while alive, he was also persecuted by the Tzar, making him one of two writers I am aware of that managed to piss off both pre- and post-Revolutionary authorities in Russia [the other is Zamyatin]. He was also an extraordinary man whose life appears almost fictional in its unlikeliness.

Now that I think of it, we are doing more about renewing interest in dead Polish writers here at TLO than any other force in the universe.

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[Jeff Coleman]

Quote Originally Posted by Dr. Locrian

Matt Cardin. In an alternate reality, Matt is enjoying the kind of literary success and attention that Laird Barron currently enjoys. Matt is one of the finest prose writers alive. His critical skills and creative imagination are nothing short of astonishing.

A few days ago I read Matt's "Divinations of the Deep," and wondered "how in the hell did it take me this long to finally read this?" It was so up my alley, it was beyond my alley.