Pick an author who you think has a unique voice and explain why or how that appeals to you and how you would characterize that voice. Give specific examples by directly quoting that author and integrating the quotes into your paragraph (show, don't tell).
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An author which has appealed to me lately is Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the novel Eat Pray Love. Her voice is insightful and imaginative which enhances the journey that she goes on. She travels to Italy, India, and Bali. I love to travel and feel that her voice is inspirational as well as very informative. The sights, smells, and sounds that she describes in depth make me feel as though I am sitting at the ashram in India where she meditated. She offers the reader significant personal advice. "It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody elses life with perfection." She connects strongly with the reader and speaks at a conversational level. Elizabeth Gilbert has allowed all of her readers to embark on this spiritual journey to enlightenment. I feel at ease with her voice and agreed with many of her opinions on how to live a happy and fulfilled life. Gilbert states, "you were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight." She encourages the reader to live life optimistically, even though we may suffer through turbulent times.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite authors is Rudyard Kipling, who wrote many short stories and poems. He was the author of the "Jungle Book", "The Man Who Would Be King", and the poem "If." The way he writes just sucks you into his stories and thoughts. He is from the era of the British Empire and can be recognized just by reading some of his works. He has a very old style of writing but it can still be appreciated by our generation. His voice is very sincere in his works but also very open and appealing. Although he has written many children's books and stories much of his other work appeals to a more mature audience. In his story "The Man Who Would Be King" he tells a tale of two men who go off to a foreign land and become Kings of that land. The story is very will put together, and sucks you in from the very beginning. He incorporates a lot of old rituals that are fascinating to me, at least. The story also has a great moral to it that anyone would enjoy.
ReplyDeleteAn author I greatly enjoyed recently is Jane Fitch. I just read the book "White Oleander" (the only book of hers I’ve read) and the language and imagery she uses just takes me away to some other level of existence. My favorite example of how she uses imagery to evoke emotion and display the beautiful, poisonous danger of the characters is this:
ReplyDelete"Her beauty was like the edge of a very sharp knife. I rested my head on her leg. She smelled like violets. "We are the wands," she said. "We strive for beauty and balance, the sensual over the sentimental." "The wands," I repeated. I wanted her to know I was listening. Our tarot suit, the wands. She used to lay out the cards for me, explain the suits: wands and coins, cups and swords, but she had stopped reading them. She didn't want to know the future anymore. "We received our coloring from Norsemen," she said. "Hairy savages who hacked their gods to pieces and hung the flesh from trees. We are the ones who sacked Rome. Fear only feeble old age and death in bed. Don't forget who you are." “I promise” I said.
I feel as if I can smell the violets as I imbibe the deep passion of destruction and beauty from her writing in that passage. Her first person voice as Astrid Magnusson really effectively delivers the emotions and sheer power of the women portrayed in this book. The intelligent and deep manner in which Astrid thinks makes this more than the regular pop filth oozing out of coming of age novels. Her use of Astrid in first person is also especially poignant because the fierce beauty Astrid beholds and rejects, and her untraditional, almost heretical, view of life. The storyline is centered on her strange life bouncing from foster home to foster home, but with an unorthodox attitude to it that is very unique to the author. White Oleander isn’t some sappy pile that is meant to evoke pity for a weak minded child “stuck in the system” like most other coming of age foster-child books, and that is probably my favorite thing about the Janet’s writing - the fact she doesn’t play the clichéd cards of the kid with the hard knock life - the main character is cultured and intelligent. Janet Fitch’s writing is a thought provoking oasis in a desert of paperback filth.
One of my favorite authors is Robert Frost. Frost wrote countless poems and won 4 Pulitzer Prizes. His poems have a way of making you feel like you are in it. The way he describes the scenery put you there and allow you to visualize it. He also is really good at taking things of everyday life and putting a different meaning behind it. One of my favorite poems by Frost is "Nothing Gold can Stay". He uses a really simple rhyme scheme but it still is a great poem that makes you apply it to things other than nature.
ReplyDeleteOne writer who I especially enjoy is Tennessee Williams, a 20th century Southern playwright. His style is poetic, descriptive and driven by emotion. It appeals to me because not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but the things he writes are highly intelligent, poignant and realistic in that it is likely that you will see someone you know in at least some of his characters. One of the recurring themes he wrote about was the juxtaposition between lies and reality. This is exemplified in the beginning of his play, "The Glass Menagerie", when Tom (the narrator) says, "I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion." I am especially fond of this and it is probably one of my favorite literary quotes ever.
ReplyDeleteA writer who i feel has a unique voice is Stephenie Meyer, the author of "Twilight." The book is about a girl who can't figure out what is going on in the head of a young man, and it deals alot with the thoughts they have. At this point in my life, I can not only relate to the story, but I also appreciate a great deal of the immagry that Meyer uses, as it is very effective at bringing things to life. One of the things he is best at bringing to life is nature. The following quote illusrates this: "As we walked North across the multihued stones towards the driftwood seawall, the clouds finally closed ranks across the sky, causing the sea to darken and the temperature to drop." (Meyer 122.) When I read this quote it brings up a full illustration in my mind of what he is describing, painting a vivid picture of the scene.
ReplyDeleteObviously I think Ayn Rand has a unique voice, considering I am using her work for my verbal rhetorical analysis. I don't even where to start. If you were to explain her novels to someone else, it would be the characters and the philosophy that would stick out compared to what is actually going on. Her characters become the basis for what is right and wrong, and the portrayal of them is mesmerizing. After having read all of her fiction work, it is easy to know just from the physical descriptions if the character is moral or evil. I have heard that people usually either really like her or hate her. I'm sure a lot of that has to with her philosophy, objectivism. Pretty much she hates socialism and looters. In Atlas Shrugged there is an oath that some of the characters take, " I swear on my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine" (671). I would say that this oath summarizes her philosophy in one sentence. Of course there is much more too it, but you will have to read her writing to find out more.
ReplyDeleteI am also obsessed with Harry Potter. Now when I say obsessed, I'm saying that I have read them all multiple times and have the books-on-tape on my Ipod (I'm actually listening to the 6th one right now.) I desperately wish that Hogwarts is real, and that one day I'll get my letter, by owl, jump on the Hogwarts express, and become a witch. I cant imagine that a children's series will ever top Harry Potter. I grew up with it, the characters are seriously a part of our generation. I'm sorry if I'm freaking you out, but it's that good. There is no way I can choose a quote to put in this blog, it wont do it justice. There are little lines that will make me laugh out loud every time; like when Harry makes smart ass comments to Snape. One of my favorite chapters is in the 7th book, The Prince's Return, about Snape. It is all so good, there is no other explanation needed.
I was going to talk about Charles Bukowski, David Sedaris, and Brett Easton Ellis because I also really enjoy their work, but next to Ayn Rand and J.K. Rowling they just don't compare.
My favorite author is Harper Lee. She of course, wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird" a classic novel written about a mischievous young tomboy named Jean-Louise Finch or "Scout". Lee writes in such a way that as you read you almost feel as if you are in the scene. Take this description of the town Scout lives in for example,"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow, it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum." She writes in a way that paints a picture so real and draws you in so deep that you can almost smell her description of food or feel her description of climate. To Kill a Mockingbird was Harper Lee's only successful book. As a matter of fact she didn't do too much writing after that book won countless awards. Perhaps it’s because she thought she could never do better and she figured she might as well end on a high note. Others however, think Lee was handed that masterpiece by her childhood friend Truman Capote, and feel he is the real genius behind the book. Either way it's a great book.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the author Jodi Picoult, who is the author of books such as A Change of Heart, and Nineteen Minutes, to name a few. I find her voice appealing because she has a way that is entertainging and exciting. Her books are not just another page turner, but evoke a wide spectrum of emotions and also tap into ethical issues, that leave the reader wondering what would you do? Her voice is more than entertaining, the reader gets so caught up in the book that you often forget that you are reading and feel as if you are right there watching the plot unfold. In addition Picoult's voice is very fluid and free flowing which makes for an easy and enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteMarion Zimmer Bradley wrote the book "Mists of Avalon". The story is about King Arthur, and takes place in a time when men had complete control. "Mists of Avalon" is a unique take on Arthurian legend, because it is told from the women's perspective. Each chapter is told from one of the women characters point of view. These women all have distinct voices and are able to portray and shape the story in different ways. I really enjoy the stories of the round table and found it to be very interesting to hear them with a feminist spin.
ReplyDeleteGwenhwyfar, is usually thought of as the beautiful, strong Queen of Camelot, but this quote shows her insecurities and tells the story in a whole new way..."Next to her, Gwenhwyfar felt dull as a hen, a simple housekeeping woman, even though she was High Queen, and Morgaine only a heathen duchess."
One writer that I always enjoy reading is Christopher Hitchens, whose writing appears in Vanity Fair, The Atlantic Monthly, Slate.com, and various other outlets. His writing voice is always a witty and informed but non-condescending one (unlike his debate performances). In fact, he has described his writing as being like "letters to an intelligent and humorous friend," which accounts for the voice just described.
ReplyDeleteTo start citing examples, I'll first consider a recent article he wrote to commemorate the 1989 fatwa on his friend Salman Rushdie. Hitchens has always been a sucker for wittiness, and he doesn't coddle his audience to allow for discrepancies in their vocabulary level or cultural literacy. Thus the following description of a dinner party he attended with Mr Rushdie, where the latter was challenged to imitate the pretentiousness of an author they disliked:
“ 'O.K. then, Salman, what would Hamlet’s title be if submitted to the Ludlum treatment?' 'The Elsinore Vacillation,' he replied—and I find I must stress this—in no more time than I have given you."
For the record, I have no idea what that means. But, Hitchen's love of stylistic flamboyance and wit is conveyed by his inclusion of such details as this.
In another essay from August 2008, about his experience of voluntarily undergoing the Inquisition-era tactic of waterboarding, Hitchen's own wit (and, perhaps insincerely, a sense of self-deprecation) is readily apparent:
"Waterboarding is for Green Berets in training, or wiry young jihadists whose teeth can bite through the gristle of an old goat. It’s not for wheezing, paunchy scribblers."
Hitchens is an old soixante-huitard anti-establishment liberal who has gone through a post-9/11 paradigm shift as a result of his hatred for "Islamofascists," who he characterizes as the "enemies of civilization." Foreign policy-wise he has allied himself with the neoconservatives. I disagree with just about everything he says, but his ability to sublimely capture emotion always amazes me. This ability is poignantly apparent in a 2007 essay Hitchens wrote about the combat death (by an I.E.D.) of a young university graduate who had decided to enlist and go to Iraq after reading Hitchen's moral arguments for war.
On his reflections about his idealistic, gung-ho support for the invasion (which he still supports, by the way):
"As one who used to advocate strongly for the liberation of Iraq (perhaps more strongly than I knew), I have grown coarsened and sickened by the degeneration of the struggle: by the sordid news of corruption and brutality (Mark Daily told his father how dismayed he was by the failure of leadership at Abu Ghraib) and by the paltry politicians in Washington and Baghdad who squabble for precedence while lifeblood is spent and spilled by young people whose boots they are not fit to clean."
So, Hitchens' voice is always a witty and informed one and uniquely eloquent, I think, in his supremely competent ability to convey feeling.