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On Literature
 
 
 

Literature is the most fundamental incarnation of story in existence. One cannot be a painter without knowing how to draw. One cannot write without knowing the alphabet. And one certainly cannot craft story in any format without having an understanding and appreciation of literature.

 

This is one of the reasons why I feel there are so many bad movies, video games, TV shows, and comic books out there; people just don't care about literature these days. This is not a lament on my part for times past, however, but more of a mockery. By overlooking literature, one is passing up a huge oppurtunity to greatly understand story and narrative, and, depending on the attitude, without a whole lot of work, really. To pass up such oppurtunity would be, quite frankly, stupid. I'm not lamenting. In fact, this is fine by me, as it gives me a huge advantage over other writers.

 

Here are some authors or literary works that I feel are worth particular merit. Click the images for some relevant links.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

"To be, or not to be, — that is the question: —
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles"

 

I used to think Shakespeare sucked. I was basically an idiot.

 

Shakespeare is a forerunner of pretty much all modern story and plot. I realize now that he was so ahead of his time - the Nostradamus of fiction. There is so much complexity to his works, his characters. His language, though archaic, is absolutely exquisite and has a timeless quality to it that transcends the ages.

 

It's too bad that people have become blind to the real luster of his writing. Partially, it's a result of bad high school English class experiences; I know it was with me. But once I rediscovered what makes Shakespeare the master he really is, my views on story and narrative, as well as the human condition, were forever changed for the better.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
A Long Way Gone (2007) - Ishmael Beah
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

I was thinking about putting Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness on this list, a work I thoroughly respect, but it's just so... academic and cold, a problem I often run into when dealing with classical literature. With a Long Way Gone, now we're dealing with something that gets to the beating heart of the matter.

 

This is probably the most disturbing book I've ever read, not because it's excplict and gory, but because it's so real. It's about a young boy in Sierra Leone coping in a war torn country, eventually becoming a child soldier. But it takes a while for it to sink in - this isn't a novel; this is a memoir. All of these things actually happened to this young man. This isn't a story originally penned on a coffeehouse napkin. This is his life.

 

It's so remarkable that Beah writes with such a casual narrative voice. There is no decorative language or Byzantine structure to be found here. Only a personal story that gave me one of the deepest insights into human horror and resilience that I've ever encountered.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
A Song of Ice and Fire Series (1996 - ongoing) - George R. R. Martin
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

One of the richest, grittiest, most believable worlds ever crafted in a work of fiction, A Song of Ice and Fire is something that goes well beyond even Middle-Earth. Martin's Westeros is a living, breathing land populated by some of the most unsavory characters you are likely to meet. And yet it's a land one can never get enough of.

 

Some of the greatest modern fantasy ever written, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is nothing short of revolutionary. It has certainly changed the way I approach crafting a world from scratch. If you like mature fantasy, then you need to pick up a copy of A Game of Thrones right now, because it's the best there is, bar none, and you will not regret it. I've been reading the series over the course of years, and I can't wait till the next book comes out; it took the poor man five years to write A Feast For Crows, and I cut through the 700 page behemoth in 3 days. This is definitely the stuff of legend.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986)
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Borges is one of those authors that has attained extreme levels of academic prestige and honor, but nobody I generally come across has any idea who he is.

 

Jorge Luis Borges is the cryptographer's fiction writer. He constructs literary and philosophical webs of such intricacy that it makes your head spin. No, these are not simply webs. These are labyrinths that force you to reexamine your conceptions of time and existence.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
Ender's Game (1985) - Orson Scott Card
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

I am a pretty analytical individual, and I can have a pretty intellectual approach to a lot of things, art in particular. With that being said, Ender's Game is just a great story, plain and simple.

 

Ender's Game is a story that everyone remembers. Nobody reads this book and thinks badly of it. Why? It has lead characters that people can identify with, specifically the young Ender Wiggin, a gifted, isolated boy that just doesn't fit in no matter what, yet whose shoulders the fate of the world rests upon.

 

The plot is well structured. Card had me cheering when Ender arose victorious, and empathizing when Ender fell flat on his face, usually the result of someone else cruelly tripping him up.

 

It's a story that everyone can relate to, with an interesting, unique sci-fi setting. It's a great story told on Card's terms, not anyone else's, and that's something I deeply respect and, indeed, aspire to.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
1984 (1949) - George Orwell
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Perhaps one of the most important political works ever crafted, I view 1984 as less a work of fiction and more a warning. Orwell's dystopian vision of the future is something that seems more relevant today than ever before.

 

As a literary work, it has strong plot and structure. Orwell's characters lack life, and he uses them as tools to explore his agenda. Normally this is something I would decry, but because Orwell's visions are so frighteningly pertinent, and his agenda is both honorable and, indeed, essential, I feel this is entirely forgivable, and even helps to convey a feeling of lifelessness in such a gray and oppressive world.

 

1984 is not a work read for enjoyment. It is a work read to understand what happens when politics break down, when people begin sacrificing their rights, and when the few in control are allowed to run things their way. This is a book I feel everyone ought to read.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849)
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Edgar Allan Poe had a pretty rough life. He never got much attention or recognition during his lifetime, and he died broke, miserable, and partially insane. Too bad no one could have told him that he would be considered one of the greatest American authors and poets of all time.

 

The macabre appeal to Poe's work is obvious and goes without saying. However, Poe has somehow been relegated to 8th grade English class. A true Dark Romantic writer, Poe's work is so wonderfully complex, rife with emotion - paranoia and terror - that it goes well beyond the realms of adolescent literature and into the realms of primal adulthood.

 

His use of language is beautifully ornate, yet nonethless hard-hitting, almost Shakespearean in stature, yet twisted according to the anguish and passion of a man lost in the depths of the torment of the human condition.

 

Poe is, to say the least, one of my favorite authors.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
Watership Down (1972) - Richard Adams
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

I don't have much to say about Watership Down, other than that I feel it's one of the greatest novels ever written. If you can figure out why, then you have my permission to buy yourself a cookie. But oh how satisfying a cookie it will be!

 
 
 
 
 

 

 
The Metamorphosis (1915) - Franz Kafka
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Kafka never got much recognition for his work during his lifetime either. In fact, he told his friend, his literary executor, to burn all his work upon his death. Thankfully, he didn't, or we would have been deprived of some really great, heartfelt literature.

 

The Metamorphosis is not an exceedingly artistic work. Indeed, it's actually a bit absurd, with the whole premise of the story being that the main character wakes up having been transformed into a giant cockroach of sorts.

 

But it is a work that, through its austere depiction of the true nature of the domestic family, gets at the root of the tragic nature of what people have really become.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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