|
 |
Authors with unique language styles | ||
Tags: Literature | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4704 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 1 of 24 11 September 2013 at 10:13pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I love the writing of PG Wodehouse. He is easy to read and uses such gorgeous turns of phrase. In fact, his writing is so unique that would not call it standard English, exactly. It is like a dialect, only it is really uniquely his. I would be curious to know if anyone here read much of his ouvre while learning English, and what they thought of the experience. I know that any English bookstore in India will usually have a shelf-full of Wodehouse on offer.
Thinking about Wodehouse made me wonder if there are popular writers like him in other languages. I often suspect that phrases chucked out by Le Petit Nicolas are not exactly standard French, and this suspicion is confirmed by the fact that when I google phrases from the book, I often end up on sites where French speakers are debating the meaning. At face value, authors like this should be avoided by language learners until they are fairly advanced. However, two facts militate against this: firstly, they are well-known and therefore have a place in the public imagination. Secondly, they are just so much fun to read! (EDIT: I know my post is about books, but I think the thread is more about unique language styles, so I placed it in the General section rather than Books). Edited by Jeffers on 11 September 2013 at 10:15pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4463 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 2 of 24 12 September 2013 at 12:24am | IP Logged | ||
|
Brazilian Portuguese: Mário de Andrade, Guimarães Rosa
Norwegian: Are Kalvø (or any other Nynorsk writer) German: Herman Hesse Edited by Medulin on 12 September 2013 at 12:28am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4623 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 3 of 24 12 September 2013 at 1:57pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I'm guessing that Erich Kästner might, although it would take a native speaker to judge
properly. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4502 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 4 of 24 12 September 2013 at 2:17pm | IP Logged | ||
|
An author who does not have a unique stamp is not a good author. Because if they are not
unique, then they're no more worth reading than any other author out there. French: Amélie Nothomb (very distinctive). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Vos Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 5361 days ago 766 posts - 1020 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, Polish | Message 5 of 24 12 September 2013 at 2:21pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Jorge Luis Borges - My favourite Spanish writer and quite possibly my favourite writer period. The man had one
of the most knowledgeable, imaginative and far-reaching minds that have ever walked the Earth in my opinion. I haven't read Wodehouse so I can't compare, but whereas you were saying Wodehouse has a very unique English, very much his own, I would say Borges is utterly unique also but more due to his tone, the way the stories are formed and the fact that every paragraph is laden with references, allusions and information (sometimes real, sometimes false), that you can't help but ponder in awe and make connections between things you've probably never thought of before. I can't say enough about him. But I'm curious also whether he is seen as having a very unique style of Spanish. I haven't read enough Hispanic literature to be able to compare him to others and so don't see his use of Spanish as unique per se, but have also read him so much that even if it were, perhaps it simply doesn't seem odd or novel to me anymore. All I can say is, the first time I read him, it was a revelation. And I hadn't nor have read anything else remotely like it. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Via Diva Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation last.fm/user/viadivaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4029 days ago 1109 posts - 1427 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German, Italian, French, Swedish, Esperanto, Czech, Greek | Message 6 of 24 12 September 2013 at 3:19pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I can't speak about originals (alas!), but Stefan Zweig and Daphne Du Maurier in our translations sound quite unusual, hence my love to their works is prevailing if comparing with everything else written. If to speak about Russian literature, I enjoy Mayakovsky poems (and I'm not very fond of poetry in common), he has the leadership in quite unusual literature style (Russian Futurism), and his poetry is sometimes, I'm afraid, can't at all be translated in English.
In our schools pupils are usually made to fight through War and Peace by Tolstoy. I haven't succeeded there, but I liked his Resurrection, it's easier for me that Anna Karenina and has somewhat pulling you inside the book. And I suppose that Turgenev's On the Eve will made me to look at Bulgarian somewhere in future, the expressions and tone of the novel just stuck in my mind and I'll always remember the sadness of Insarov:
Don't get me wrong, I do not making a list of everything I like, I really choose somewhat unique for me. For example, I adore Joanna Chmielewska and Maurice Druon, but there's nothing that can distinguish as a unique language style. It can depend on translations, but I think that they just turn common words into good pieces of writing, but not inventing some extraordinary slyle. IMHO! (ИМХО: имею мнение, хрен оспоришь :) ) 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ScottScheule Diglot Senior Member United States scheule.blogspot.com Joined 5023 days ago 645 posts - 1176 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Latin, Hungarian, Biblical Hebrew, Old English, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, French | Message 7 of 24 12 September 2013 at 4:08pm | IP Logged | ||
Different strokes for different folks, but I don't think those facts justify trying a rather difficult book at a rather early stage. You're likely to just get frustrated. God knows I do. But if you're willing to drag around (at least) a dictionary with you and reread the same line seventeen times, then by all means, have at the Pynchon and McCarthy. Edited by ScottScheule on 12 September 2013 at 4:08pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ogrim Heptaglot Senior Member France Joined 4434 days ago 991 posts - 1896 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, French, Romansh, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Catalan, Latin, Greek, Romanian | Message 8 of 24 12 September 2013 at 4:52pm | IP Logged | ||
|
As regards English, James Joyce springs to mind, although perhaps not as someone whose style I would try to copy! Another author whose style I find quite unique and enjoyable is Oscar Wilde.
Amongst contemporary Norwegian writers I would like to mention Karl Ove Knausgård, whose six autobiographical novels "Min Kamp" (My Struggle) has been a tremendous success. Personally though I was not able to get through all six books, and I'd rather recommend his second novel "En tid for Alt" (published in the UK with the title "A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven"). There he uses the Norwegian language beautifully - the storytelling becomes so compelling that you really get "sucked in", at least that was my experience. 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
