This is a semi-sarcastic question I guess. I think the whole Harry phenomenon was great for the reading community in general. However “Harry Potter” seems to be the answer to half the questions posted hear concerning what to read.
So here’s the question. Besides JKR what three authors do you think have had the biggest impact on the reading community in the last 20 years. Who’s picking up the torch and saying ‘yes –it is awesome to read and write’…
2007-06-18 08:09:12 · 6 answers · asked by Ralph 7 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
So much negativity! Who's had a positve impact! - not a neagtive one.
2007-06-18 11:57:24 · update #1
Me. I'm ready for a new series. I think that Stephen King has made an impact. He is really talented. And so has Stephenie Meyer, for all those people who have read her books. And last I think the author of the Artemis Fowl series.
Not sure though.
2007-06-18 08:15:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
I was never really on the Potter bandwagon. I read the first five books, struggling through books 3-5, and I called it quits. I don't care about any of the characters except Snape (because he's the only interesting character in the series) and Ron (because he's so painfully average), and that's not enough to keep me interested.
The Lord of the Rings films has brought Tolkien back to life and to a larger audience.
But in the last twenty years, it's been Stephen King who has transformed writing from literature to bestselling fiction. If Jaws ruined Hollywood by being the first blockbuster, King has negatively affected what is considered good writing.
No one reads actual literature anymore. Books are now as heavily marketed as movies, and all of us -- writers as well as readers -- are lowering our standards.
2007-06-18 08:26:17 · answer #2 · answered by God_Lives_Underwater 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I, for one, think Rice and King are the best writers of my lifetime, and certainly the most prolific. I enjoy Salman Rushdie and Thomas Pynchon and I would not say they have impacted much because few people read them. Piers Anthony is sort of little known, but he is brilliant and funny.
That being said, I don't think anyone has had a really good impact on the literary community in the last 20 years. I mean, there have been good books, and things that I think were well worth reading, but nothing that's been written in the last 20 years, in my opinion, has changed or really affected anything in any positive way.
I do, however, think that the drivel that's been written has impacted literature negatively. I think that it's pulled people away from the classics and has caused readers to lower their standards and dislike challenges.
2007-06-18 08:40:23 · answer #3 · answered by Cinnibuns 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
never on that wagon.
Stephen King--I would have to agree, even though I personally don't like him. But everyone's heard of him, right? Makes him a big name. And novelists aren't often household names across the country.
Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, & Marion Zimmer Bradley--they opened the field of sci-fi/fantasy to women writers (oh, all right, that's further back than 20 years)
I don't know a 3rd--my favorite authors have a huge impact on me, since I realized I could write, too, but I can't say what kind of impact they had on the reading community overall: Lacky, Pierce, Eddings, Stasheff, Pini, Gabaldon...
2007-06-18 08:40:45 · answer #4 · answered by Lady Lilac 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Well, I like Harry Potter. But I'm really loving a new series called Luthiel's Song right now. The author is really creative. Some traditional stuff but some stuff that really blows you away too.
2007-06-18 08:16:51 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Was never on that wagon. Can't even crack open a fantasy book. Most of the books I read are over 20 years old . . .
2007-06-18 08:14:02 · answer #6 · answered by Beau D. Satva 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋