Long Lost, Forgotten, or Ignored Authors?

[Shaun]

I wrote a blog post on this, but directed towards science fiction and fantasy. So, I thought I'd open the discussion here for all forms of literature.

Who do you think are authors that are ignored and shouldn't be? Why do you think that?
Why do you think that some authors who may be great are ignored or forgotten? Have at it!

[Steak-Ums]

That one Asian guy....can't remember his name. Had one good book, no wait-- had just one book period, and had another that were burned or something, and all that is left now is the one book and some instruction manuals.

[Imelda]

Me.


What?

[Shaun]

They have to have been published silly :P

[jordanisonfire]

The only one I know is the author(s) of Beowulf, but I don't even know he/she/their name(s)... no one does.

[Shaun]

No, generally we only describe Beowulf by its translator. But I think the difference for Beowulf is that we remember the work. I'm shooting more for authors who we know, but aren't really remembered, even though they should be. Like for Lord of the Rings. We all remember Tolkien, but hardly anyone who is a fantasy nut remembers Wagner's Ring Cycle, even though Wagner was the main influence for Tolkien. Opera people remember Wagner, but not fantasy readers. Wagner, by the way, was extremely successful. It's because of him that Opera is still performed today in theaters. If he hadn't done what he did we would only be looking at Opera as a long lost art form that might never see itself being presented to the general public. Yet, readers forget him quite easily.

Stuff like that. Or for science fiction. We remember Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Ray Bradbury, etc., but we rarely remember Alfred Bester, Del Rey, Lafferty, etc. That's what I mean.

[Rafael Domination]

Erm...I would say a list, but since I ignores/forgotten them, I really don't know their names...

[Shaun]

Don't take forgotten so literally. Take it as meaning any author that the general public has forgotten, even though they wrote wonderful works. You might still remember them and think they deserve more attention, but maybe they've been overshadowed by other authors...

[Rafael Domination]

Oh...R.L.Stine...definitely

The guy is actually pretty good at writting horror stories FOR KIDS...strange that I haven't heard of anything form him lately...or is it just because I just didn't try hard enough...

[Shaun]

He was invariably replaced by thicker sets of literature for kids such as Harry Potter, The Golden Compass, et al. Basically, more complex literature replaced his formulaic and simplistic writing that spawned a whole slue of other formulaic writers (Christopher Pike and the people responsible for Animorphs, and other such series). It's actually a good thing in the long run. I enjoyed the Goosebumps stuff tremendously when I was a kid. Simple reading, good little stories, and all in all fun. Then again, I was going to school where all we read were books that put me to sleep, so yeah. I didn't start liking reading until my Junior year of high school when I realize how much I really enjoyed books like 1984 by George Orwell or Watership Down by Adams (forgot his first name)...

[Rafael Domination]

Oh YEAH!!! Animorphs...I forgot all about that too!

When I was young, it was Goosebumps and that Goosebumps where YOU control where you went, and Animorphs...C'mon, they were unique, simple to read and cool to a young kid...for some reason, I still miss those guys...

[Imelda]

Oh GOD. R.L. Stine just ... makes me cringe from the awfulness of the writing and the exact same plot in every book. *Shudder* Even when I was a kid I knew it was dreadful writing and it irritated the heck out of me.

Catherine Webb! She's totally ignored, which is dumb because she was published at 14, with a book that's original, deep, well-written, and has since been followed by a sequel, and two other two-book series that are even better and more original than the first. And she's still, like, 20-21 (younger than me at any rate). Take that Paolini! She's a trillion times better than him, but she hasn't had the opportunity for publicity like he has, so she languishes on the bottom shelf of the YA section. :( It's so sad ...

And she shares a shelf with Alison Croggon and Neil Gaiman in my bedroom, which is just proof that she's brilliant. :p

[Shaun]

Never heard of Catherine Webb...which means she fits right into this :P.

Yevgeny Zamyatin would be another. He's generally ignore because George Orwell sort of took over his spot :S.

[Imelda]

You should read the Extraordinary Adventures of Horatio Lyle (or something). Very cool and steampunky. I think ...

[Shaun]

Steampunk is awesome by the way...true steampunk at least. Steampunk has to have...STEAM!

[Imelda]

It has steam. And also explosions, science, mysterious beings, and humour. :cool:

[Shaun]

Well then I might be very interested in it :). Send it to me!

[Imelda]

Let me see ... no. It's one of my favourite books and I want to keep it. Maybe you can borrow it off me when you're here. I don't really want it leaving the country ...

You can't crease the spine, though. I have a thing about that.

[Eve]

Hmm... maybe Michel Foucault?

[Shaun]

Michael Foucalt?

Imelda, maybe you'll have to buy that book for me for Xmas :P

[Imelda]

No, I know what you're getting for Christmas, and it isn't that. :) Although I'm a bit dubious now ... Hmm.

[Shaun]

Well no matter how I look at it I'm not getting what I want for Christmas :(.

Anyway, everyone crit once a week!