some art that I appreciate
- Ursula K. Le Guin, because her science fiction is philosophical, utopian, human(e) and poetic
- A. S. Byatt, whose writing is nuanced, intelligent and luminous
- Robertson Davies' dark glittering writing of depth, wit and perspicacity
- Patricia Duncker's wonderful novel Hallucinating Foucault
- Jeanette Winterson's early work, which is earthy and speaks to my condition
- Michèle Roberts' novels, especially The Wild Girl, In the Red Kitchen and Daughters of the House
- Salman Rushdie - especially Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Midnight's Children
- Iris Murdoch - again, her early work, especially Under the Net and The Bell
- Patrick Leigh-Fermor - the most beautiful travel writing ever
- Lawrence Durrell - especially the Alexandria Quartet, which is beautifully written and introduced me to Cavafy
- Many fine blogs (see Blogs I Read and the spiritual blogroll on dance of the elements), but especially The Expvlsion of the Blatant Beast, Quaker Pagan Reflections and Théâtre Phantasmagorique
- Lots of books
- The poetry of Sylvia Plath, U A Fanthorpe, and Hilary Llewellyn Williams
- The films of Jeunet and Caro, especially Delicatessen
- The art of Pierre et Gilles
- The Pre-Raphaelites, especially Burne-Jones and Evelyn de Morgan
- Marc Chagall and Cecil Collins
- Gustav Klimt
- Hokusai and Hiroshige
- the haiku of Bashō
- the films of Hayao Miyazaki
- the clear and elegant writing of Ronald Hutton
- Music: klezmer, cajun, medieval, renaissance, baroque, Dead Can Dance, Mediaeval Baebes, Dragonsfly, Kate Bush, Sequentia
Given that Byatt, Le Guin, Winterson, Duncker and Murdoch are, if not coterminous, then at least within hailing distance of one another, I'm a little surprised not to see Margaret Atwood on the list. Any reason?
ReplyDeleteThe only Duncker I've read was an essay on borders, a visit to Germany and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (it did all hang together) but I thought it was very good.
As you probably know, AS Byatt went to a Quaker school, The Mount in York. On the night she won the Booker, a portrait of her long-dead headmistress fell off the wall. The two of them had a mutual loathing.
We might actually be the same person. Wierd!!
ReplyDelete@ Silver Eel: I thought the Handmaid's Tale was OK but I think the rest of her stuff is pretentious tosh, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that story about AS Byatt, how marvellous.
@ Bo: I know, it's spooky, isn't it?
It really is. I don't wholly agree with some of these - as I'm sure you wouldn't with an equivalent list from me - but the overlap is remarkable!
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