15 Favourite Writers in 15 (part II)

Inspired by: A friend who tagged me with this on Facebook

The rules were: The first 15 authors/writers (poets and cartoonists included) who've influenced you that you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

    My list includes (in no particular order): Part II

1.       Dave Barry

Slapstick. That’s the only word I can think of when talking about Barry’s writing. Although his work may seem to be a little ‘dumbed down’, he’s quiet a versatile artist. A great fan of writer Douglas Adams, he is a humour columnist and has written for several newspapers including The Miami Herald. He even played in a “literary” band, which at various times included writer Stephen King. His books are the kinds you would want to read when you need a quick pick-me-up to restore your sense of humour and face the world again; his imagination is so ridiculous that I have often had to restrain a chuckle or two while doing time on a train or bus!

2.       Nick Hornby

Remember the movies High Fidelity, Fever Pitch and About a Boy? They have all been adaptations of his books. Hornby (I have never figured out whether its pronounced –buy or –bee) was recommended to me by the same long-lost friend mentioned above, particularly High Fidelity, which was my #1 book for many many years and was my first choice when I had to review a non-fiction for a journalism assignment. Unfortunately, I didn’t get graded – the teacher thought I had lifted it from somewhere! 

Anyway, I was pretty disappointed by the books that followed and the latest one – Juliet, Naked – was a complete let-down for me. But I’m okay even if he doesn’t write another book. For me Nick Hornby starts and ends with High Fidelity.

3.       Douglas Adams

You know the feeling when you meet someone really whacky and wonder how they got that way? I got that feeling when I first read Adams. My personal theory is that he was probably abducted by aliens living on Pluto, experimented on and then sent back to earth. He is funny, but not many may understand his humour. And if you’re not into sci-fi, then you can just forget it. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series is one of his most popular books, which has been made into a movie. I even had its audio book – which was not so much fun after a bit. So Long, and Thanks for all the…er… laughs!    

4.       Oscar Wilde

Now, here’s someone who knows how to give one-liners. Unfortunately, in my opinion, he has become more popular for them than his books. He has not only written fiction but also plays, short stories, essays and even poetry. His work is varied but I’ve only read his plays (and loved them) and the darkly sardonic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. For a Victorian writer, he worked with simple but witty language. He was, in his time, widely controversial because of his sexual orientation. But as long as he gave us masterpieces, it doesn’t matter, right? Art for art’s sake and all that!   

5.       James Herriot

       James Herriot was introduced to me by a friend when he loaned me his copy of All Things Bright and Beautiful (which I have never returned!). What makes him special (Herriot, not my friend) is that he writes about his experiences as a vet and the cases he covers. He does so with a twist of that subtle humour that he possesses in abundance. His patients are not just animals to him and he takes as much interest in them as he takes in their owners. You can get so immersed in what he has to say that you forget that you’re actually reading non-fiction. His books have even been adapted for film and television, including BBC.      

contd...