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/lit/ - Literature

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1066598 No.1066598 [Reply] [Original]

>http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/19/patterson-meyer-king-business-media-highest-paid-authors.html

Top 5 highest paid authors as of 2010:

1) James Patterson $70 million
2) Stephanie Meyer - $40 million
3) Stephen King - $34 million
4) Danielle Steele - $32 million
5) Ken Follett - $20 million

you mad /lit/?

>> No.1066604

only at the sight of Stephanie myers name, other than that, not really

>> No.1066608

Yeah. Not that Meyer is making money, but at the fact that the general population is a bunch of morons.

>> No.1066623

How the fuck does James Patterson make so much money writing 5th grade literature aimed towards Adults?

>> No.1066670

>>1066623
>James Patterson
>5th grade literature aimed towards Adults
>implying it doesn't apply to everyone on the list

>> No.1066683

Never even heard of the last two

>> No.1066695

Why would I be angry? I like what I like, it's no concern to me that the authors I read aren't raking in millions.

>> No.1066705

>>1066683
My mom has LOTS of Danielle Steele novels. They're just romantic novels for middle-aged women.

>> No.1066719

>>1066683
Ken follet wrote The Pillars of the Earth.
I recommend it if you liked ASoIaF.
Sex, inecest, kings, no magic.

>> No.1067075

Who are James Patterson and Danielle Steele? I'm a ignorant European laughing about american "culture" so I guess they are not successful on the old continent

>> No.1067087

>>1067075
Britfag here, I always find Danielle Steele novels when I visit women's homes

>> No.1067088

>>1067075
grocery store fiction

>> No.1067089

>>1067087

And Maeve Binchy

>> No.1067100

>>1067089
My sister's called Maeve.

>> No.1067200
File: 13 KB, 300x276, stephen2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1067200

>3) Stephen King - $34 million

>> No.1067221

I don't mind that King and Follett are making assloads of cash. The others don't deserve it, imo, but whatever. Don't hate congratulate.

>> No.1067224

>>1067221
This.
Also, How in the bloody hell is James Patterson making more than the twilight chick? I don't read either, but with the Twilight phenomenon, I would think she would easily take first place.

>> No.1067225

>>1066598

I don't care what you say. Along came a spider was a pretty fucking good book, then he just wrote it again again again and yet again calling it something else every other time.

>> No.1067254

Who is James Patterson?

>> No.1067262
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1067262

i'm french and i don't even know half of the list....must be some shitty american writers to be unknown...

also

dean koontz is pretty ugly with his wig...

>> No.1067267

>>1067262
What are some current French writers?

>> No.1067268

James Patterson had his name put on other people's books to sell them, I guess that had to count for quite a sum.

>> No.1067281

>>1067267
the contemporary ones you've got :

guillaume musso
michel houellebecq
marc levy
frederic beigbeder (a bret easton ellis like)
bernard werber
jean teulé

etc etc

>> No.1067284

>>1067267
Marc Lévy, Bernard Werber, Michel Houellbecq

Amélie Nothomb is successful in France even though she's Belgian

>> No.1067288
File: 10 KB, 250x389, Baise-moi.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1067288

>>1067267
Also Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt

>> No.1067286

>>1067281
>>1067284
Never heard of those..what are some good titles for beginners?

>> No.1067297

>>1067284
Marc Levy is shit for middle-aged women, don't bother

Bernard Werber is entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking, you might want to start with his 'Ants' trilogy

Houellebecq, I don't know

Nothomb is batshit crazy and has a cult following, which I don't like. Her books are witty and very short (under 200 pages each), her first book is the best IMO, 'Hygiène de l'assassin'.

Keep in mind that none of them is Shakespeare-grade literature

>> No.1067298

>>1067286

maybe "99 francs" by beigbeider if you like bret easton ellis style

in scifi

"la possibilité d'une ile" by houellebecq

and "les fourmis" by werber (kind of scifi)

it should be a good start, sorry i don't have the names of the books in english.

>> No.1067302

>>1067281
Maurice G. Dantec is good if you like cyberpunk inspired by christian esoteric shit

>> No.1067304

>>1067298
Or you could just, you know, watch the movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCoqq4E4ANE

>> No.1067305

>>1067297
i agree but, is there any contemporary book that you can say they are "shakespeare-grade literature" french or not ?!

>> No.1067308

Wait, are there english translations of their works?

>> No.1067309

>>1067305
I don't know. Contemporary French literature is a circlejerk

>> No.1067312
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1067312

>>1067308
Marc Lévy: No
Bernard Werber: Some of them
Houellebecq: Yes
Dantec: Some of them
Nothomb: A few, I think
Beigbeder: I think 'Windows on the World' (book about 9/11) was translated

>> No.1067313

>>1067308

beigbeder 99 francs :
http://www.amazon.com/Was-9-99-Now-6-99-Novel/dp/0330413368/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1
282580922&sr=8-6

>> No.1067315
File: 14 KB, 201x320, Stephen King with Mustache.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1067315

>> No.1067317

werber "les fourmis" should be this one :

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Ants-Bernard-Werber/dp/0553573527/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qi
d=1282580980&sr=1-1

houellebecq :

http://www.amazon.com/Possibility-Island-Vintage-International/dp/0307275213/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&
ie=UTF8&qid=1282581048&sr=1-2

>> No.1067319

Why should /lit/ be mad at bestselling authors giving the general population what they wants?

>> No.1067322

>>1067319
because the level of literature is getting lower, writers are giving people what they want to make money...

>> No.1067332

>>1067322
So?It's popular entertainment material, what do you expect?

If it does have merit it will stand the test of time and people would read them 50-100 years from now.

>> No.1067334

>>1067332
hope you're right.

>> No.1067335

>>1067317
The other two Ants books aren't translated though. How do I go about translating them, seriously?

>> No.1067342

>>1067335
you don't need to read the whole trilogy to enjoy the first book.

>> No.1067348

They must have really good agents...

>> No.1067359

>>1067348
or a lot of shitty readers...

>> No.1069005

this deserves a page 15 bump

>> No.1069027
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1069027

Just fyi for those interested in Houellebecq, his debut novel titled "Whatever" is a quick and engaging read. It's sort of like "The Stranger" but with a more disassociative narrator (if that's possible) and a story that is more fitting of the digital age. In fact, my copy (the one featured in the pic) makes the comparison on the cover.

If you like "Whatever," I'd suggest you graduate to "The Elementary Particles," which is also well-written. He doesn't deserve this comparison, but Houellebecq reminds me of a high-brow Chuck Palahniuk. He's not quite god-tier, but his books will definitely make you think.

>> No.1069069

>>1067224
simple, she wrote like 5 books for a fairly limited audience, that dude has written every fucking airplane/beach novel of the past decade.

My main surprise is that King is so far down the list, but I guess he's dropped a little since his heyday. He hasn't really come out with much new stuff lately.

>> No.1069084

>>1067332
you know the best thing about history? it tends to whitewash so much shit.

Like all that shit Shakespeare wrote that litfags jerk it over, complete and utter lowest common denominator pandering shit. But hey, give it a few centuries and it's the greatest thing ever written. Or Pride and Prejudice, which was the Danielle Steel of it's day. Now it's a literary classic.

Basically, the momentarily popular ones gets forgotten, so everyone sits around thinking that literature was so much better 'back in the day' when really there was shit from the beginning until the end. I don't even want to know what shit people thought sucked back when Beowulf was getting going. Hell, for all we know Beowulf was the old english version of a Micheal Bay movie and all the smart people were listening to navel-gazing introspective sagas that only 15 people ever heard of.

>> No.1069087

Who are these people? I've heard of stephen king but wtf.