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/lit/ - Literature

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15974189 No.15974189 [Reply] [Original]

I have a problem. I can't seem to find books I want to read that are modern. See, I like a certain romantic and high style, but also one that is laced with optimism. I mainly read fantastical fiction in the vein of Dunsany and Macdonald, as well as people like Mirrlees. This is my main interest, but my reading is much more varied than that: everything from Dostoevsky to Camus to Sabato to Maupassant to Jackson. Although I'd say I like a lot of stories and styles, I'm really not interested in modern fiction. In fact, this year I've been getting more and more into older works of fantasy and making it a point to go back to more romantic or archaic styles. Something feels wrong about that though, like I'm betraying my own time and hiding from what life is actually like. I looked just now and pretty much all of my book choices from last year and this year are from the every early 1900s or the mid-1800s.

This is getting muddled already, so I'll just say that I'm more a fan of strange but ethereal and beautiful fantasy writing, e.g. The King of Elfland's Daughter. You just don't get that today. Even when I go darker, like Clark Ashton Smith, he still had a very moving and painterly style. I really couldn't give a shit about Thomas Ligotti's edgy modern style with his cigares and whores. It's just not for me. I'm more an ally of Tolkien and Eddison. As I said, I have read darker works, but all of these are still from the 19th century or early 20th and they have a certain melancholy quality to them.

Can anyone suggest a book that is like a modern day Dunsany? I want to read books by people from my own time, but to be honest I don't think I've ever read anything beyond 1960.

>> No.15974208

>>15974189
I feel like I didn't explain this correctly at all and mostly mentioned authors. It seems to me that most modern writers either talk in common speech ("yeah, okay, dude") or are too edgy, e.g. Ligotti, Vandermeer. I actually can't think of any other than those two that write strange fantasy type stories today. I want something that is more like a respectful author who knows the old sources and has positive outlook.

>> No.15974246

And needless to say, I don't go anywhere near modern fantasy tripe.

>> No.15974606

>>15974189
Yeah, I think most fantasy is either edgy, utterly unfantastical tropework or for children. I'd suggest going for historically unfaithful varieties of historical fiction. The Name of the Rose, Perfume, The Erl King.

>> No.15974939

>>15974606
It's a shame, really. Fantasy is what I like best, but I'm insanely restricted. I've looked into more modern fantasy and it genuinely is all just edgy Martin-esque stuff about mercenaries or grim dark nonsense. Sure, stories can be dark, but I like a sense of optimism, as I said, and there should also be an air of the magical and ethereal. I couldn't read anything like Black Company or Game of Thrones or that one about the edgy teen who studies music at a university. I like cerebral, poetic fantasy, but it doesn't exist outside of a few old names.

I've been meaning to check out The Name of the Rose.

>> No.15974976

I mean, don't get me wrong, I do like dark stories. I don't want to sound like a naieve, sheltered little prick when I talk about fantasy and romanticism. As said, I have read people like Ashton Smith. It's just that I can't think of a single person like that nowadays who might blend darker themes with poetical language.

Most modern books are shite.

>> No.15975078

Hold on. I may have just found what I'm looking for.

Mythago Wood is a fantasy novel by British writer Robert Holdstock, published in the United Kingdom in 1984. It won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985. It served as the first in a series of novels known as the Mythago Wood or Ryhope Wood cycle. It belongs to a type of fantasy literature known as mythic fiction. It has received critical acclaim for the quality of its prose, its forest setting, and its exploration of philosophical, spiritual and psychological themes.

>> No.15975660

>>15975078
That does look readable, maybe like The Weirdstone of Brisingamen? Also:

>edgy teen who studies music at a university

sounds good, although I have no idea what you're talking about.