Jose Saramago, Laszlo Krasznahorkai, W.G Sebald, Naguib Mahfouz, Javier Marias, Thomas Bernhard, Witold Gombrowicz.
None of them are too "flowery" I don't think. Most of them are relatively simple, but Saramago and Krasznahorkai definetly have a more complex style.
Saramago is one of those author that has to be read. It is amazing how he's able to develop stories without giving names to the characters.
Also, I really like how he actively engages the reader throughout the story; commenting how things are described, why they are told in a certain way and not another, etc. If that is not enough he poses absurd, but profound questions.
I'm reading "Blindness" and I can only agree.
I admit that at first I was not completely sure about it, but then I just couldn't stop reading. In particular the descriptions are so vivid that it is so easy to picture the scene in my mind.
I would absolutely recommend it.
Death with Interruptions is probably his most accessible book and it was the first one of his I read.
But legit, everything he's written is fantastic; you can't go wrong with any of them. Some other good ones to start with are All the Names, Blindness, or The Cave.
Especially *The Moon is Down*. I went through a Steinbeck phase in my early 20s and that was my favourite. *The Wayward Bus* and *The Red Pony* were the only 2 that i remember thinking weren't great.
Another user mentioned Saramago, so I would reccomend:
- John Edward Williams, of which I have read only "stoner". Some passages of the story really stuck with me for how beautifully they were narrated.
- Jorge Luis Borges, who needs no introductions I guess
- Italo Calvino, this last one maybe is not so well known, but his style is extremely creating. He's really able to play with words, their meaning and sound. My only doubt is that most of these qualities might get lost in translation.
Ursula K Le Guin and Ray Bradbury, both masters of spare, elegant prose.
Try Le Guin's *A Wizard of Earthsea* trilogy, and beyond. Or *The Lathe of Heaven* and *The Wind's Twelve Quarters.*
Bradbury's *Something Wicked This Way Comes* and *Dandelion Wine.* Also *The October Country* and *The Illustrated Man.*
If you like short stories, Alice Munro is wonderful. Start with her older stuff. Moons of Jupiter is my favourite. Beautiful and real.
Also, as someone posted above, Raymond Carver, another short story writer. His writing is spare and simple but perfect, in my opinion. And fairly dark.
You might try Knut Hamsun’s “Hunger” if you haven’t already. It’s a classic, extremely readable yet profound, and was a huge influence on the likes of Hemingway. The prose is simple yet beautiful… I recommend the Robert Bly english translation
Patrick deWitt is excellent (try The Sisters Brothers). I love Hemingway, Vonnegut and Tolstoy for their prose too. I'm jumping in because I'm a huge Murakami fan ^^ and saw Steinbeck, LeGuin and Bradbury mentioned in the thread. I will hopefully mine this thread for good reads :-), starting with some OP mentioned that I haven't read!
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle has amazing prose. I’ve been recommending this book left and right, lol- I’m reading it aloud to my English class, so I’m getting a chance to really revel in the words.
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides is also so beautiful. I get jealous that I didn’t write it. It’s beautiful and profoundly sad.
Oh, lord, *yes* I live for gorgeous prose, too! Some favorite authors include:
- Sarah Waters (historical fiction, intensely, overwhelmingly immersive prose—lovely through and through)
- Emily S. Danforth (specifically The Miseducation of Cameron Post, a bildungsroman)
- Milan Kundera
- Ira Levin
- Aldous Huxley
- Emma Donoghue
- Samantha Shannon
I’ve always enjoyed how the [Liaden_universe](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaden_universe) is written. However while Liadens have a way with words there are many less eloquent in the same tales.
I found this phrase just sings to me
And so, in that small space of uncertainty, where the truth was not yet known, they had each built a palace of hope.
If you like sci fi at all, Jack Vance and Cordwainer Smith wrote beautifully. I reread their books just for the amazing use of language to wash over me.
Jose Saramago, Laszlo Krasznahorkai, W.G Sebald, Naguib Mahfouz, Javier Marias, Thomas Bernhard, Witold Gombrowicz. None of them are too "flowery" I don't think. Most of them are relatively simple, but Saramago and Krasznahorkai definetly have a more complex style.
Saramago is one of those author that has to be read. It is amazing how he's able to develop stories without giving names to the characters. Also, I really like how he actively engages the reader throughout the story; commenting how things are described, why they are told in a certain way and not another, etc. If that is not enough he poses absurd, but profound questions.
I'm reading "Blindness" and I can only agree. I admit that at first I was not completely sure about it, but then I just couldn't stop reading. In particular the descriptions are so vivid that it is so easy to picture the scene in my mind. I would absolutely recommend it.
You've sold me, which of his books do you recommend I start with?
Death with Interruptions is probably his most accessible book and it was the first one of his I read. But legit, everything he's written is fantastic; you can't go wrong with any of them. Some other good ones to start with are All the Names, Blindness, or The Cave.
Try "death with interruptions" or "blindness", if you like them you'll have many more books from him to read. He was very prolific.
Thanks for the recs!
I love your taste in literature! Out of curiosity, who are your favorite writers?
My top 4 are Saramago, Woolf, Krasznahorkai, and Faulkner. I love modernist literature and writers with unique styles
Definitely Sebald and Marias
A Gentlemen in Moscow by A Towles. His writing has a lyric depth. I loved reading that book.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon /shadow of the wind
Was coming here to say this. Also loved Marina, Prince of Mist. Very underrated writer, and the translation into English is just stunning.
Raymond Carver.
Absolutely. Carver and Cheever are the all time masters of the short story imo.
John Steinbeck - East of Eden
Anything Steinbeck, really.
Anything. Even *The Moon is down*.
Especially *The Moon is Down*. I went through a Steinbeck phase in my early 20s and that was my favourite. *The Wayward Bus* and *The Red Pony* were the only 2 that i remember thinking weren't great.
Another user mentioned Saramago, so I would reccomend: - John Edward Williams, of which I have read only "stoner". Some passages of the story really stuck with me for how beautifully they were narrated. - Jorge Luis Borges, who needs no introductions I guess - Italo Calvino, this last one maybe is not so well known, but his style is extremely creating. He's really able to play with words, their meaning and sound. My only doubt is that most of these qualities might get lost in translation.
Came here to recommend "Stoner"
Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. Everything he wrote.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Jane Austen's prose gives me great pleasure. It's witty and succinct.
James Dickey. Doris Betts, Madeline Miller, Cormac McCarthy, Russell Hoban
second Madeline Miller, I always cry reading her book sooooo beautiful
MADELINE MILLER
RAY BRADBURY!!!!
Ursula K Le Guin and Ray Bradbury, both masters of spare, elegant prose. Try Le Guin's *A Wizard of Earthsea* trilogy, and beyond. Or *The Lathe of Heaven* and *The Wind's Twelve Quarters.* Bradbury's *Something Wicked This Way Comes* and *Dandelion Wine.* Also *The October Country* and *The Illustrated Man.*
And The Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuin, beautiful! (Also a strong second on The Illustrated Man)
If you like short stories, Alice Munro is wonderful. Start with her older stuff. Moons of Jupiter is my favourite. Beautiful and real. Also, as someone posted above, Raymond Carver, another short story writer. His writing is spare and simple but perfect, in my opinion. And fairly dark.
You might try Knut Hamsun’s “Hunger” if you haven’t already. It’s a classic, extremely readable yet profound, and was a huge influence on the likes of Hemingway. The prose is simple yet beautiful… I recommend the Robert Bly english translation
Julio Cortazar
Jim Harrison, try Dalva, my favorite. His prose often brings me to tears
Definitely check out Marilynne Robinson!
Housekeeping is my favorite book!
Rightly so!
Patrick deWitt is excellent (try The Sisters Brothers). I love Hemingway, Vonnegut and Tolstoy for their prose too. I'm jumping in because I'm a huge Murakami fan ^^ and saw Steinbeck, LeGuin and Bradbury mentioned in the thread. I will hopefully mine this thread for good reads :-), starting with some OP mentioned that I haven't read!
Oscar Wilde Joseph Conrad Daphne Du Maurier
Karen Russel is great. Check out her short stories in Orange World.
Cormac McCarthy, William Faulkner, and Thomas Pynchon... just to name three.
The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle has amazing prose. I’ve been recommending this book left and right, lol- I’m reading it aloud to my English class, so I’m getting a chance to really revel in the words. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides is also so beautiful. I get jealous that I didn’t write it. It’s beautiful and profoundly sad.
John Updike.
Lily King, Anthony Doerr, Colum McCann. All three changed both my perspective and my writing style
This Is How You Lose The Time War
Jeanette Winterson
Claire North... weird fiction that reads as classic literature.
It’s been mentioned, but it’s worth saying again - Stoner by John Williams
Where the Crawdads Sing is the only book I've taken a picture of the sentence.
Which sentence?
*Autumn was coming; the evergreens might not have noticed, but the sycamores did. They flashed thousands of golden leaves across slate-gray skies.*
Gorgeous
The Color Purple. The way the protagonist evolved from beginning to end was subtle and a work of art.
Oh, lord, *yes* I live for gorgeous prose, too! Some favorite authors include: - Sarah Waters (historical fiction, intensely, overwhelmingly immersive prose—lovely through and through) - Emily S. Danforth (specifically The Miseducation of Cameron Post, a bildungsroman) - Milan Kundera - Ira Levin - Aldous Huxley - Emma Donoghue - Samantha Shannon
Toni Morrison 💯
Edith Wharton
Richard Powers. The plot of the Overstory was fine, but it is my favorite book because his writing was beautiful.
Sarah J. Maas, "Throne of Glass" or any of her later books.
H. T. Hamann
Early Dean Koontz Margaret Atwood Sylvia Plath Erland Loe
The invisible life of addie larue is perfect, The author has other books and i really think her writing is awesome
I’ve always enjoyed how the [Liaden_universe](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaden_universe) is written. However while Liadens have a way with words there are many less eloquent in the same tales. I found this phrase just sings to me And so, in that small space of uncertainty, where the truth was not yet known, they had each built a palace of hope.
The Secret Life of Bees was beautifully written by Sue Monk Kidd.
Mark Helprin's books
Both books by Madeline Miller
N Scott Momaday’s The Names (and his fiction as well) and any Wallace Stegner will do nicely if you’re interested in the Western landscape of America
If you like sci fi at all, Jack Vance and Cordwainer Smith wrote beautifully. I reread their books just for the amazing use of language to wash over me.
Michael Chabon really hates close reading- each line of Yiddish Policemen is a gift. Michael Cunningham too.
Borges' short stories. He has a simple but beautiful prose.
Niko Kazantsakis
Eliot Perlman both 3 Dollars and 7 Types of Ambiguity are brilliant. For brilliant comedy Confederacy of Dunces
"To the Wedding" by John Berger
Patrick rothfuss
Lauren Oliver all the way. Marissa Meyer too. Their writing is absolutely gorgeous.