I was reading the comments on the article about the new, all-female Ghostbusters movie over at ROK, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein got mentioned several times. This got me thinking about women and literature, and I realized that Frankenstein is one of the only truly great novels I've read that was written by a woman. The only other example I can think of is Ayn Rand's "We the Living." I know it's not usually included in lists of great literature, but I thought it was amazing, and far more readable than her more famous novels.

In addition to the two novels I mentioned, Emily Dickinson's poetry is very good. Not sure if its truly great, but it's at least very good.

That's all I can think of, but I imagine I'm missing other examples. Can anyone think of other examples of great literature by women?

Dupe

(03-07-2016 12:03 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  Dupe

do you have a link to the thread where this is discussed? a quick search didn't come up with it.

on page 2

/thread-53298.html

a search may miss it, because the thread title is reversed

In 8th grade I was required to read "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "Out of Africa" by a Baroness called Karen von Blixen-Finecke. I don't remember it in perfect detail, though I do recall that it wasn't anything like the popcorn movie made in the 80's which was supposedly based upon the book. And then of course there is "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

one on a very short list.

(03-07-2016 11:10 PM)Rush87 Wrote:  

is that even a real book?

Interesting post. I would have chosen Ayn Rand's more famous works like "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged".
I'd put Emily Bronte and Jane Austen up there among famous English writers. Other than Rand, the only American that springs to mind on reputation is Toni Morrison. I absolutely loath her work though.

On further reflection, it's ironic that female science fiction writers have enjoyed success in an area so heavily dominated by men among both authors and readers. I'm thinking of Ursula Leguin and Madeline L'Engle specifically, but you could probably throw in JK Rowling as well. Beyond that and you start to blur the line between critical success and commercial success.

^^^^^^

I can't for the life of me why people believe Ayn Rand is a great writer. You may like her ideology but her writing is still shit, as Whittaker Chambers' take-down of Atlas Shrugged made clear.

I agree with your Assessment of Ursula LeGuin. The Earthsea Quartet rivals Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as one of the all-time greatest, serious works of Fantasy.

There are two other female authors who I can recommend.

Sigrid Undset was a Norwegian author and the 1928 Nobel Laureate which she won for her two great sagas set in Medieval Norway, Kristin Lavransdatter, and The Master of Hestviken.

I'm also a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Don't dismiss it as merely a children's book, it's much more than that as lends itself to being read on different levels. On one level it very much appeals to children due the Anne's trials and tribulations, but just as important to the story is the interior growth of Marilla, the woman who adopts her. And it's tremendously funny. No less a writer than Mark Twain praised it very highly. A working knowledge of it may get you laid in Japan as well where it is tremendously popular.

Read The Giver by Lois Lowry. It's an excellent reflection of a dystopia. Ignore the movie, as it was a hatchet job.

Wuthering heights by Emily Brontë

I liked S.E.Hinton's books when I was young.

Let's be honest, this isn't going to be a big thread, because face it, there aren't many great female writers.

Frankenstein. Very much a classic that has withstood the test of time.

Shortest thread in the history of RVF.

Everything by Jean Rhys, an unfortunate girl who left Hispaniola for UK, After leaving Mr MacKenzie, Good Morning, Midnight very red-pill but with the typical female attention to details of life, creating something close to photographs of soul, very original all in all, I have never found anything similar to it....

Marguerite Yourcenar, Memoirs of Hadrian Amazing portrait of the man's internal life by a woman; still maybe too much about the subject of love (read: Antinous). Also unrealistic as far as it goes; a personal experience of love was not really thought to be worthy of writing it down in antiquity.

It is good on their part.

(03-09-2016 12:18 PM)da_zeb Wrote:  ^^^^^^

I can't for the life of me why people believe Ayn Rand is a great writer. You may like her ideology but her writing is still shit, as Whittaker Chambers' take-down of Atlas Shrugged made clear.

I agree with your Assessment of Ursula LeGuin. The Earthsea Quartet rivals Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as one of the all-time greatest, serious works of Fantasy.

There are two other female authors who I can recommend.

Sigrid Undset was a Norwegian author and the 1928 Nobel Laureate which she won for her two great sagas set in Medieval Norway, Kristin Lavransdatter, and The Master of Hestviken.

I'm also a huge fan of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Don't dismiss it as merely a children's book, it's much more than that as lends itself to being read on different levels. On one level it very much appeals to children due the Anne's trials and tribulations, but just as important to the story is the interior growth of Marilla, the woman who adopts her. And it's tremendously funny. No less a writer than Mark Twain praised it very highly. A working knowledge of it may get you laid in Japan as well where it is tremendously popular.

Have you ever actually read Ayn Rand for yourself? So you say it is shit, so what.

The Fountainhead is truly the greatest novel I have ever read.

Your post distinctly reminds me of...

Harry Potter by Joanne Rowling!

(09-07-2016 12:58 AM)Off The Reservation Wrote:  Have you ever actually read Ayn Rand for yourself? So you say it is shit, so what.

Plenty of people-- and not just leftist half-wits, actually intelligent people-- who have read Rand don't like her books. That's because she was a shitty writer and a complete joke as a "philosopher." But so what, right?

Quote:The Fountainhead is truly the greatest novel I have ever read.

Then you haven't read a lot. Straight up, there's better. There's way better. The Fountainhead was a good novel. Not great, good. The follow up, Atlas Shrugged, was an utter piece of crap. The Fountainhead was a decent piece of writing and she should have followed up by concentrating on writing fiction and producing a few more shorter novels of similar theme and tone instead of pretending to be a philosopher. But she did not; her writing got worse as her female ego got bigger. After the Fountainhead she spent her time dreaming up 3rd rate philosophy and pretentiously taking 14 years to construct then shit out a "magnum opus" best used as kindling, a doorstop, or emergency toilet paper. Her writing overall was mediocre and just does not compare to top calibre novelists. Especially compared to novelists in her prime, the early-mid 20th century. I'm not even going to get into how utterly stupid "Objectivism" is or how Rand's personal life-- and it by necessity therefore effecting her writing-- was a textbook redpill case of the female hamster in action.

But so what, right?

Quote:Your post distinctly reminds me of...

Oh, so you didn't mean that so what, after all. Listen man, if you disagree with what someone has said, refute them with facts. Or at least disagree and state your reasons but keep it polite. Don't go emoting and lashing out like a female or a little kid because you're all butthurt upset that-- oh no!-- someone disagrees with your favorite thing.

Am I talking sense or do you think am I also just some upper-class art fag making things up to sound smart?

Ayn Rand is definitely worth reading, at least Atlas Shrugged. Not so much for its literary qualities, because imo it is several hundred pages too long, but because it really is an excellent description of the parasitic class of society. There's no doubt her book is prophetic and really nails the psychology of the parasites that today are SJWs or limousine liberals.

(09-07-2016 06:51 AM)Germanicus Wrote:  

(09-07-2016 12:58 AM)Off The Reservation Wrote:  Have you ever actually read Ayn Rand for yourself? So you say it is shit, so what.

Plenty of people-- and not just leftist half-wits, actually intelligent people-- who have read Rand don't like her books. That's because she was a shitty writer and a complete joke as a "philosopher." But so what, right?

Quote:The Fountainhead is truly the greatest novel I have ever read.

Then you haven't read a lot. Straight up, there's better. There's way better. The Fountainhead was a good novel. Not great, good. The follow up, Atlas Shrugged, was an utter piece of crap. The Fountainhead was a decent piece of writing and she should have followed up by concentrating on writing fiction and producing a few more shorter novels of similar theme and tone instead of pretending to be a philosopher. But she did not; her writing got worse as her female ego got bigger. After the Fountainhead she spent her time dreaming up 3rd rate philosophy and pretentiously taking 14 years to construct then shit out a "magnum opus" best used as kindling, a doorstop, or emergency toilet paper. Her writing overall was mediocre and just does not compare to top calibre novelists. Especially compared to novelists in her prime, the early-mid 20th century. I'm not even going to get into how utterly stupid "Objectivism" is or how Rand's personal life-- and it by necessity therefore effecting her writing-- was a textbook redpill case of the female hamster in action.

But so what, right?

Quote:Your post distinctly reminds me of...

Oh, so you didn't mean that so what, after all. Listen man, if you disagree with what someone has said, refute them with facts. Or at least disagree and state your reasons but keep it polite. Don't go emoting and lashing out like a female or a little kid because you're all butthurt upset that-- oh no!-- someone disagrees with your favorite thing.

Am I talking sense or do you think am I also just some upper-class art fag making things up to sound smart?

I didn't disagree with what da_zeb said I disregarded what they said as having not read the book, and you obviously got the GWH reference. For starting off strong going on about "facts" you do seem to use a lot of name calling on me: not well read, female, little kid, butthurt, impolite, plus you called Ayn Rand a few more names - is this your "refutation?" Have you read any of her books? I am actually curious, yes or no not "I don't need to."

And since you asked, yes you sound like an art fag here even though you don't in your other posts. Sorry for "triggering" you with the bar scene. You can go to your safe space now.

I really enjoyed Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

For one, it was a great look into the Civil War mentality. Granted it was a work of fiction, but Mitchell struck me as a person who grew up listening to the stories of these Southern old timers. And she captured their voices very nicely.

Secondly, Scarlet O’Hara has to be one of the biggest snakes in the history of American literature. And I think that a woman—if she dares to be honest—can capture the machinations of a dubious female better than anyone (much like Esthar Villar in The Manipulated Man). Mitchell did that well. There are some great red pill moments in that book, like when Scarlett pulls the wool over poor Frank Kennedy's eyes.

I would second Jean Rhys. Good Morning, Midnight is fantastic. I'd also add The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien, redpill and cynical while incredibly well-written.