Got this excellent meme from Dorothy:
Name 25 writers who have influenced you. These are not necessarily your favorite writers or those you most admire, but writers who have influenced you. Then you tag 25 people.
I’m not going to tag 25 people, but if you feel so inclined, I’d love to see your own list. I thought it would be a breeze to do but it turned out to be more difficult than I expected. Like Dorothy I sort of put them in a chronological to my life order.
- Dr. Seuss
- E.B. White
- Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Madeleine L’Engle
- Harper Lee
- Ernest Hemingway
- John Steinbeck
- Charles Dickens
- Jane Austen
- Frank Herbert
- Robert Heinlein
- Douglas Adams
- Charlotte Bronte
- Virginia Woolf
- Vita Sackville West
- Adrienne Rich
- Margaret Atwood
- Marge Piercy
- Judy Grahn
- Tillie Olsen
- Muriel Rukeyser
- Octavia Butler
- Anna Ahkmatova
- Michel de Montaigne
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Seuss very likely is at the root of my enjoyment of poetry and is probably why so many poets appear on the list. Madeleine L’Engle hooked me on science fiction all because A Swiftly Tilting Planet had a unicorn on the cover. And can you see my feminist writer binge in there too? And I never would have read Emerson if it hadn’t been for Montaigne. But why I picked up Montaigne to begin with I can no longer remember. But I am glad I did. It seems to me sort of a crazy list, but there you have it. Make of it what you will.
What a great meme!
Here’s my 25 writers: http://classicvasilly.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/the-25-writers-who-have-influenced-me/
Heh. Dr. Seuss! I’m not sure I can come up with 25 but I’ll give it a shot.
There are a few there that I don’t know! (which always shocks me, for some weird reason. As if I truly know it all) (yes.)
There are some there I know and love and some that I don’t. I must try this too, but I don’t know if I can think of 25.
I’m so happy to see Douglas Adams there with Virginia Woolf!
What an interesting list – lots of science-y, thinky writers, very cerebral in the best sense, lots of language play as well. I’m very much enjoying reading people’s lists!
Great list – and six listed I’ve never heard of – so that’s fun research for me!
I’m glad you did this, Stefanie! I’m pleased to see there is some overlap between our two lists, and also some authors I’m not familiar with. That’s my definition of the book perfect list, actually — some familiarity and some newness, so I feel we are on common ground and it’s not bewilderingly new, but with some authors to explore as well. Isn’t it a nice exercise in the way it makes you think over your history with books?
I totally forgot Madeleine L’Engle! She should be on my list.
“Damn! I forgot to include Dr. Suess, E. B. White, and Harper Lee.” See? I ought to become a psychic having such a keen ability to predict the future.
A great meme idea – I have taken it over to my blog too!
I like how you include Robert Heinlein and Frank Herbert. Your selection is one that I’m sure Michael Dirda would approve.
Have to try this meme myself.
I’m not sure I could do this, but I love seeing everyone else’s lists and seeing how closely they follow my perception of them! Once again this list is so very much you–I loved Suess, too, unfortunately it never seemed to translate into a love of poetry. Maybe eventually. I also loved Laura Ingalls Wilder and have read several other authors as well. Isn’t it interesting to see how one author leads to another!
What a fantastic list! I’ll definitely agree with Dr. Seuss…and you provide some great ideas!
I’d love to provide a link to your blog on my site if you’re interested. You have on of the best blogs out there. Let me know!
Laura
laurareviews.blogspot.com
I did this one, too. We have some overlap, which I am happy about! Also, you remind me that Dr. Seuss was such a big influence–can’t believe I didn’t think of him
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Vasiilly, enjoyed your answers very much.
Sylvia, I bet you can come up with 25 and I will be interested to see who they are!
Carrie, I know what you mean. I’ve seen writers on others’ lists that I have never heard of and was surprised too. How could I not know?
BooksPlease, I am positive you can find 25. And after you do you will want to add another 25!
Maggie, Douglas Adams and Virginia Woolf get along well on the list, but in life I bet they would have annoyed the heck out of each other!
Litlove, I’ve always considered my reading to be rather eclectic and accidental and you manage to make it sound so very sophisticated. How do you do that?
Verbivore, thanks. Have fun researching!
Dorothy, it is fun to see some overlap and some new writers too. You had a few on your list that I had never of heard of that will be fun to investigate. It was difficult thinking over my reading history and trying to remember. Coming up with 25 was hard and ever since I have been thinking of others that I wish I had thought of but then I would have to drop one of the ones already there which would make a dilemma on how to choose.
Hobgoblin, it is hard to remember them all isn’t it?
Emily, you would make the best psychic ever. I think you should become telekinetic too. You and the ghosts would have great fun.
Karen, I enjoyed your list and you made me realize I forgot Judy Blume! How could I forget Judy Blume?
Dark Orpheus, I loved the Dune books and I thought for a while that Heinlein was a scifi god. No list would be complete without them!
Danielle, I would love to see your list. I think you could do it just fine! It is fun to see how one author leads to another and try to figure out how the ones that don’t seem to go together fit.
Laura, thanks for your nice comment. Feel free to link. You have a nice site
Gentle Reader, it is fun to see how lists have some overlap isn’t it? Your list has made me remember some I forgot about for mine!
What a great and eclectic list! I’m currently reading A Wrinkle in Time–my first L’Engle novel. It’s great, but I wish I’d read it as a child… it feels like a book I could grow very fond of, as opposed to falling in love with.
Great list! I recognize most of the names, but not all of them…I’ll have to follow up on those unknowns.
L’Engle is one of the authors that hooked me on sci-fi as well.
Now to see if I can come up with 25 of my own…
I did the meme too: http://susanflynn.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-salon-25-most-influential.html It was a lot of fun! I’ve noticed that bloggers from the US pick Laura Ingalls Wilder whereas us up north pick Lucy Maud Montgomery, from our childhood fav authors. I’ve read some Anna Akhmatova, and how delightful to see Adrienne Rich there too! And my favourite, Jane. Lovely answers, Stefanie!
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