Authors Hating Authors

[Tony Richards]

Apparently, J.R.R. Tolkein did not think an awful lot of C.S. Lewis' Narnia series. And they were close friends. Imagine how awkward that must have been.

[murg]

Originally Posted by wawasteele

"Everytime" he reads 'Pride and Predjuice'? Why would he keep reading that book if he really hated it?

Remember, this was 1898. There were only about 283 books in print at that time.

And getting from point A to point B took a long time, so there was plenty of time for reading.

[Nothingness]

And does the bicker war between Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau who both hated each other count?

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Tony Richards

Apparently, J.R.R. Tolkein did not think an awful lot of C.S. Lewis' Narnia series. And they were close friends. Imagine how awkward that must have been.

I remember reading about that. Apparently J.R.R. Tolkien had been writing the LOTR books for some time and his friend C.S. Lewis started writing his Narnia books at some point after that. So Tolkien may have felt that Lewis was invading his turf a bit. Not to mention from what I remember he felt that the Narnia books contents weren't as serious as LOTR. "The love life of a fawn" etc.

[Angst]

Authors hating authors is not limited to classic authors. Just look at what current authors are saying about Stephenie Meyer. If history repeats itself, she may be considered classic in 100 years.

[Geralt]

Stephen King:

“Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people… The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”

Not really hate though.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by crich70

I remember reading about that. Apparently J.R.R. Tolkien had been writing the LOTR books for some time and his friend C.S. Lewis started writing his Narnia books at some point after that. So Tolkien may have felt that Lewis was invading his turf a bit. Not to mention from what I remember he felt that the Narnia books contents weren't as serious as LOTR. "The love life of a fawn" etc.

But, as you say, Tolkien and Lewis were good friends. Disliking the work of one of your friends is not at all the same thing as "hating" the author of it.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I read Pride and Prejudice and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I can't say I enjoyed either of them much.

[Xanthe]

That was an amusing article.

I remember when Mailer and Vidal appeared on various TV talk shows; they always managed to get in some dig about the other, no matter what topic was being discussed.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by Geralt

Stephen King:

“Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people… The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”

Not really hate though.

I'd have expected Stephen King (whose writing I adore) to refrain from making such scathing public criticisms of a fellow writer, given the well-known fact that substituting "Tabitha King" for "Stephenie Meyer" in his statement (above) aptly describes multiple critics' views of King's wife.

[mgbino]

Anyone else here a sci-fi or fantasy fan? There is basically open warfare right now between Liberal and conservative authors...


For example, Vox Day has lovingly nicknamed John Scalzi McRapey and Jim C. Hines McCreepy, and continues to lovingly refer to N.K. Jemisin as an ignorant savage. Scalzi has taken to calling Vox "That Ignorant, Racist Dipshit." That's true author on author hate.

The current Hugo situation is one of the most insane examples of author on author hate I've ever seen.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Froide

I'd have expected Stephen King (whose writing I adore) to refrain from making such scathing public criticisms of a fellow writer, given the well-known fact that substituting "Tabitha King" for "Stephenie Meyer" in his statement (above) aptly describes multiple critics' views of King's wife.

Perhaps it is a sneaky dig at his wife. Still I agree he should refrain as it is undignified and more demeaning to himself than to those he is criticising.

And while I have never read Stephanie Meyer I know a lot of people who love her books and none of them seem to be exceptionally dumb. (Well maybe one)

Helen

[Froide]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Perhaps it is a sneaky dig at his wife. Still I agree he should refrain as it is undignified and more demeaning to himself than to those he is criticising.

Sorry my comment comes across that way.

Full disclosure:

I read one of TK's books, years ago. I grabbed it because TK was SK's wife, I'd read all the novels by Stephen King/Richard Bachman and my other fave authors on the shelves at the time, and I figured TK's book might be an interesting read on the plane. I was disappointed.

Nonetheless, even had I critiqued TK's book in the various forums where I do that kind of thing, I would never have made such a scathing statement about TK as a writer (or anyone else) as Stephen King made about Stephenie Meyer.

I imagine TK's writing might have improved in the decades since I read one of her publications, but she still gets mixed reviews. (For that matter, so do J.K. Rowling and for some books, Stephen King!) I'm unsure to what degree TK suffers from comparisons to her husband, but whatever the reason for the unfavorable reivews, I'm sure neither TK or SK appreciates reviews which are unnecessarily unkind or snarky. Consequently - and because his clout might confer on him something like an "Oprah effect" (of which I'm sure he's well aware) - I would have expected SK to take a higher road than he did with SM, when critiquing another author.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by Froide

I'd have expected Stephen King (whose writing I adore) to refrain from making such scathing public criticisms of a fellow writer

I think you're mistaken. He criticized her writing, not her as a person.
And if anyone is qualified to criticized writing it's Stephen King. With all the books he wrote, awards and nominations he got in Fantasy. He wrote about vampires for 40 years, and she wrote few books. Of course he's got shit to say about that.

Even if you don't agree with that, Stephen King has an opinion about that particular piece of writing and he choose his right of free speech to exercised it.

Hell, I'm not an American, but I know how this works.

[Geralt]

Criticism of his wife is totally irrelevant in this discussion. For all you know King is her biggest critic.
King expressed his opinion about Mayer. What is wrong with that?
You may agree with him or not, but to say he is undignified in having an opinion??? Give me a break.