The Star Writers :-). Review on Ten Best Authors / Poets

The Star Writers of the world is what I call them…. They have been trendsetters and they have been the men to reckon with…. They have shown what they could do with their pen.

Chosing 10 greatest authors of all times is certainly a difficult task, if not impossible…. Hence I am following my usual way of categorizing them first before picking up the names.

1. Classics: English

The era till the end of 19th century can be roughly classified as the classics era. It was an era, where the literature flourished in England and many authors redefined the way the language was used.

My favorite of the lot has been the incomparable Charles Dickens. He started his career among various twists and turns as a newspaper journalist. His first step to success came with a satire called Pickwick Papers when he was only 24. He had a unique way of making comedy, socialism, realism and satire exist parallel with serious writing.

My Pick of 3

1. Great Expectations

   
   




2. A Tale of Two Cities

   
   




3. Oliver Twist

   
   

2. Classics: Non English

Non English literature in the medieval times flourished mostly in Europe and parts of Asia. The works in Asia have not been that widely translated into English as compared to French, Latin or even Greek. Victor Hugo, Dante, Guy de Maupassant are some of the names that I can immediately think of.

However, in my opinion, Alexandre Dumas stands out as a leader in the race. Dumas was a pioneer in the concept of “roman feuilleton” or what we call as Serial Novels. Predominantly starting as a play writer, he was one of the richest authors of his time.

My Pick of 3:

1. Count of Montecristo

   
   




2. Three Musketeers

   
   




3. The Man in the Iron Mask

   
   

3. Russian Writers:

Russian literature has been quite unique and had a separate growth path for itself. Even though, often we see the basis of socialism and communism in more recent writings, the works of the great authors have been copied in many languages.

Definitely the greatest name that we think of today is Leo Tolstoy. With strong socialism as the background, he made waves with his path breaking writings. In a Russia dominated by the tyrant Tsars, he dared to write what he thought was right.

My Pick of 3:

1. War and Peace

   
   




2. Anna Kareina

   
   




3. His autobiography trilogy

   
   

4. Indian Writers:

Indian writing in various languages have flourished as rich as any other European language. Probably, Hindi, Bengali and Tamil have been the three languages that were the front runners in literature works.

My favorite in this category is the noted Bengali writer – Sharat Chandra Chattopadhaya the man, whos work is appealing to the modern generation even after 70-80 years of their writing. His works often were based upon a domestic scene with social issues at the background.

My Pick of 3:

1. Devdas

   
   




2. Parineeta

   
   




3. Biraj Bahu

   
   

5. Modern English Fiction:

This is probably the toughest category to chose from. Dominated by American authours, the fiction of past 60-70 years have seen a sudden change from the classics of the earlier century. With high paced drama, twists, conspiracy and science, authors such as Jeffery Archer, Robin Cook, John Grisham, Mario Puzo etc have been immensely popular.

Letting my personal bias to take charge… I will put Sidney Sheldon as the greatest of the lot. Not only he revolutionized the modern age fiction, but also, he wrote with various backgrounds and settings for his various novels.

My Pick of 3:

1. Master of the Game

   
   




2. Rage of Angels

   
   




3. Other Side of Midnight

   
   

6. Comedy:

Humor has existed in the world literature as old as literature itself. From slapstick comedies to serious satire, there have been many versions of comic writing.

But the man who mastered the art of humor and stands as the icon of humor is non other than the incredible PG Woodhouse. He has been as memorable and witty as his character – Jeeves. He has been considered as comparable to only Charles Dickens in character creation.

My Pick of 3:

Sorry… I fail to pick up 3 here… Just pick up any 3 stories with Jeeves and you’ll know what I mean!

7. Comics:

Comics as a parallel writing was popularized in the middle of last century. However, not often do we see a comic strip writer who can strongly knit its characters, story line and the fantasy involved.

One such name has been Herge… the creator of Tintin. What is really amazing about the author is the fact that he created a whole new world of his name with country and city names, complete with culture etc. There was also an amazing continuity in his plots and interlink of characters. His writings were often very scientific also.

My Pick of 3:

1. Destination Moon/ Expolrers of the Moon

   
   




2. Red Rackham’s Treasure

   
   




3. Land of Black Gold

   
   

8. Crime/ Mystery

I have a tie here. I could not decide which author deserves more credit.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyale was the one who made mystery writings popular with Sherlock Holmes….names that are household names even more than a century after the works. Another author who deserves to be put on the same pedestal is the unmistakable Agatha Christie with her characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Both of them have been unique and have appealed a large reader base.

My Pick of 3:

(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

1. Hound of the Baskerville

   
   




2. Sign of Four

   
   




3. The Return of Sherlock Holmes

   
   

(Agatha Christie)

1. Murder of Roger Ackroyd

   
   




2. Murder on Orient Express

   
   




3. Curtain

   
   

9. Poetry:

There may be many poets in many languges. But as far as my favorites go, this category goes uncontested. The man who has become the epitome of Urdu Poetry… the man, who influenced Indian poem so much that even today we can not just stop quoting him everywhere…. The man called Mirza Ghalib.

Had I ranked the list in one to 10, he would have been my No. 1 choice. A rebel by reputation, he has never failed to confront any social system or hierarchy if he believed in it. His writings varied from awfully simple to extreme complications.

My Pick of 3:

Same as PG Woodhouse. just pick up any 3… all are equally good.

10. Versatile:

A category that I have created keeping one man in mind…. Poetry, plays, short stories…. He excelled in every thing. Do I need to name him? Of course, he is the great William Shakespeare. So much was his dominance on English literature that often writers divide the entire history to before and after Shakespeare periods.

My Pick of 3:

1. Hamlet

   
   




2. Othello

   
   




3. Julius Caesar

   
   

Please leave your comments.