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Ernest Hemingway and Charles Dickens are two that come to mind for me. I've got 'complete' collections of both of published novels. Both have some works that were short stories or printed in periodicals that I don't own, but have read. An author of the erea of Hemingway that I haven't quite ever finished with for some reason or another is Fitzgerald. One more that became a bit of an obsession (along with many, many other Victorian writers) is Somerset Maugham. Had access at University to a very extensive collection of his works and different editions/versions that I scoured.
Several others come to mind and I'll save them for a future post or two or three . . . :)!
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The ones that come to mind where I believe I've read everything are Cormac McCarthy and Roger Zelazny. From my younger days, there's Richard Matheson , Theodore Sturgeon, and Lovecraft.
I'm not really a completest in the sense that I feel I "have" to read all the books by my favorite authors if there are some that are not that good. I've read all of Faulkner except for two books that just weren't doing it for me.
I join Marc in having Octavia Butler on my "to be completed" list.
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Hadn't even heard of Theodore Sturgeon until just recently when he popped up in the Lit Darkness poll.
I don't feel obligated for any of the authors I mentioned. I don't think I'll feel any source of pride or accomplishment--it's more a matter of being drawn to their writing.
Marc wrote: "I've yet to come across a Dickens novel I didn't enjoy. I seem to have mixed feelings about Fitzgerald but I can't really say why. Maugham remains untouched on my TBR list...Hadn't even heard of ..."
Fitzgerald is of a different if not the 'new' school of writers from the Dickensian era. While not as pure as Hemingway, FSF writes in an American/Modern style. The fusion contributes to some readers apathy or lack of interest in his story telling.
The era of English (both American and writers of the Empire) that preceded FSF and Hemingway is almost or is a different language.
That's always been part of my attraction to them. The English of the 19th century (the Empire if you will) was regimented and formalized to a point that due to its teaching and influence many of its great writers and proponents were not native speakers. American English was splintering off from its roots at an increasing rate while the Victorian domination was waning quickly. I am of the opinion that is one reason why we got so many good/great English language writers in the time frame of the mid 19th to mid 20th century.
I haven't read everything by one author. But the few on my list would be Octavia E. Butler , Graham Joyce, ok, 2 that I can think of.
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I've got an unread e-book of Joyce's The Tooth Fairy, but that's the only work of his I know anything about... I think it was either recommended by Stephen King or was on a best horror books list... I can't recall.
Marc wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "I haven't read everything by one author. But the few on my list would be Octavia E. Butler , Graham Joyce, ok, 2 that I can think of."I've got an un..."
I have loved everything I have read so far. I actually have almost all of his published work. He passed away a few years ago.
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Thought it might be a fun thread to share which authors you've read in their entirety and which you'd like to cover in such fashion.
I've got quite a few I'd like to cover but not sure I've read everything by any one author (besides the ones who only have a book or two out). Some on my completist to-read list: Italo Calvino, Robert Coover, Octavia Butler, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Haruki Murakami, Jorge Luis Borges, Lynne Tillman, N.K. Jemisin, Cynthia Ozick, Katherine Dunn.