C is for Characters

Cabot, Meg: Cabot is probably best known for her teen books, such as Princess Diaries. She has also written adult romances. She's a skilled writer, (although some of her books get a little rambly) but not one of my favorites. Unlike books by writers like Lisa Kleypas, Cabot's modern romances tend to be threaded through with political labels: the heroines almost always have liberal agendas while the bad guys (or unreformed heroes) vote Republican. Oh, no!!! It's so childish, it makes my head ache.

Camus: The Stranger. Naturally! I read it many, many years ago and still remember parts.

Card, Orson Scott: As with Garrison Keiller, I was a fan of Card's before he became really well-known. I read Ender's Game when I was a teen and then a host of Card's other books. I think many of his books, including Seventh Son are true classics. And I've enjoyed his non-fiction essays.

I don't read his books anymore, mostly because I'm more interested in other authors but also because Card seems to have bought into his own mystique. Like Lucas, he seems to have pounced on the mantle of guru and run with it. I'm not sure this is good for writers (or directors); their art usually suffers.

Carroll, Lewis: My father read me Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass when I was young. Also, for a church talent show, we performed one of Carroll's poems together; I think it was "Father William."  In the past couple decades, I have probably read more about Alice and Dodgson than Carroll's actual works. Check out "The Jabberwocky"!

Gorey was the perfect
illustrator for these books.

Cather, Willa: My bookclub [in 2013] read My Antonia. I was impressed. I've read Death Comes to the Archbishop several times, and I've always liked how Cather evokes the aura of the Southwest; I hadn't realized how good she was at auras in general. My Antonia effortlessly conveys the feel of the prairies.

Caudwell, Sarah: Sarah Caudwell's mysteries, with their gender-ambiguous (many, many years before the current hype) and incredibly dry narrator, Professor Tamar, are utterly delightful. I don't like the last, Sibyl in the Grave, as well as the earlier novels (the last is rather depressing), but I highly recommend them all!

Charles, KJ: KJ Charles is a male/male romance writer. I consider Charles one of the absolute best in genre. The reason: Charles never sacrifices characters or story for an agenda. So the story about Silas, the radical, and Dominic, the Tory never becomes the story of how the bad rebel or the bad conservative is put in his place/lectured/moralized at. They remain themselves, and the relationship works due to the writer's enormous skill. 

Chase, Loretta: Loretta Chase is a romance writer with a quirky sense of humor. Her books are very clever and funny. She tends towards the action/adventure side of the genre; in fact, other than the erotica, her books are more in line with Heyer's romance books than many other current romance writers'.

Chekhov, Anton: I quite like Chekhov although I haven't read him in a while. He reminds me of Faulkner--really! Not his style but the high energy yet objective voice that runs his narratives.

Cherryh, C.J: C.J. Cherryh is my favorite sci-fi author, no exceptions. She is fantastically talented; she has the rare skill to combine people-oriented stories with elaborately developed and tech-savvy worlds. She accomplishes this feat by making the world matter to the individual. For example, in her Foreigner series (the series I'm working my way through now and the ONLY fiction series I've ever invested in beyond book 4), she explores highly complicated diplomatic, political, international, inter-space problems from the point of view of her main character, Bren, with whom the reader is personally invested. She is truly an extraordinary writer (despite her rather awful website--though it may be kitschy on purpose).

Chesterton, G.K. wrote, mostly, mystery short stories starring Father Brown. The stories are well-written though more atmospheric/philosophical than guess-the-riddle whodunits. I can't say I'm one of those people who puts Chesterton on a pedestal (I reserve that for the next person on the list), but the stories are good, well worth reading.

Christie, Agatha: I can't say enough wonderful things about Agatha Christie, so I won't try. She is one of my labels if you want to read my individual posts about her.

Clancy, Tom: I love the movie The Hunt for Red October, so I read the book. The book is well-written. But it's not my type of thing (see Clarke below).

Clarke, Arthur C: Over a decade ago, I read one of Clarke's books. I remember that it engaged me, but he doesn't write the kind of sci-fi that interests me. I prefer people-sci-fi to things-moving-through-space sci-fi (see C.J. Cherryh above).

Clarke, Susanna: I read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I greatly enjoyed it. I will not be reviewing the series for my current book-to-movie list because although I like the actor, Marc Warren who was cast for The Gentleman, I don't like the way the series presents him. I picture him as far more chaotic in appearance. 

Clemens, Samuel: I will address Samuel Clemens under Mark Twain; it's the authorial name he chose, so that's how I'm going to talk about him.

Conrad, Joseph: Joseph Conrad is one of the few depressing great authors I read in high school that I liked, probably because I see his characters as heroic falling stars rather than depressed angsty whiners. I'll take Lord Jim any day of the week over Ethan Frome.

Coupland, Douglas: I adored Microserfs in my early 20's. (I probably read it about six times.) I doubt I would "get" it now, but it still has a fond place in my heart, being my introduction to the equivalent of the Big, Bang Theory: total, unrepentant, joyous geekdom!

Crane, Stephen: I had to read his serious stuff. I read it. Eh. The humorous "The Bride Came to Yellow Sky," however, is a darn good piece (with a serious undertone).

Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Malcolm

Crichton, Michael: Not a favorite author of mine, but I did enjoy Jurassic Park. The math professor has a lot more to say in the book than in the movie and what he has to say is pretty interesting.

Cussler, Clive: Cussler was the author I attempted for "C"s in the first A-Z Reviews.