Who are some literary figures who either 1) had a knack for words or 2) who analyzed other people's words?

August 7, 2007 7:28 PM

Who are some literary figures who either 1) had a knack for words or 2) who analyzed other people's words?
posted by Java_Man to Media & Arts (24 answers total)

Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe were both authors and critics.
posted by headspace at 7:32 PM on August 7, 2007

What do you mean by literary figures? Critics, Writers, Magazine Editors, Characters in fiction?
posted by miniape at 7:45 PM on August 7, 2007

Oscar Wilde could certainly turn a phrase.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:46 PM on August 7, 2007

Molière
posted by fuse theorem at 7:48 PM on August 7, 2007

I don't know if Michael Chabon quite counts as a "literary figure" but he certainly has a knack or passion for unusual words (how many other contemporary authors could work tergiversation into something?).
posted by irregardless at 7:55 PM on August 7, 2007

This is a really confusing question, Java Man. Can you clarify what you're trying to find out? Don't most folks who wind up as "literary figures" by definition have a "knack for words"? And most literary figures I know also spend time writing and thinking about other writers' work.
posted by mediareport at 8:03 PM on August 7, 2007

If by literary figures you mean characters in literature:

Grady Tripp in Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
Todd Andrews in The Floating Opera by John Barth
Sibylla and Ludo in The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt (not at all related to the Tom Cruise movie of the same name)
Virginia Woolf in The Hours by Michael Cunningham
William Devereaux in Straight Man by Richard Russo
Jonah (the narrator) in Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
posted by bluishorange at 8:28 PM on August 7, 2007

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. It is certainly true that all literary figures by definition should have a knack for words, but there are critics, poets, fiction and nonfiction authors (as well as fictional characters) who are more closely associated with words, wordplay and/or analysis of words than others. I am looking for people and characters who are particularly recognized for this trait. As an example, Lord Byron may be a great poet, but when I think of him, the first thing that comes to my mind is adventure and scandal; when I think of Lewis Carroll, the first thing that pops into my head is his love of words.
posted by Java_Man at 8:44 PM on August 7, 2007

Shakespeare invented half of modern english...
posted by blue_beetle at 8:48 PM on August 7, 2007

Chaucer invented the other half... And they both loved a good fart joke.
posted by lubujackson at 9:19 PM on August 7, 2007

Vladimir Nabokov is the first person who comes to mind. (Plus, his synesthesia makes me wonder what thinking about words must have been like for him...)
posted by splendid animal at 9:58 PM on August 7, 2007

I think you're just going to get a grab bag of important authors -- what an author is associated with is incredibly subjective. For instance, you may associate Lewis Carroll with his love of words, but I associate him with opium and inappropriate relationships with children.

But, uh, Gertrude Stein? She was more associated with grammar.

Also, Dorothy Parker.
posted by SoftRain at 10:02 PM on August 7, 2007

Two more obvious, but somewhat more important names in straight-up wordplay:

William Shakespeare: Responsible for a silly number of words we use today, mainly due to his inventiveness. Adjectives became nouns, nouns became verbs, and all stems were up for grabs. Often a single line will have multiple meanings, depending on how you choose to read it.

James Joyce: He didn't even really care if you got all his puns he enjoyed words so much. He's a deconstructionist's dream. Ulysses has plenty of made-up words, but more surrealist puns than anything I've seen. I haven't read much of Finnegan's Wake, but one could argue that it makes wordplay into a genre in itself (try to figure out the title, even!).
posted by themadjuggler at 10:19 PM on August 7, 2007

Oops, "Finnegans Wake" (otherwise it would have been too easy).
posted by themadjuggler at 10:22 PM on August 7, 2007

Nabokov, then, yeah; it's hard to imagine a writer who loved playing with words more than Nabokov. Pale Fire is narrated by a lunatic who fixates hilariously on a poet neighbor's words. Nabokov also wasn't shy about criticizing other writers. Graham Greene wasn't shy about that, either, and was a master craftsman and sharp critic of books, film and everything else. Flaubert is notorious for the amount of time he spent massaging his sentences. There are a lot more, but I'm still kind of vague on what you're looking for so I'll stop there.
posted by mediareport at 10:31 PM on August 7, 2007

Joyce. There's a chapter in Ulysses that recapitulates the stylistic history of English literature -- called Oxen of the Sun, although I don't think Joyce wrote chapter titles himself -- beginning with a parody of Latin diction, then the alliterative sort of old Anglo-Saxon stuff, progressing through imitations of bascially all famous English stylists like Pepys, Sterne, etc.
posted by creasy boy at 2:53 AM on August 8, 2007

Poe.
posted by futility closet at 5:28 AM on August 8, 2007

Frigyes Karinthy is an interesting example. Wordplay was a real part of his style, and as far as analyzing other people's words, one of his best-known works is a collection of parodies, each written in a skillful imitation - or perhaps caricature - of another author's style. His translation of Winnie The Pooh excels in deft wordplay, as does his collection of school stories, Tanár úr, kérem. Here's a translation but it doesn't really do much to show off the "knack with words".
posted by Wolfdog at 6:50 AM on August 8, 2007

Dorothy Sayers and her character Lord Peter Wimsey come to mind, especially the dialogue between Wimsey and Harriet Vane.
posted by bassjump at 7:26 AM on August 8, 2007

Certainly Joyce. Arguably Dorothy Parker.
posted by OmieWise at 7:35 AM on August 8, 2007

Ogden Nash. Alexander Theroux.
posted by OmieWise at 7:35 AM on August 8, 2007

This About.com article on Shakespeare's Influence credits him with inventing over 1700 words, and the book The Story of English has this interesting example of his work:

If you cannot understand my argument, and declare "It's Greek to me," you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you act more in sorrow than in anger, if your wish is father to the thought, if your lost property has vanished into thin air, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you have ever refused to budge an inch or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, if you have been tongue-tied, a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle, if you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play, slept not one wink, stood on ceremony, danced attendance (on your lord and master), laughed yourself into stitches, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have seen better days or lived in a fool's paradise - why, be that as it may, the more fool you, for it is a foregone conclusion that you are (as good luck would have it) quoting Shakespeare; if you think it is early days and clear out bag and baggage, if you think it is high time and that that is the long and short of it, if you believe that the game is up and that truth will out even if it involves your own flesh and blood, if you lie low till the crack of doom because you suspect foul play, if you have your teeth set on edge (at one fell swoop) without rhyme or reason, then - to give the devil his due - if the truth were known (for surely you have a tongue in your head) you are quoting Shakespeare; even if you bid me good riddance and send me packing, if you wish I were dead as a door-nail, if you think I am an eyesore, a laughing stock, the devil incarnate, a stony-hearted villain, bloody-minded or a blinking idiot, then - by Jove! O Lord! Tut, tut! for goodness' sake! what the dickens! but me no buts - it is all one to me, for you are quoting Shakespeare.

posted by kirkaracha at 7:56 AM on August 8, 2007

Oh, yeah, Tibor Fischer, too. The book I linked is probably the wordiest.
posted by Wolfdog at 9:38 AM on August 8, 2007

Anthony Burgess is brilliant for his use of wordplay and his command of language. It's quite evident in Clockwork Orange, but in all other books too. You need to keep a dictionary nearby when you read him. I used to keep a list of new words I learned from his books - hmm, wonder whatever happened to that? I recall "hagiography" was one and "bemerded" was another, which I took to be a coinage meaning "shit-encrusted." I just googled bemerded and came upon another bemerded sighting - the discussion in the link should be right up you alley, all about "signature" words that writers use.

For poetry, I am wowed by the way Dylan Thomas wields words. I guess word play is a poet's domain, but ah, he does it so well.
posted by madamjujujive at 3:10 PM on August 8, 2007