favorite atheist *fiction* authors

[jrosebud]

which authors can take exactly what you're feeling and translate it into novel form?

mine are nick hornby and neil gaiman.

whenever either of these two englishmen releases a new book, i clear my schedule because i know i won't be able to put one of their books down.

a few favorite quotes:

"One could argue that most of the trouble in the world is caused by introspection." - Nick Hornby, A Long Way Down

"A man who wants to die feels angry and full of life and desperate and bored and exhausted, all at the same time; he wants to fight everyone, and he wants to curl up in a ball and hide in a cupboard somewhere. He wants to say sorry to everyone, and he wants everyone to know just how badly they've all let him down." - Nick Hornby, A Long Way Down

"Maybe we all live life at too high a pitch, those of us who absorb emotional things all day, and as mere consequence we can never feel merely content: we have to be unhappy, or ecstatically, head-over-heels happy, and those states are difficult to achieve within a stable, solid relationship." - Nick Hornby, High Fidelity

"All the books we own, both read and unread, are the fullest expression of self we have at our disposal. ... But with each passing year, and with each whimsical purchase, our libraries become more and more able to articulate who we are, whether we read the books or not." - Nick Hornby

“God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of the players, (ie everybody), to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.” - Neil Gaiman

“He had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once.” - Neil Gaiman

“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten.” - Neil Gaiman

[skurry]

meh, IDK about feelings translated or whether he is an atheist, but books? I love books!

I like the classics (missed out when I was a kid and I am now going through the motions)
Chuck Palaniuk is the one who keeps me interested! Survivor is a great book about the business of religion!
"Rant" is a good perception into a different type of story telling (he aknowledges he wasnt the first to tell a story that way though"

[nikkmichalski]

Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams definitely. And as Skurry said, Chuck is good too. My sister likes him, and all I've read is "Guts" from Haunted. Awesome!

[MariaEvri]

I don't know which ones are atheists or not. The only one Im sure of are douglas adams and isaac asimov

[Ninteen45]

Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials was awesome.

Carl Sagan's Contact was a good read too.

[Thom Phelps]

William Browning Spencer is one of my favorite atheist fiction writers. Check out his Resume With Monsters or Zod Wallop.

I think Christopher Moore might be atheist. He's irreverent enough. I'll post the question to him and see.

[MariaEvri]

I wonder what Stephen King believes...

[HandsandDreams]

Ayn Rand takes me places that make my heart sing.

Robert Heinlein is also a fantastic read.

[Thom Phelps]

And we're forgetting Mark Twain!

[Thom Phelps]

I think Christopher Moore might be atheist. He's irreverent enough. I'll post the question to him and see.

Christopher Moore's response to my question:

Thom:

I'm not sure if Buddhist is atheist, but since there's really no "God" in Buddhism, I suppose you could say that.

Best,
Chris

I recommend all of his books, but especially: "Practical Demon Keeping", "Lamb, The Gospel According to Bif, Christ's Childhood Pal", "Bloodsucking Fiends, a Love Story". and "The Stupidest Angel."
I know, I listed about half of his books. But some people make the mistake of starting with one like "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" and find that he's not to their taste, without the giving the others a chance. Plus, since he has quite a few cross-over characters between book, it's a bit of a gift to readers to read them in order.

[navvelline]

Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials was awesome.

You know, I've never actually read anything by Phillip Pullman. I'll get around to checking him out one of these days.

[Tom62]

Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams and Harry Harrison. Writing in The Humanist in 1961 Harry Harrison said:

“The existence of a single world government in the future is so obvious a necessity that it is taken for granted. So is the free exchange of ideas without national boundaries, and the victory of science over disease, poverty, and ignorance. The world has advanced and man’s intellect has done it. Religion and superstition have had nothing to do with it. The dark record of organized religion in separating man from man, and its active part in the causing and continuing of war, is noted and remembered. When revealed religion is mentioned it is usually treated as one of the facets of a young and developing culture, something to be discarded with maturity.

From Harry Harrison's official news blog (http://harryharrison.wordpress.com/2009 ... nd-master/)

Harrison’s most anthologised short story â€" over 40 appearances â€" is ‘The Streets of Ashkelon,’ a bleak tale of the dangers of taking Christianity out to an innocent alien world. While the Hammer and the Cross trilogy features an alternate world where Christianity never became the dominant religion in the West. That the world and the universe would be better off without organised religion of any kind is a theme in many of Harrison’s works.