I think this would make for a long list. Some are still famous as ‘names’ (Walter Pater, George Borrow, Charles Reade, Charles Kingsley and, perhaps most obviously, George Meredith) but their works are read by no-one apart from research academics and they are mostly out of print, though available freely online.
In the case of Meredith, his prose style has dated even more badly than most Victorian novelists’ and is somewhat off-putting to the modern reader. He has his advocates, but they are very few.
D.H.Lawrence is still a famous name, but his critical reputation seems to have taken a beating in the last thirty or so years. He is loathed by feminists for his perceived ‘phallocentrism’ and generally tagged (incorrectly) as a right-winger (owing to his avowed contempt for democracy and certain statements that he made during WW1).
Saul Bellow, whose readership was never all that strong outside North America and Canada, has likewise fallen into neglect because of his late in life embrace of conservative attitudes/politics. Personally, I think it’s for the more obvious reason that people have rumbled him and that his books are nowhere near as good as they were considered at one time.
Then there are the partially-neglected: three of John Fowles’ works are still widely read and popular (we all know which ones) but no-one has any time for the rest (on a personal note, I deeply resent the week I wasted reading Daniel Martin).
I’m sure we can think of a few others?
In the case of Meredith, his prose style has dated even more badly than most Victorian novelists’ and is somewhat off-putting to the modern reader. He has his advocates, but they are very few.
D.H.Lawrence is still a famous name, but his critical reputation seems to have taken a beating in the last thirty or so years. He is loathed by feminists for his perceived ‘phallocentrism’ and generally tagged (incorrectly) as a right-winger (owing to his avowed contempt for democracy and certain statements that he made during WW1).
Saul Bellow, whose readership was never all that strong outside North America and Canada, has likewise fallen into neglect because of his late in life embrace of conservative attitudes/politics. Personally, I think it’s for the more obvious reason that people have rumbled him and that his books are nowhere near as good as they were considered at one time.
Then there are the partially-neglected: three of John Fowles’ works are still widely read and popular (we all know which ones) but no-one has any time for the rest (on a personal note, I deeply resent the week I wasted reading Daniel Martin).
I’m sure we can think of a few others?
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