Iconic Authors Who Didn’t Like Each Other’s Writing

Think six degrees of Kevin Bacon… but with authors who didn’t like each other’s work. Visually maps it all out in a splendid infographic.

“For every great author, there’s another great author eager to knock him or her down a few pegs. Although the writers on this map are typically deemed canonical by literary tastemakers, there wasn’t much mutual admiration amongst them.”

Apparently, D.H. Lawrence trashed both Herman Melville and James Joyce, who was also loathed by Virginia Woolf. A lot of people didn’t care for Hemingway (not a big surprise) among them Gore Vidal, Nabokov and Faulkner.

The coolest part: click on the connective arrows to see what each writer didn’t like about the other. There are, as Visually suggests, some way harsh comments. For example, of D.H. Lawrence, Joseph Conrad said, “Filth. Nothing but obscenities.”

OK, truly? I can't see the benefit of having this particular bunch in an infographic. But it looks cool, it draws your eye and, like everything else Visually does, it’s stylish and makes you think for a moment or two. Maybe that’s enough.

See the full and interactive version here.