Anyone know of any novels written by British writers? Or books focus on Britain cities. I want to learn more about how British conversations differ from American in written works.

J. K Rowling - Harry Potter Series
Ian Fleming - James Bond series
George Orwell - Animal Farm
Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes series
Ronald Dahl - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
C.S Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia series


These are a few I can think of off the top of my head. I think Sherlock Holmes would be the most interesting and useful as I love them myself and all take place somewhere in England (mostly in London itself). Though this would be taking place in the late 1800's rather than modern days.

Edit: How could I forget J.R.R Tolkien - Lord of the Rings series.

Which genres are you interested in? Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, and Peter F. Hamilton are all British, and all great writers, but they may not appeal to you.

I believe you meant Roald Dahl. But if not, disregard.

Martin Amis
Neil Gaiman
James Herriot
Iain M Banks
China Mieville
Douglas Adams
Ian Rankin
Charles dikeens
HG Wells
Rudyard Kipling
Jane Austen

Search for their books.

Thanks for the list folks.

I actually want more from British writers writing about events occurs in Britian.

Fiction or fact?

Factual British writers on Britain and British history who I rate are David Starkey and Simon Schama. The American Bill Bryson wrote some excellent books about his experiences in England.

Even though it's a bit beyond the scope of the question, I'm glad to see the inclusion of Bill Bryson: the wry observations in "Notes from a Small Island" made it one of the funniest things I'd read in a long while.

I like the urban fantasy novels by Ben Aaronovitch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Aaronovitch "Midnight Riot" and "Moon Over Soho". The protagonist is a policeman in modern-day London who becomes the apprentice of the last official mage in London. I was able to understand most of the British references in the books, though a few will require me to look them up. A third book in the series is due in the Fall.

Nick Hornby is good. Irvine Welsh has to be in there if you are counting Scotland in the mix. The online comic Freakangels is based in England (albeit post-apocalyptic) and written by an Englishman, and it's free!
Will Self's Book Of Dave is great - written by an Englishman largely in phonetic cockney. Interesting to read but it's set in a dystopian/post-apocalyptic future, so might not be what you're looking for.

Edit: I was just thinking, if you're looking for a comparison of British and American conversations, Nick Hornby's High Fidelity may be a good choice. There's an American film version, so although it's not written language, you might be able to do a comparison of a scene from the book where the characters are British, and from the film which has them all as American.

For British history, Jeremy Paxman is a surprisingly astute social historian. Former Monty Python member Terry Jones is OK for medieval stuff, but he does tend to get a bit hysterical at times.

For cultural commentary, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/11/beware-mind-controlled-computers and http://will-self.com/category/wills-blog/ write hilarious and interesting articles.

And on a slight tangent, documentary film-maker and journalist Adam Curtis is excellent, although his speciality is global politics and society, with some examination of Britain's role in these topics. His films 'Century of the Self', 'Pandora's Box', 'The Trap' and 'The Power of Nightmares' are all excellently made and thought-provoking, and quite controversial.

Would Shama's series and book be helpful also? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Schama%27s_A_History_of_Britain

It's quite good as an overview of all the major events that are included in the school curriculum, but it's by no means comprehensive. And as that Wiki article points out, it's very heavily focused on England to the exclusion of Scotland and Wales.

J.R.R Tolkien.. The lord of the rings

Love the list.

Historical or not, I need everything from the point of view of Britians or at least some sort of British vision if I want to set my Dracula fan fiction in London. All the fan sequels I've read are full of Anne Rice and Twilight. I just wished to give Bram Stoker justice with more Britishness in my works.

Perhaps the Sherlock Holmes series would be a good start. After I finished A Feast for Crows.

Samuel Pepys. Real-life individual who wrote a detailed diary. Very nice first-hand account of life in 17th Century London.

Wasn't he the chap who buried cheese in his garden? I think that alone has to recommend him.

Yup!

Had to protect it from the fire that was rauaging London somehow!

Although the writer is American, I recommend the Barbara Hambly novel "Those Who Hunt the Night" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Those_Who_Hunt_The_Night

Set in Edwardian times, it's about a British former agent who's forced into helping London's vampires find who is killing them. (Hambly is a modern author, though.)

Also, I think the novels of spy fiction writers such as John Le Carre would show how the British speak today.

In that case my suggestions are probably a bit too modern, unless you're planning a modern day sequel (if you are, Nick Hornby is a Londoner so he still applies). Frankenstein and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde would be good I reckon.

I assume you're looking for a more modern novel to get an idea of the conversations, so I recommend The Children of Men by P.D. James, or perhaps The Ghost by Robert Harris. Both good reads, and incidentally both have good film adaptions.

Yeah, that's what I meant. I always pronounce it "Ronald" since I never thought of "Roald" as a real name.

I am astonished no one has trolled this with Shakespeare yet, apparently my opinion of CD is undeserved

In addition to British writers I'd suggest watching some British telly, that way you can pick up on the cadence and accent as well. Not that excellent dialogue can't be achieved in written works but at the very least it can't hurt to hear it. I don't know how accessible British television is in Hong Kong even though it's a former colony, but if you can grab something like Midsomer Murders or a Brit Com I'd highly recommend it.

I did at least think about it, and they say it's the thought that counts.

Chaucer, [censored], do you know it?