Famous INTP novelists or fiction writers

[meanlittlechimp]

Was reading another thread on poetry here and it just occurred to me I couldn't think of any INTP writers of fiction.

I know of only one ENTP writer of fiction, Lewis Carroll, and I thought it was overrated. All the fiction writers I've liked I'm pretty sure were NFs.

Can anyone come up with any INTP writers?

[Dunearhp]

Douglas Adams is a good candidate.

[tinribz]

Isaac Asimov
Douglas Hofstadter
Robert Anson Heinlein

[Madrigal]

Perhaps Jorge Luis Borges.

Jack London?

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by tinribz

Isaac Asimov
Douglas Hofstadter
Robert Anson Heinlein

ASimov never came out like an INTP, he seemed to be more in the vein of CS Lewis in his writing style (just from the atheist/agnostic POV). He seemed to have a clear sense of what he was trying to get across and wielded the words to get there, rather than truly exploring issues.

If you read JRR Tolkien's personal letters and read his biographies, you'll see in manner and thinking style, he was very much INTP. (To be honest, it's why parts of his work can be philosophically fascinating, while other parts can be very dry and boring.) You see it especially when discussions between him and Lewis are highlighted -- since the differences stand out and you can contrast/compare him.

Originally Posted by meanlittlechimp

I know of only one ENTP writer of fiction, Lewis Carroll...

Really? I've always seen him classed as an NF of some sort.

Stephen King might be ENTP. Aside from the introversion necessary to make time to write, he's pretty gregarious in real life and seemed to act like an ENTP as a teenager, in terms of how active he was in pursuit of establishing connections to further his career and sell his stuff (before he even became "famous"). His writing style also fits the style of the other ENTP writers I know personally; they have an *amazing* ear for dialog, while still being able to touch upon deeper philosophical themes in their work and also take on "taboo" material from many points of view. (We won't even get into the obsession with useless trivia, that he constantly uses as material for his writing.)

[composer]

Dante.

[nomir_dva]

What about Kafka?

[meanlittlechimp]

I'm no literary snob by any means. Yeah there has to be a decent amount of science fiction writers. Was hoping to find someone who wrote about the human condition. Not necessarily a literary giant like Dosteovski or Twain but someone in the realm of "literature". Maybe NTs are incapable of being the kind of writers that peer deep into the souls of others.

Just a thought, I think I'm wrong here (there has to be a few exceptions). I think NTs can definitely do humor though.

[lbloom]

Originally Posted by nomir_dva

What about Kafka?

Likely.

Coetzee.

How about Joyce?

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by meanlittlechimp

I'm no literary snob by any means. Yeah there has to be a decent amount of science fiction writers. Was hoping to find someone who wrote about the human condition. Not necessarily a literary giant like Dosteovski or Twain but someone in the realm of "literature". Maybe NTs are incapable of being the kind of writers that peer deep into the souls of others. Just a thought, I think I'm wrong here (there has to be a few exceptions). I think NTs can definitely do humor though.

Oh geez. yes. Satire is key for NTs -- they can see the patterns (illogical and otherwise) in people's behavior and rip it to shreds. NFs can do satire too, but their "personal" sense means they handle things a little differently.

Monty Python members are probably all NT types, or close to it.

BTW, now that we are onto humor, Stephen Wright is probably an INTP. Robin Williams is generally classed as ENTP. And so on.

And who says humor doesn't peer into the human condition? The best humor DOES. That's why it's funny.