Small Doubt about Superlative and Comparative

[GuilhermeRM]

Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov stand
side by sideas two of America’s greatest
science fiction writers, but the latter,
having written more than 500 books, is by far the most prolific.
The correction is ''The more prolific'' or just '' Far more prolific''?
Does the word ''Latter'' indicate Ray Bradbuty?

[tom3m]

NEITHER A TEACHER NOR A NATIVE SPEAKER

1) The correction is ''The more prolific'' or just '' Far more prolific''?

'far more prolific' is the correct answer in my opinion

2)Does the word ''Latter'' indicate Ray Bradbuty?

No, I believe it refers to Isaac Asimov. See: latter noun - definition in British English Dictionary & Thesaurus - Cambridge Dictionary Online

[riquecohen]

Asimov is "the more prolific" of the two, but he is "the most prolific" of "America's greatest science fiction writers."

[GuilhermeRM]

Thank you riquecohen; I was confused about using ''the'' before comparative adjectives. Latter = the last, recent one between the two, thank you tom3m.

[charliedeut]

Hi,

Had the writer been speaking of Ray Bradbury, s/he would have said "the former" (as you probably already know; but just in case...)

charliedeut

[charliedeut]

Asimov is "the more prolific" of the two, but he is "the most prolific" of "America's greatest science fiction writers."

I partly disagree with "the most" here. There might be one or more, among the other "greatest science fiction writers" who are/were more prolific than Isaac Asimov. From the excerpt we just know that Asimov is more prolific than Bradbury.

charliedeut

PS: Isaac Asimov - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; Ray Bradbury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, I would say both "were", not "are" (or "is", if individualized). But maybe that's just being too picky .