General Discussion of Genres

[Tarana]

2. Is there a difference between Contemporary Fiction & Modern Fiction? Contemporary and modern are the same thing. Some people, for their own sorting, will consider contemporary as published within the last 10 years and modern being the 20th century. I don't classify that way, so don't care.

3. Is there a good, meaningful definition of "Classic"? Classic depends on whether it is a librarian or a publisher calling the shots. Publishers use the definition as a marketing tool. For my purposes, I consider a classic to be something that has tested time and continues to be popular. In other words, 1930 or earlier and still published.

4. Is there a good, meaningful definition of "Literary"? Good question. Most of what people call literary today is just another word for chick fiction. It's all about feelings or something. ew.

[BeccaPrice]

My use of tags is idiosyncratic. I use the Calibre tags to set up collections on my Kindle, so the tags can be everything from Romance - historical to Vorkosigan to Liad to Nero Wolfe... it all depends on how I'd probably look for a book, or what mood I need to be in to be interested in a book in that collection (Mystery - cozy).

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by TGS

If you really are serious about thinking about genre, and not just resorting to a pub discussion about how one opinion is just as valid as another, then there is a useful introduction to genre theory here.

Thank you!

This site from OCLC Research: Advanced Library Collection Management Environment has been helpful for me.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Thank you!

This site from OCLC Research: Advanced Library Collection Management Environment has been helpful for me.

Thank you! Happy Karma to you.

[Victoria]

My pet peeve is the all too common practice of lumping mysteries and thrillers together in the same list. I don't get it - they seem to be very different genres to me. Sheer laziness on the part of the list-markers

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by Victoria

My pet peeve is the all too common practice of lumping mysteries and thrillers together in the same list. I don't get it - they seem to be very different genres to me. Sheer laziness on the part of the list-markers

Exactly how I feel about Fantasy & Science Fiction!

[Fat Abe]

Originally Posted by Victoria

My pet peeve is the all too common practice of lumping mysteries and thrillers together in the same list.

There are only two kinds of mysteries. Good ones and bad ones. Same rule may apply to thrillers.

Most junkies of the two genres can distinguish between pure mystery and pure thriller, but many writers seem to combine the two. It is a very lucrative field for authors and publishers. Throw in fantasy and you have the ingredients for a bestseller. Anything that the imagination can create is fair game for reading.

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Victoria

My pet peeve is the all too common practice of lumping mysteries and thrillers together in the same list. I don't get it - they seem to be very different genres to me. Sheer laziness on the part of the list-markers

I guess what's interesting is the differences in pace implied by the titles. Mystery evokes a conundrum that is unravelled in the course of the story whereas thriller implies an adrenalin rush; an edge-of-the-seat thrill ride.

It's not impossible for both to co-exist in a book, but I guess there is some disparity in the terms.