Quote:
Originally Posted by DrNefario
Genres are really just a coarse version of "you might also like..."
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Pretty much.
I like them because they help me what I'm going to read next. And if you ever see me relentlessly setting the tags in Calibre to note down all the genres/sub-genres to which I believe a book might belong you'll know how much I like them.
It's incredibly anal, but I like the idea of saying to myself: "I feel like reading a cyberpunk book next. What cyberpunk books do I have?"
Back to Nyssa, I always thought contemporary meant that the setting of the novel was contemporary to the time it was written. And I thought that modern fiction just meant fiction that has been written recently.
For literary, I feel like the writer is focusing on creating a work of art rather than just a story. That doesn't mean it can't have a decent plot, it's just that there is something more than the plot being showcased. It could be the style of the writing itself, or it could be that themes outside of the storyline are being explored.
Classics are about persistence, relevance and, to a large extent, popularity with the passing of time. How much time is debatable, but I've heard measures stating at least two generations. And I believe the classification assumes that this popularity will continue.
To add flavour to that, a Modern Classic I consider to be a book that has been tagged destined to become a classic ahead of time - a prediction if you like.
I'm not claiming authority for any of these definitions, these are just the thoughts I use to navigate the literary jungle.
