Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
It seems to me as if people in this club have moved away from voting for books on the simple basis of pleasure. It seems every book that gets chosen these days has to have social importance or possess a certain highbrow level of literary merit. Could we be morphing into the Literary Club II? Not that there's anything wrong with highbrow aspirations or the Literary Club; it's just that if the two clubs are going to have identical aims, one is unnecessary.
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Good point, and a distinction that hadn't occurred to me. I nominated Dubliners and I'm about as non-highbrow as one can be. I don't even have highbrow aspirations (or know what that means). So I had to look up literary versus popular fiction on Wikipedia. I'm still not sure how to define any particular book. Having read Dubliners, I sort of get what you are saying. The Satanic Verses was definitely literary. The Count of Monte Cristo and Doomsday Book were not.
If the distinction is important to people and some books reduce their pleasure in participating in the clubs, then it is an important distinction for the purposes of both book clubs. If a book is nominated that doesn't fit with the expectations of the MR club, then that should be pointed out and discussed during the nominating process. If a book is clearly termed 'literary' and not 'popular', I won't vote for it in the future. Everyone should enjoy the chosen book, at least most of the time, or participate in the club that meets their expectations.