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#46 | ||
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I shot down all of the following items that you ignorantly claimed were specific to literary fiction. Literary fiction may discard an advancing plot..., specific characters or even spelling and syntax... operating by its own rules. It requires more effort of interpretation from the reader but it can convey thought-structures beyond the means of conventional storytelling. Now, if you have an actual argument to make instead of hurling insults and throwing a tantrum, I'm listening. Quote:
And when you're very, very old it may be hoped that you'll at last be able to realize and embrace this sane and simple fact: that reading is all about finding meaningful truths, and the greatest truths of all lie within those faerie tales you left on the nursery room floor. Until then you've got your Greek, your Latin, your German and your French to learn and innumerable connections to make, and when you've discovered the wisdom of Berkeley and Kierkegaard over against the folly of Hume and Schopenhauer, then we may have something to talk about. |
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#47 |
Can one read too much?
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From reading this exhausting thread, I have reached two conclusions:
1) I am very pleased that more than half my reading is non-fiction. and 2) The difference between "literary" and "genre" fiction is rather subjective. |
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#48 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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#49 |
Cockney Sci-Fi Geek!
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Like Diap, I get a little peeved with some of the inverted snobbery around giving books a 'genre' or a label - I'm a philistine with regards to all my interests.......'I know what I like, and I don't care whether it is intellectually cool or not'
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#50 | ||||
intelligent posterior
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Also, my formal education ended a decade ago, whereas my reading did not. And you might enjoy Hesse's The Glass Bead Game, Narcissus and Goldmund and/or Steppenwolf. |
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#51 |
SF/F book blogger
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Conclusion: Some people think "literary fiction" is a helpful and informative way to describe a book, while some other people think it is an unhelpful and uninformative way to describe a book. I'm in the latter camp, but hey, whatever helps you get your read on. Okay? Chill?
I just prefer specifics. "I'm looking for something a bit challenging with an experimental narrative structure. I want every word worth mulling over with a more pensive tone. Plot optional. I want it set in the future, invented or parallel worlds are fair game." <-- that beats "genre" vs. "literary". |
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#52 | |||||
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The great misfortune of our generation is that there are few, if any, writers who know how to write for men anymore. This is where Twain and Chesterton ruled the literary world. No one could write for men like they could. Again, Patrick O'Brian is not bad in this regard though. And you might enjoy this article in the (gulp) Guardian titled "Is speculative fiction poised to break into the literary canon?" They make such enlightened statements as: "Over the same period, the fashion of literary fiction writers borrowing ideas from SF has continued." And of course, American Gods is mentioned once again. |
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#53 | |
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#54 |
Wizard
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People warned me about that book's slow start, but I found it delightful from the get-go. I even enjoyed the footnotes. Well, most of them.
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#55 | |
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#56 | |
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"Public opinion is a flitting thing, but truth outlasts the sun...." ~ Emily Dickinson |
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#57 | |
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#58 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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"Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it." |
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#59 |
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Well, I certainly acknowledge it. Are you claiming that professional literary critics and theorists have no more expertise than you or me or the bloke down the pub. We have, after all, all read novels, so we are all equally qualified to think analytically about them, is presumably the thinking, (to stretch the meaning of the word), going on with this kind of argument.
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#60 | |
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Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Recent Literary Fiction | SensualPoet | Reading Recommendations | 44 | 09-11-2011 12:02 AM |
Need literary fiction recommendations | Eastlondonboy | Reading Recommendations | 52 | 12-13-2010 11:00 AM |
Upbeat literary fiction? | taosaur | Reading Recommendations | 30 | 11-18-2010 03:52 PM |