Plots v Genre

Sad to say, but a lot of books I read today are less than memorable. They are mostly well written but the storylines are not original. Now this isn't a criticism of the authors - at least, it is not intended as one - but more a comment on the impossibility, after four hundred odd years of printed fiction, of coming up with an original plot.
Someone once said there are only 7 original plots in the world.

Monster: The Grendel-Beowulf type of the hero defeating the monster and that plot has been around for centuries.Then there's the rags to riches story, where the poor person makes good. Lots of books on that theme.Then there's the Quest where the hero sets out to find something he desperately wants and overcomes many difficulties but finally achieves it.The Voyage, easily confused with the Quest. This time the hero sets out in a magical land and returns wiser than when set out. Comedy - strangely, lots of romance stories fall into this categoryTragedy - best known example here is MacBeth. Re-birth - akin to tragedy but the hero realises error before it is too lateClick and see a much more detailed explanation.

At first glance it is quite hard to separate plots from genres - but here is a link to Genre.
(When did Blogger start highlighting only one letter of a link? So easy to miss.) so I shall read both and see if I can appreciate the difference.

Picture: Tim monitoring the bees among the heather...