A Goodreads user
asked
Mary L. Tabor:
And what do you think of fiction that isn't interested in fostering empathy per se, but aims to offer the reader escape or pure titillation instead? Genre fiction or commercial fiction. Do any of these books appeal to you as a reader? If so, why? And if not, why not?
Mary L. Tabor
I define “genre” fiction as any story that follows predetermined “rules” so that the reader isn’t challenged, a story that totally fulfills the reader’s expectations, meaning, no well-earned and character-driven conflict—what great stories achieve.
Such genre fiction includes the romance novel, the vampire story, horror, fantasy. But that doesn’t mean those categories don’t produce great work. In all these so-called genres, sterling examples of great writing that does entertain and does also challenge and as a result is transformative for the reader are on my bookshelves and in my heart. I love these books and many of them have been made into wildly successful films.
Let’s get specific to explain. Two terrific books I once used in an advanced fiction writing class are Stephen King’s Misery and John Fowles’ The Collector. Both books deal with the subject of an abduction.
Both books were made into successful films. And both books are in my view literary and genre, if you will. The reason Misery is so good is best explained by Stephen King himself. Here’s what he says in his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, a fabulous read that is more memoir than toolbox, a terrific close-to-the bone story. He is talking about his addiction to drugs and alcohol while writing Misery and his decision to get sober:
“I did think, though— as well as I could in my addled state— and what finally decided me was Annie Wilkes, the psycho nurse in Misery. Annie was coke, Annie was booze, and I decided I was tired of being Annie’s pet writer.”
His struggle to get sober underlies the force of this novel.
John Fowles’ The Collector is arguably more lyrical in its telling, but it’s still a horror story.
The romance novel—not the bodice-buster predictable story—but novels with layered conflict and social commentary include Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. John Fowles’ The French Lieutenant's Woman might be termed a gothic or Victorian romance novel. It might also be termed meta-fiction with its choice for the reader of two endings and I think it’s brilliant—also a fabulous flick.
I argue that for fantasy and science fiction the bar is raised even higher to create a continuous dream for the reader and human, layered conflict.
Writers who have succeeded include of course Tolkien and the brilliant Margaret Attwood who is a master of the dystopian story. Some folks label her as writing science fiction, but she is better labeled, simply brilliant—and I read her. I have one of her books open right now, Surfacing recommended to me by a poet who is reading (Re)Making Love, that I am posting serially on Wattpad.com. I certainly hope that the memoir is proving to be entertaining while also written close-to-the-bone.
Ray Bradbury was a master of science fiction: Who can forget Farenheit 451? I must admit though that my favorite of all his books is the tale of his childhood Dandelion Wine.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love was on The New York Times bestseller list for more than 200 weeks. Sure, it’s a romance; sure, it’s a memoir; but, also for sure, it’s complex and layered and Liz bleeds on the page, on every page. I read it in one sitting and I love her.
I read widely and voraciously. The one thing I’m seeking is narrative with more than one story in it, layered, complex and written with the heart bleeding on the page. No matter what you call such writing, it rises over its genre category, to, for lack of better term, literary fiction or memoir.
I close this answer with this thought: Reading everything I can get my hands on has saved my life all my life. What could be better than that?
Such genre fiction includes the romance novel, the vampire story, horror, fantasy. But that doesn’t mean those categories don’t produce great work. In all these so-called genres, sterling examples of great writing that does entertain and does also challenge and as a result is transformative for the reader are on my bookshelves and in my heart. I love these books and many of them have been made into wildly successful films.
Let’s get specific to explain. Two terrific books I once used in an advanced fiction writing class are Stephen King’s Misery and John Fowles’ The Collector. Both books deal with the subject of an abduction.
Both books were made into successful films. And both books are in my view literary and genre, if you will. The reason Misery is so good is best explained by Stephen King himself. Here’s what he says in his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, a fabulous read that is more memoir than toolbox, a terrific close-to-the bone story. He is talking about his addiction to drugs and alcohol while writing Misery and his decision to get sober:
“I did think, though— as well as I could in my addled state— and what finally decided me was Annie Wilkes, the psycho nurse in Misery. Annie was coke, Annie was booze, and I decided I was tired of being Annie’s pet writer.”
His struggle to get sober underlies the force of this novel.
John Fowles’ The Collector is arguably more lyrical in its telling, but it’s still a horror story.
The romance novel—not the bodice-buster predictable story—but novels with layered conflict and social commentary include Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. John Fowles’ The French Lieutenant's Woman might be termed a gothic or Victorian romance novel. It might also be termed meta-fiction with its choice for the reader of two endings and I think it’s brilliant—also a fabulous flick.
I argue that for fantasy and science fiction the bar is raised even higher to create a continuous dream for the reader and human, layered conflict.
Writers who have succeeded include of course Tolkien and the brilliant Margaret Attwood who is a master of the dystopian story. Some folks label her as writing science fiction, but she is better labeled, simply brilliant—and I read her. I have one of her books open right now, Surfacing recommended to me by a poet who is reading (Re)Making Love, that I am posting serially on Wattpad.com. I certainly hope that the memoir is proving to be entertaining while also written close-to-the-bone.
Ray Bradbury was a master of science fiction: Who can forget Farenheit 451? I must admit though that my favorite of all his books is the tale of his childhood Dandelion Wine.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love was on The New York Times bestseller list for more than 200 weeks. Sure, it’s a romance; sure, it’s a memoir; but, also for sure, it’s complex and layered and Liz bleeds on the page, on every page. I read it in one sitting and I love her.
I read widely and voraciously. The one thing I’m seeking is narrative with more than one story in it, layered, complex and written with the heart bleeding on the page. No matter what you call such writing, it rises over its genre category, to, for lack of better term, literary fiction or memoir.
I close this answer with this thought: Reading everything I can get my hands on has saved my life all my life. What could be better than that?
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Aug 30, 2014 09:18AM
Aug 30, 2014 09:21AM