Announcing the November tag

[Critterbee❇]

November Tag - Literary Fiction
The Stranger by Albert Camus, 4 Stars

This seems to be an example of the preposterous nature of life, when humans attempt to make sense of it.

Mersault is an indifferent passenger of his own life, not caring about much of anything, or rather only being annoyed by things. He certainly is not likable, and he certainly has acted unacceptably per civilized human opinion. But that is the problem, what other humans determine as unacceptable, or how they weigh what sins are better or worse than others.

I think that Mersault's opinions that life is basically meaningless are cyclical and self-feeding. Rather like the spirit that bored, comfortable, uninspired men have because life is not challenging enough for them.

[NancyJ]

Meli wrote: "This is a tag I find endlessly confusing... Gone Girl and Girl on a Train are literary fiction?"

I agree with you Meli. I would shelve them as thrillers or suspense. I guess everyone has different interpretations of "literary." I tend to think of it as similar to classics or modern classics, but I'll review other definitions.

[NancyJ]

Ann wrote: "A Thousand Splendid Suns has been on my bookshelf forever. Maybe Life After Life too, if I feel like I'm on a roll!"

A Thousand Splendid Suns is one of my all time favorites. I have Life after Life, but I haven't read it yet.

[NancyJ]

Thanks everyone for the article, links and suggestions. I think most of my reading lately has been literary fiction, though I don't make good use of the shelf labels. If anyone is looking for more ideas, many of the books on the Great American Read list would qualify (though there are many genre books on the list too).

My favorite surprise this year was Their Eyes Were Watching God. It gave me so much pleasure, I will want to read it over and over again. There is also a great story about how the book itself was rediscovered (by Alice Walker) and republished. I mistakenly thought it would be stuffy or religious, but it was very refreshing.

I reread To Kill a Mockingbird this month and I recommend it to anyone. I reread Pride and Prejudice last month. It started a genre, but it's clearly literary fiction. Frankenstein (written in 1818) was surprisingly literary, and quite different from the movie.

I'm currently reading War and Peace, and Fellowship of the Rings. I was very resistant to reading Lord of the Rings, but now I see why it is so beloved. It is in the fantasy genre, but it's highly literary and original (not formulaic). I am also reading Circe which is very good.

I read Flowers for Algernon recently with a classics group, and I would consider it literary even though it has a sci-fi premise.