tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045486872620706747.post3594277863233300779..comments2022-09-25T08:05:08.039-07:00Comments on The Numinous Book of Review: A Life of Matter and Death: by Brian AldissJ McEvoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04041757652557198819noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045486872620706747.post-25542325736230381442014-09-26T03:06:04.941-07:002014-09-26T03:06:04.941-07:00haha, exactly. :]
Having said that, my local lib...haha, exactly. :]<br /><br />Having said that, my local library recently got rid of its sf/fantasy section and scattered the books throughout the "mainstream" shelves, so now it's a real chore to browse. I keep finding books that say "masterpiece" on them - hundreds of them. I suppose masterpiece must be a sub-genre of literary.J McEvoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04041757652557198819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045486872620706747.post-34151701258210290712014-09-25T19:14:14.381-07:002014-09-25T19:14:14.381-07:00"Excuse me, can you tell me where the mainstr..."Excuse me, can you tell me where the mainstream books are?"<br />"Mainstream?"<br />"You know - fiction that isn't crime, horror, romance, science fiction, historical, fantasy or avant-garde."<br />"Oh, that. It doesn't have a separate section any more. Those books are scattered all through the shop, because the authors all turned out to be writing crime, horror, romance, science fiction, historical, fantasy and avant-garde while nobody was looking."<br />"That's outrageous. Mainstream authors would never write that stuff. They only use the tools."<br />"Exactly. You'll find them on the bottom shelf for each genre, under <i>Diluted."</i>Philiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18076353733931722397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045486872620706747.post-87702961556892466462014-09-25T17:55:52.281-07:002014-09-25T17:55:52.281-07:00I think it's an opinion that's becoming mo...I think it's an opinion that's becoming more widespread. Isn't there a movement to have "literary fiction" - that is, fiction that identifies itself as literature upon publication - treated as simply another genre?<br /><br />I'm reminded of a comment made by one of the recent finalists for an all-female literary prize - she said she didn't like to feature technology in her texts because it dated them very badly. That amused me no end.J McEvoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04041757652557198819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6045486872620706747.post-89168246617767171542014-09-25T16:11:39.674-07:002014-09-25T16:11:39.674-07:00literature, real literature, is not literary ficti...<i>literature, real literature, is not literary fiction, but is rather the best of genre fiction</i> <br /><br />I think Gore Vidal makes this point somewhere, probably while tearing into John Barth. I'm not sure he goes so far as to call genre fiction literature, but he does give it credit for being a bit more intellectually lively than your average 800-page postmodern campus behemoth. Which sort of makes it all worthwhile.Philiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18076353733931722397noreply@blogger.com