Contemporary Literature vs. what??????

[Concetta]

OK, what is the difference between "contemporary literature" and hmmmmm ... what shall we call the other group of contemporary work???? Bestsellers? Junk? I don't know...

Are you cooler if you read contemporary literature?

 

[eyez0nme]

What's the difference?

 

[ions]

Quality. And no, not cooler. You just have better taste.

 

[abecedarian]

Think of it terms of chocolate..there's the kind they throw at parades..the stuff from some podunk no name variety, then there's Hersheys, then Doves, then all the lovely stuff we normal folks can't afford..its all chocolate, but some are better than others.

 

[Fantasy Moon]

Think of it terms of chocolate..there's the kind they throw at parades..the stuff from some podunk no name variety, then there's Hersheys, then Doves, then all the lovely stuff we normal folks can't afford..its all chocolate, but some are better than others.

I love that way of looking at literature. Yes, I have a huge sweet tooth.

As long as a book is good, it doesn't matter to me whether it's best-sellers or contemporary literature or two days older than dirt.

 

[Heteronym]

OK, what is the difference between "contemporary literature" and hmmmmm ... what shall we call the other group of contemporary work???? Bestsellers? Junk? I don't know...

Are you cooler if you read contemporary literature?

If you surround yourself with people who only read 'contemporary literature', you will surely 'belong'. To people who don't, you'll look like a literary snob, a pseudo-intellectual, a culture elitist. Three things I am, by the way. I love nothing better than looking supercilliously at people who read Dan Brown and J.K. Rowlings

But the world would have to be drastically altered before it became 'cool' to read literature.

 

[Ell]

A work of "contemporary literature" can become a bestseller. Does becoming a bestseller make it junk?

 

[Phlebas]

A work of "contemporary literature" can become a bestseller. Does becoming a bestseller make it junk?

I wouldn't say so. But its popularity will usually only surge after it's won an award or if the author is particularly well known. Also depends on how you define a bestseller as every book I pick up claims to have achieved this.

I guess my definition of literature is something which will stand the test of time - Will people still be able to pick it up, relate to it and be moved to thinking about it in 100 years time?

I think we need to at least make a stab at defining contemporary literature because there is so much in print nowadays that would not have made it into print in years gone by hence we need to separate literature from "stuff in a book"

 

[SFG75]

Quality. And no, not cooler. You just have better taste.

Very well put. It doesn't even need to have rave reviews either, just the ability to generate a ton of discussion in the media, academia, as well as B&R.