Do you read 'literature'?

[Beibei]

I was having a coffee with two friends from my English class the other day and I was going on about my new favourite genre--romance. One friend was really surprised and said she expected me to read books that thick with lots of difficult to understand words. Thing is, I gave up on reading 'literature' and non-trashy novels about 2 years ago (when I was 15). Before that age, I used to make an effort to read lots of Austen, Bronte, some Dickens etc. and I attempted to read the 'classics' within my then favourite genre--fantasy (i.e. Lord of the Rings, Earthsea quartet etc.). To be honest, I really dislike Tolkien. I always tell people I'm a fantasy reader of the non-Tolkien kind and they look at me weirdly as if fantasy=Tolkien.

Well, gradually, I grew away from the whole fantasy scene because I found I didn't like most of the books within the genre--too much that's like Tolkien (bland, boring characters that are given personalities rather than actually have them) and not enough like Terry Goodkind. I picked up a romance novel at a £1 book sale one day and I got hooked from that day onwards. I've tried to go back to my cultured-reader roots but I simply cannot push myself to read books that require that much energy which I feel miserable whilst reading (literature hardly ever has nice, happy stories. they're always miserable, and therefore make me miserable). I'd just much rather read something happy with attractive male characters. I'm a total sucker.

Who actually likes and would prefer to read 'literature' rather than popular fiction?

 

[Shade]

Heheh, well Beibei, we've recently had a long and occasionally fruitful discussion about this topic which you can see if you click here. You'll see from this that I am entirely of the type that would rather read 'literature' (though I wouldn't really use that word) than popular fiction. However, I warn you that the thread itself may take longer to read than a romance novel.

Frankly, I wouldn't worry about it. You're young: I didn't start reading at all until I was 17. You may find that you want to sample other stuff as you get older, and don't forget that 'literature' doesn't just mean stuff by people who have been dead for 200 years. There's plenty of modern stuff around which is neither fantasy nor romance - nor any other genre style either - and some of which even has a happy ending!

 

[cajunmama]

We all have our own personal likes and dislikes. I have a copy of Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop lying in my book pile, and I really want to read it, but at the moment, I am into the horror genre. I used to read almost exclusively romances, and more recently, I was into mysteries and adventures. My tastes vary widely and therefore I am not often disappointed. Just because you know you like one genre doesn't mean you won't like others. And some books have elements of more than one genre. Stretch out and read other stuff, trust me, there's a lot out there.

 

[jenn]

i think we all go through phases with reading. right before christmas i was reading mostly non-fiction and then bang , nothing for months. i could barely focus on the cereal box. now i am back in the saddle with historical fiction, really my fav genre.
i think i have a problem with the idea of literature vs everything else. it seems elitist and snobby to me. but as shade pointed out, there was recently a heated and interesting debate(which i missed darn it).

 

[Kookamoor]

Yes, Shade and I splurted out our differences regarding 'literature' and 'everything else' previously. I'll agree with him on this one - your tastes change with time and as your priorities vary. Right now perhaps romance is your favorite because of the time you have available for reading and what you may be experiencing in your life. I went through a stage where I read nothing but fantasy, and just couldn't get into any book based in reality let alone more literary works. Incidently I'm not a fan of Tolkein either!! Nothing wrong with that at all!

So long as you're happy with what you are reading where is the bother? If you find it pleasurable, well more power to you. I've also found that romance books are a lot cheaper and more easily found than other titles in second hand stores. So bonus for you!

If you are looking to branch into other areas, why not read a book which falls part-way between romance and another genre. For example there was another thread recently here which was about looking for good romance books, and mentioned The Notebook and such. I'm not very good with recommendations because I'm not into that genre at all. I also noticed that you like Terry Goodkind... a little bit of a contrast there! Or is it the relationship between Kahlan and Richard that draws you to those books? Why don't you outline what you look for in a book and people can make some suggestions to you.

 

[Beibei]

I just signed up to the forum and I must have missed the thread when I did my general read-through.

I started reading very young. I've always loved words and I read compulsively when I was little. I remember reading all the books in the Infants book section in primary school and the teacher taking me over to the jr school section and handing over The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Got me started on fantasy.

I may change taste slightly but I'll be reverting to an old taste more than anything!

 

[Renee]

i think we all go through phases with reading. right before christmas i was reading mostly non-fiction and then bang , nothing for months. i could barely focus on the cereal box. now i am back in the saddle with historical fiction, really my fav genre.
i think i have a problem with the idea of literature vs everything else. it seems elitist and snobby to me. but as shade pointed out, there was recently a heated and interesting debate(which i missed darn it).

I agree. I'm not a person of favorites or "vs". I started out reading the Little House on the Prairie series when I was 9, tried out some serious poetry, spent a few years absorbed in almost nothing but encyclopedias, moved on to horror, did some literature, etc. and on through many genres. Currently I'm on Native American History, pirates, and fantasy.

I'm an equal opportunity book reader.

 

[novella]

There's a lot of distance between Jane Austen and dimestore romance novels. Some authors I've read this year are: Joan Didion, Graham Greene, Paul Auster, Graham Swift, Arundhati Roy, Ron McLarty, Francine Prose, Arthur Golden, Nancy Mitford, Eric Ambler, Stephen Fry, Georges Simenon, Salinger, Susan Minot, Mary Karr.

I would say that these are neither classics, mostly, nor are they especially 'popular' but probably would be described as literary fiction. A lot of them are funny and have happy outcomes and are not depressing in the least. Some of them are a bit dark. I like a varied diet of intelligent writing.

 

[Zolipara]

Off topic but what did you think about Arundhati Roy? I've read some rave reviews about "The god of small things" but i havent managed to find anyone that has anything good to say about that book. Its been on my "might buy" list for ages.

 

[novella]

The God of Small Things was given to me and I didn't finish it. It was quite draggy and I just didn't get engaged with the protagonist's voice.

 

[abecedarian]

I think variety is the ticket to the well-read life. Just as the human body is designed to need and enjoy a variety of foods, our minds crave variety as well. Sometimes I want something meaty that requires me to think and chew thoughtfully, and other times I want something light and fluffy. A heavy diet of either end of the spectrum would not be good for me, but with all the variations of mind food available, there's no reason I can't have a blast feeding my mind and soul a variety.

 

[Lily Bee]

Hello. I'm new. My first post on The Book Forum in fact. So I can't imagine that my view will carry much weight, but The God of Small Things is one of my favourite books. I agree that the 'protaganist's voice' is an issue. I took against the childspeak quite strongly in the opening pages, but ended up loving it. Very sad book, though.

I recommend it.

Now, what was this thread about anyway?

 

[novella]

Hi Lily Bee, welcome to the forum. This thread is sort of about whether one chooses to read classics or 'popular' fiction, but my post is about the stuff in between those two categories.

Don't be dissuaded by the current deluge of meaningless, un-book-related posts. I'm sure jenngorham, ricky, and co will simmer down in due course. Post some more about your reading and you'll get some dialogue on that.

 

[jenn]

i'm hurt, and nonsense, i will never simmer. and i'm not all meaningless, why i've just posted in the fiction thread. but i also will not spam this thread. welcome lilly bee, we always appreciate new opinions it keeps the juices flowing. as i said before my tastes shift. i will go through a phase of heavier reading, non-fiction, classics and then i will shift gears and read only mystery. currently i am into historical fiction.

 

[novella]

jenn, I know that you're posting most of it under General Chat, but when someone looks at New Posts or Today's Posts, it looks like the forum is 95% spam, which I guess is accurate lately. Actually this morning there is quite a high percentage of posts about books, but I guess you've been asleep for a few hours.

 

[jenn]

well i would hope that the fact we have a lively general chat area would be a positive thing and not a negative. and i'm not sure what my enthusiasm for chat has to do with this thread, lilly bee never mentioned anything about spam, or me for that matter.
i was actually talking about books last night as i finally managed to finish one, but point taken. i leave off beibei's thread and will not hijack it with my confusion. back to literature. i believe i've already posted my opinion on the topic.

 

[Martin]

And such a lovely thread this was, before insults were flying left and right.

Ah well.

Cheers

 

[Mari]

I read the classics of literature because they are usually the best writing from their times. Twain or Steinbeck weren't the only writers in those days, but many of the others have filtered out because they really weren't that good.

Books being published today haven't had that filtering process yet. The mediocre is on the shelf with the great. The stuff that makes me yell "Where were the editors?" is right there with books that will stand the test of time and be classics someday.

I appreciate this pre-selection process that time has offered. On the other hand, forums like this can help choose from the latest output. Thanks, everybody!

 

[Shade]

when someone looks at New Posts or Today's Posts, it looks like the forum is 95% spam, which I guess is accurate lately

95.4% to be precise. Did a quick check and each to his own but, wondered why someone would join a forum called The Book Forum when only 23 of their last 500 posts are even tangentially related to books?

 

[jenn]

oh good grief. i will write this here and then leave this thread alone. i post 95% of the time in general chat. i enjoy the goofy banter and the good arguments. i would hope that people browsing our forum or new members would have the good sense to look around a bit and realize that there are an enormous amount of topics on the go at all times, book and otherwise. i do not feel the need or wish to waste other peoples time posting in book threads when i have nothing relevant to say, so i stay current with other people in the appropriate forum, general chat. when i do have comments or questions or something to add i do so: please see the other boleyn girl thread, recent harry potter threads, davinci code threads and quite a few in general book discussion of late. it makes no sense to me to log onto someones thread and say "oh i haven't read that" and have nothing relevant to say. i am sorry that my rambling offends and i would hope that when new people join, who i am kind to and welcoming to and never make rude comments at their first attempts at posting as some have been known to do, would appreciate that i just try to keep things light and funny. in the appropriate thread. i really don't know what else to say on the matter except that if you would like to see more book related posts, then start writing. my apologies to beibei for writing outside of the subject of the thread, but for once it wasn't me who hijacked it.