I was recently thumbing through my literature textbook when I came upon a section that made a fascinating point. There are two kinds of fiction:
commercial fiction and
literary fiction. Unfortunately, many books that are popular in this day and age are of the former variety. I have found that many of the works I've come to truly appreciate are of the later type. Why is garbage like
Twilight a New York Times Best Seller, but a riveting read like
Robinson Crusoe left on the bookshelves? There really is a simple answer: sex; adventure; romance; it all pushes copies out the door. Now it may seem like I hate commercial fiction. This is far from the truth, in fact. I love the occasional peek into a Harry Potter book. Actually, the definitions of the two types are far from concrete. Really, one could call them rather arbitrary.
American Gods (by Neil Gaiman), for example, is a book that I believe straddles the line between the to kinds of fiction. The book on the outside is very appealing to the common man; it has an intriguing plot, interesting characters, and that one sex scene that no one likes to talk about. However, if you look a bit deeper, you find
heavy handed symbolism, deep themes, and insightful allusions. It just so happens that for a period of time, it was a New York Times Best Seller. Neil Gaiman (who I'm already a big fan of) is one of those authors who have proven that good literature can sell. Now, if only Alan Moore could do that again... (Write a good book, not sell copies, I mean)
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Literature I'm reading:
- Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Stuff I want to read:
- Journey to the West (abridged) by Wu Cheng'en
I'm glad you recognize that those two labels are pretty arbitrary, and most literature falls somewhere in the middle.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about what has sparked you to read Faust.
I had first found out about Faust when I heard it was influence for an indie cartoon short I found on the Internet somewhere. The plot had kind of reminded me of a DC comic book crossover I had read called "Legends", which in of itself seemed to draw influence form the Book of Job in the Bible. The play is truly tragic. Faust's wife drowns their illegitimate child and she goes to prison. Tragedy's not necessarily painful to read, however. King Lear is probably my favorite play of all time, and it's fantastically tragic. A good tragedy should provide a catharsis for the audience; I want to say " Hey, this guy's life suck more than mine. Why the heck am I complaining about my life again?"
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