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I’m not someone who thumbs my nose at literary fiction (though I wish that worked the other way). As an English major I was exposed to wide range of authors, and loved almost everything I read, from Greek tragedies and Homer to Romantic and Victorian poetry to Hemingway and the modernists. I will pick up contemporary literary/realist works if I find the subject matter sufficiently interesting.
What interests me most is good writing. Genre is not unimportant, but is secondary. A decade or two ago I was reading every S&S title I could get my hands on, but at present moment I’d rather read a well-written novel than mediocre S&S, or yet another generic epic fantasy series.
Tangible example: I’m currently reading and nearly finished with John Williams’ Stoner. I picked this up following a booktube recommendation and frankly I’m blown away by how good it is. It’s a quiet character study, and yet the emotion and intensity—all within the breast of the protagonist—are equal to epic fantasy. Stoner’s created fictional world of college professordom, if not as original as Barsoom, is just as carefully constructed. The (petty) evils of Stoner’s jealous, flawed, and self-centered wife are as wicked and greedy as Sauron. It is full of wonders of a different and more ordinary but no less potent sort.
But my broad reading palette leaves me in a bit of a bind here.
On the one hand, this is my own damn blog, and can write about whatever I want. It’s unmonetized, I have no obligations to fulfill. If you don’t like the subject matter of a given post, it’s easy to skip it.
On the other hand, visitors and readers have a reasonable expectation of discussion of speculative fiction and other fantastic content (I include heavy metal under this broad tent). If I started for example writing about the NFL here it would get downright weird on a blog named after an HP Lovecraft short story.
Do I review Stoner here? Or John Gardner’s On Moral Fiction? I don’t know. I don’t really want to start a new blog—I don’t have the energy and I suspect it would be infrequently updated. But that might be a better option.
Is this question even worth asking? Eh. Probably not. Nevertheless I welcome your opinions, and beer recommendations.
4 comments:
Part of the reason I have followed your blog for so long is because of the thoughtfulness of the content and the strange coincidence of your subject matter interests with mine. I would absolutely read comments on more literary fiction as well as thoughtful nonfiction as well. I love me some Steinbeck and Marquez and Bronte and Ishiguro, though by volume I read more genre fiction. I don't know John Williams, but because of your recommendation I'll definitely be checking him out.
I have a feeling you won't fail to continue publishing commentary about genre stuff, but if you add these other pieces, I'll definitely make time for them. You aren't in the habit of writing 8,000 word snorefests no matter the topic, so bring it on.
My $.0.02.
Thanks man, I appreciate the vote and the 2 coppers.
Bring it.
You may be surprised how many S&S/fantasy readers cross over into literary fiction and other "higher brow" genres. I actually read more literary fiction now than anything else after getting burned out on fantasy that consistently had too little depth to hold my attention as I matured. And as you said, it's your blog and not every post is going to cater to every reader anyway.
I haven't read Stoner yet but I did read Williams's Butcher's Crossing. I wouldn't place it up there with Blood Meridian and Lonesome Dove, but it was a top tier Western with some brains behind it.
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