Saturday, August 13, 2011

I'm a bit skeptical ...

... A Commonplace Blog: The tyranny of suspense. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I'd rather read a good thriller than a bad tragedy. I guess what I'm skeptical of is literary taxonomy.

2 comments:

  1. I'm quite skeptical. I find the end of a good, well-written thriller, very satisfying, not at all a letdown. That's the payoff.

    I think in some ways taxonomy breeds expectations. That's one reason I'm suspicious of literary taxonomies, especially those who compare "mainstream fiction" favorably against "genre fiction." That's an indication of pre-judgment.

    No matter that a thriller might in fact be better-written than a novel by a currently fashionable novelist beloved of the critical darlings. A genre book can't possible be as good as a literary book, right? Wrong. And not even mentioning the fact that "mainstream literary fiction" is itself a genre. LOL

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  2. Except that I’ve contested the very notion of “genre fiction.”

    And the difference between tragedy and thriller is not a matter of taxonomy, but established and traditional structure.

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