Characteristics of fiction other than 'genre'

[therealjae]

An online community that I'm part of recently decided to start its own book discussion group, and as part of the conversation around getting it going, one member asked everybody to list what genres of fiction they particularly like or dislike reading. I had a hard time figuring out what to say to that, and finally ended up saying:

I don't really

Comments

[hobbitbabe]

Because I'm sitting at work responding to people here, I'm not going to answer the real question yet. Instead, I'm going to ask - is it a spoiler to say "this is a great book with/because of an unreliable narrator"? I read this book which completely caught me by surprise and captivated me, and then couldn't figure out how to recommend it without ruining the surprise.

[therealjae]

Oh, I don't think so. No more than any other characteristic of the writing is a spoiler. I mean, any tight point of view has an unreliable narrator, whether or not that becomes a plot twist. You know?

-J

[tangleofthorns]

I do think that is a spoiler, actually, because I have read some books where, if you told me that the narrator was unreliable, the reading experience would have been severely diminished.

[therealjae]

Well, but don't you know that a narrator is unreliable as soon as you start the book? You know how close the POV is--and any close POV is an unreliable narrator.

-J

[pene]

I've been thinking on this

[therealjae]

You and I are so different!

You sound waaaaay more surprised by that than is warranted. ;-)

I like good and evil but more I like grey morals.

I like grey morals, too. If they get too grey, though, I'll get uncomfortable. That won't be enough to make me not like the book, but it might be enough to make me not want to read it again. That takes VERY grey morals, though.

I like to read the first paragraph and think it's gorgeous.

Yeah, that's very different from me. I want to read the first paragraph and have it BE gorgeous, but have me not NOTICE that it's gorgeous. You know? I like it when the writing serves the story so completely that it disappears for me altogether and just sucks me in.

I need a character that I like.

Like as in "I would want to be your friend if you were real"? Or some other sort of like?

-J

[pene]

heh. truth is I wasn't surprised. that exclamation point was (I guess) for emphasis but was entirely unnecessary.

If they get too grey, though, I'll get uncomfortable.

Truth is we are probably fairly similar on the grey scale.

I want to read the first paragraph and have it BE gorgeous, but have me not NOTICE that it's gorgeous.
This is probably possible for the same paragraph. I tend to be looking for the pretty. But I guess I'd be inclinced to forgive a bit of overwriting - and even sometimes some unsubtle brush strokes - for the sake of the pretty.

Like as in "I would want to be your friend if you were real"? Or some other sort of like?Good question... not the former. People I want to be friends with are rarely in books

[therealjae]

I tend to want self aware characters. A self aware, kind character would always have my attention.

Ah! Yeah, that I would like, too.

I also tend to want women, though this is not essential.

You are just ASKING for that to be taken out of context, you know. ;-)

-J

[em_h]

Wow, I wish I had time to answer this!

(And, wow, is that not the most pathetic response of all time?)

[therealjae]

Me TOO! *g*

-J

[em_h]

ROTFL!! Ha ha!!

[sarahevekelly]

I might be wildly stabbing in the dark, but according to your criteria, I bet you'd really like An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears. It's a historical - that's how I got sucked in - but absolutely not what I was expecting. And a university setting! Go fetch it; you'll like it.

[therealjae]

Ooh, whee! An unexpected side effect of this post--people recommending books to me! Thank you. I will read it.

Anybody else want to stab wildly in the dark? :-) Where are all my book people?

-J