Comments on: Break Cheryl’s book drought, part seven http://bluegrassbooks.bloginky.com/2008/12/02/break-cheryls-book-drought-part-seven/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:34:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Joyce http://bluegrassbooks.bloginky.com/2008/12/02/break-cheryls-book-drought-part-seven/#comment-69 Joyce Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:42:39 +0000 http://bluegrassbooks.bloginky.com/?p=108#comment-69 I was amused by your lament. I was reminded of something Stephen King wrote in reviewing the Harry Potter series, comparing kid fiction and adult fiction: "(R)eading was never dead with the kids. Au contraire, right now it's probably healthier than the adult version, which has to cope with what seems like at least 400 boring and pretentious 'literary novels' each year." So much "literary" fiction positively strains for nuance and portent, yet it comes across as stale and recycled. If you've read one such work, you've read them all. Try non-fiction for a while. It's a breath of fresh air. I was amused by your lament. I was reminded of something Stephen King wrote in reviewing the Harry Potter series, comparing kid fiction and adult fiction:

“(R)eading was never dead with the kids. Au contraire, right now it’s probably healthier than the adult version, which has to cope with what seems like at least 400 boring and pretentious ‘literary novels’ each year.”

So much “literary” fiction positively strains for nuance and portent, yet it comes across as stale and recycled. If you’ve read one such work, you’ve read them all. Try non-fiction for a while. It’s a breath of fresh air.

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