In A Typical Year, Do You Read Any Literary Novels?

[Jingthing]

In the history of human culture and art, the literary novel (commonly called literary fiction) has only been in existence for a relatively brief time. In this age of films, internet, television, and twitter, etc. it seems to me the death of the novel is really happening.

So, in a typical year, do you read any literary novels (those required by a school course don't count)? I decided not to quantify the number of literary novels, as I figure if people read at least one a year they like them and probably read more of them. If you don't know what a literary novel is, you can probably safely vote NO.

For fun, you may want to mention to the title of the current literary novel you are reading, or recently finished.

I am currently reading Let It Come Down by Paul Bowles

[SeanMoran]

It largely depends on whether or not I am in a relationship, and whether she is a reader or not. As I get older, I'm more into celibacy or perhaps a relationship with a fellow bookworm, and read over 50 fiction novels in the past three years, the last one reaching conclusion back here in Thailand in mid-December, 'A Fortunate Life' by A.B Facey.

There is no course I know of at any university on the planet that can equal the writing skills that can be be acquired from simply switching off the tv and computer at night, taking the phone off the hook, and reading yourself to sleep every night.

(It also reduces the quota of beer required to combat insomnia)

[tutsiwarrior]

I useta be an English Lit. major but switched to History (lit. considered to be booshwah at the time) and regretted it. Now I'm catching up on the stuff that I should've read many years ago...presently with Middlemarch, finished Little Dorrit just before...excellent reads by the finest authors of the language...just gotta pick up the victorian cadence after muddling thru the first chapters...

just read that Orhan Pamuk has a new novel out...his stuff in translation is quite good, good story teller...

anyone ever get two different copies of the same classic film video to find that the subtitles are different?...just when yer about to get to yer feet to confront a villain on the screen and shout a well known retort in the dialog the different video subtitles come up with something more colloquial...sheesh

[Jonathanpattaya]

Yes, I read a great deal.

I find it relaxing and generally read factual or biographical books rather than fiction.

[Ulysses G.]

If publishers insist on getting rid of paper books and replacing them with e-books, it will not only be the end of the novel, but reading for enjooyment will be reduced significantly. Mark my words.

[SweatySock]

If publishers insist on getting rid of paper books and replacing them with e-books, it will not only be the end of the novel, but reading for enjooyment will be reduced significantly. Mark my words.

Totally agree, there is nothing better than settling down for a nice quiet period with a good book in hand.

Stimulates the brain far more than any DVD.

Long may they continue in paper form (hope the Greens don't object too much).

[lioness]

I read between 1 and 3 per week, always at night as I don't watch TV.

The problem I have is keeping up the of good reading material.

Sean, did you enjoy A fortunate life? Albert Facey was what we call a real Aussie battler.

[bkkjames]

From the results thus far, it looks like the only people who voted were readers. Should we consider it null?

[Patsycat]

I gave up on literary books after high school where we had to learn every page of Portrait of a Young Man and Anthony and Cleopatra.

Now i enjoy the ilk of James Patterson, Harlan Coben etc. and some good chick lit on the beach.

[StreetCowboy]

I'm off to buy a bible at the weekend.

A James VI if I can get it.

SC

[SeanMoran]

I read between 1 and 3 per week, always at night as I don't watch TV.

The problem I have is keeping up the of good reading material.

Sean, did you enjoy A fortunate life? Albert Facey was what we call a real Aussie battler.

I did enjoy the story, as well as the straight-forward writing style. Part of the reason was no doubt personal, as some of my ancestors came to Perth in 1829, and I spent most of my childhood and teens in the same suburbs along Warwick Road where the final chapters of the book unfolded. I learnt somethings new and yet historically factual about the very place I grew up, as well as the honest account of life in Western Australia over the past century.

Overall though, the story would have been a good interesting read wherever in the world it was set, and I compare it to some of Bryce Courtenay's novels on life in South Africa or Rhodesia.

422 pages in paperback.

Rating: 8.5/10.

[Jingthing]

I'm off to buy a bible at the weekend.

A James VI if I can get it.

SC

Such a book would not be included in the definition of literary novels. The Koran either, etc. I understand there are plenty of Bible as Literature courses but lets not go there.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

I gave up on literary books after high school where we had to learn every page of Portrait of a Young Man and Anthony and Cleopatra.

Now i enjoy the ilk of James Patterson, Harlan Coben etc. and some good chick lit on the beach.

Not surprised to hear it. Formal education can really deaden people to some of the pleasures in life. I understand that Joyce is very complex to read and dissecting works like that to death can be really boring hard work. I took an entire college course on Joyce's Ulysses and it was dreadful, but by that time I already loved reading literary novels.

Of course, not all literary novels are classics or particularly difficult to read for pure pleasure. In my case, it surely helped that I grew up in a house with books like Naked Lunch by William Burroughs and Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller lying around.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

Not only did we have literature lying around the house, but I got lucky with teachers who picked enjoyable classics for us to read. I did not have much interest in studying when I was a youngster, but never failed to finish a reading assignment.

[SeanMoran]

Not only did we have literature lying around the house, but I got lucky with teachers who picked enjoyable classics for us to read. I did not have much interest in studying when I was a youngster, but never failed to finish a reading assignment.

To both of youse dudes up there too JT, you gotta go with a little pulp fiction every now and then for a few nights, and even after you might be have done the reading of one of them good stuff that was written by someone very famous in the literal world, like Mr Twain or like Mr Verne or Elvis even, then what it makes is for some of the good ways see the geniusizm in those books that you want to remember to tell us all about is that in the bad books, are the comparison that is like it might be for a driver of a large aeroplane taking off with a parachute. You see how the good can only be the best when you absorb a lot of the pathetic along the way? We could not ever have become this pentadfactyl wonders who not only mouth off with our voices when we wake up in the mornings but scribe our personal problems down with a pen and paper is we had never had had the invention of computers, as well as pen and paper and those sorts of weird stuff that they have in history from the past of the times that came before and who really wants to remember what it started with?

If not for the bad, we could never know the good.

[Jingthing]

Not only did we have literature lying around the house, but I got lucky with teachers who picked enjoyable classics for us to read. I did not have much interest in studying when I was a youngster, but never failed to finish a reading assignment.

That reminds me. Role models make a difference too. I just remembered when I was quite young an Uncle who I respected very much (who was a writer) made a big deal about lending me Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea which was a book that had been very important to him. Yes, some of us learn that reading is one of the most delicious pleasures in life and sometimes even spiritually meaningful changing our lives, yet so many see it as a total bore.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

If not for the bad, we could never know the good.

Yeah. Sure. OK.

[mauGR1]

I am an avid reader,in Italian,well i was before getting a laptop,2 years ago.

I don't buy books easily,but they come to me in a flow by friends and relatives,i love to exchange books and i'm quite upset when somebody fails to give back some book of mine.

Best book in my life,sort of Bible to me,is "The Lord of the Rings",by J.B.Tolkien,a wonderful allegory of life imho, read it 7 times in 30 years,and every time deeply enjoyed.

A good relax for the next rainy season could be reading Tolkien in the original language,should not be too difficult

Edited January 21, 2010 by mauGR1

[Jingthing]

Lord of the Rings is a great example of the fantasy/heroic romance genre. Generally books that fit into recognized genres are by definition not literary fiction. However, there are many books that can't be so easily categorized and of course that doesn't mean that many genre works aren't good books.

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2007/02/wh...n-literary.html

I know people can get pretty emotional about the types of things they read. A while back I was talking to a Thai reader who loved to read Harry Potter novels (another fantasy genre). He wondered what I thought about them. I told him well I liked the movies well enough but that those weren't the types of books I would ever read. That was the end of the conversation, ha ha.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Jingthing

[mauGR1]

Lord of the Rings is a great example of the fantasy/heroic romance genre. Generally books that fit into recognized genres are by definition not literary fiction. However, there are many books that can't be so easily categorized and of course that doesn't mean that many genre works aren't good books.

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2007/02/wh...n-literary.html

I know people can get pretty emotional about the types of things they read. A while back I was talking to a Thai reader who loved to read Harry Potter novels (another fantasy genre). He wondered what I thought about them. I told him well I liked the movies well enough but that those weren't the types of books I would ever read. That was the end of the conversation, ha ha.

Well,to say that "Lord of the Rings" is a great example of fantasy etc. is a bit reductive.

Actually the definition "Fantasy" was coined after the great commercial success of "Lord of the Rings".

J.R.Tolkien was an academic Historian,Linguist and a prominent Scholar of the ancient Sagas of Northern Europe.

With respect,comparing H.Potter to "Lord of the Rings" is similar to compare the Space Shuttle to my cheap old bicycle because they both have wheels

[Jingthing]

I did not directly compare Rings to Potter. Within a genre there are of course many different levels. I could never get into Rings either but I did give it a try. I didn't even bother to pick up a Potter book. I am sorry if people can't accept there is such a thing as literary fiction (ambiguous as it sometimes is) and not all of their favorite books including the Bible fit into it.

BTW, was I not clear enough that the subject matter of this poll was specifically literary fiction?

Edited January 22, 2010 by Jingthing

[suegha]

Highest figures in the 40-59 sections, I wonder does that comment on our education?

Most of my reading these days is done on holiday, there are just too many distractions at other times.

I don't agree that ebooks will be the death of reading or of the novel, it's still reading, just an ebook rather than a paper book.

[Jingthing]

I don't think the poll results here mean anything. People not into this topic are simply not voting. I would guess younger people are not reading as many literary novels though (other than required ones), just based on my observations. It makes me a little bit sad because they have always been a great pleasure to me so I think they are missing something really good. But things change, cultural art forms rise and fall.

I just thought of another literary novel that made a huge impression on me as a boy -- Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth. It came at me at the perfect time. That's another great example of a really fun read showing literary novels are by no means always tedious and difficult.

Edited January 22, 2010 by Jingthing

[Ulysses G.]

If not for the bad, we could never know the good.

I've read plenty of pulp fiction, but I do not consider it "bad". Elmore Leonard is one of my favorite authors and you won't find his books on any lists of English literature. I like all kinds of books!

[tutsiwarrior]

If not for the bad, we could never know the good.

I've read plenty of pulp fiction, but I do not consider it "bad". Elmore Leonard is one of my favorite authors and you won't find his books on any lists of English literature. I like all kinds of books!

yeah...I'd like to get rid of my Ruth Rendell and Ian Rankin and maybe even some of my PD James but I hold on to all of my Elmore Leonard...

[Ulysses G.]

Elmore Leonard created his own genre that usually revolves around black humor and crime in Miami. He is the best at what he does IMHO, but he has a good number of imitators. The best of these is newspaper columnist Carl Hiaasen who is even more outrageous than Leonard and who many people prefer.

Give him a try if you need an Elmore Leonard fix and can't wait for the next one to come out.

Edited January 23, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[dekestone]

I read about 25 - 30 books a year, split pretty evenly between fiction and non-fiction. The non-fiction books are usually science or travel. The last literary novel I read was John Banville's 'The Sea', which I highly recommend. One author I've come to just in the last few years is the Indian-Bengali write Amitav Ghosh. Wonderful story teller.

[Jingthing]

I also agree that using the terms good and bad about book genres is not the point. Of course, critics don't always agree, but some books are well written, some not so well written. Obviously there are brilliantly written genre books and hybrid genre books as well as dreadful literary novels, not to mention our personal taste and response to books which is all important. Readers eventually figure out what they like and don't like. After formal education, happily we can choose.

[mauGR1]

I also agree that using the terms good and bad about book genres is not the point. Of course, critics don't always agree, but some books are well written, some not so well written. Obviously there are brilliantly written genre books and hybrid genre books as well as dreadful literary novels, not to mention our personal taste and response to books which is all important. Readers eventually figure out what they like and don't like. After formal education, happily we can choose.

You are quite right,for some years i was reading several Stephen King's horror novels.

I think that genre is pure trash,but King is a brilliant writer.At least he was.

Lately i enjoyed poorly written books by a totally uneducated guy who's life has been amazingly interesting.

I think there are too many books to choose nowadays.Although i still like reading,i've become more selective.

[Ulysses G.]

I LOVE writers who can make me interested in subjects that I am not usually interested in. For example, I hate baseball and I hate sports, but there are a fair number of books about both these things that I really enjoy.

Last year, I read a few books by Jon Krakauer about mountain climbing and trecking in Alaska and then I went out and bought every classic mountain climbing book I could find even though I would never climb A MOUNTAIN IN A MILLION YEARS.