I think part of the problem with the literary fiction is the implicit snobbery. They're the books that are filed under "Fiction" in most bookstores, without a qualifier. (Of course, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and Candace Bushnell go there too.) They get the most prestige. They get the snootiest reviewers. That's what gets people's backs up--they claim, or at least imply, that their books are better than anyone else's.
And we buy into it, too. If I read a romance novel and don't like it, I say that it was bad. If I read a literary novel and don't like it, I say that I just didn't get it. I feel like there was a layer there that I didn't get because I'm too stupid or I'm unwilling to put in the extra time to appreciate it. Which makes me defensive and resentful, because I don't like feeling stupid.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2010-08-31 03:54 am (UTC)And we buy into it, too. If I read a romance novel and don't like it, I say that it was bad. If I read a literary novel and don't like it, I say that I just didn't get it. I feel like there was a layer there that I didn't get because I'm too stupid or I'm unwilling to put in the extra time to appreciate it. Which makes me defensive and resentful, because I don't like feeling stupid.