A GUIDE TO LITERARY FICTION

DEFINITION

Literary Fiction can be very hard to define. According to Judi Clark at mostlyfiction.com, "it can be the broadest category and in a sense is a catch all, but the intention is to list books that really draw you in with language, imagery, character insight and sense of place".

According to Joyce Saricks, Literary Fiction is "critically acclaimed, often award-winning, fiction. These books are more often character centered rather than plot oriented. They are provocative and often address more serious issues...these are complex, literate, multilayered novels that wrestle with universal dilemas".

In an article in the Guardian Unlimited, Robert McCrum wrote,"What is 'literary fiction'? To many, it's the titles on the short list for the Booker Prize. To some, it's those serious-minded novels of high artistic intent by writers with a passionate commitment to the moral purpose of fiction. To others, it's a slippery piece of book jargon. It's certainly a label that's attracted its share of critical opprobrium. 'Literary' can be synonymous with 'highbrow', but I've heard 'pretentious' and even 'unreadable'. Literary fiction is what many writers aspire to, though quite a few will also run a mile at the first hint of it, too. Every reader will have his or her idea of what constitutes such a category".

CONTROVERSY

Contemporary Literary Fiction has its share of detractors. B.R. Myers published a book in 2002 titled A Reader's Manifesto: An Attack on the Growing Pretentiousness in American Literary Prose. In it he expands on his contention in several previous writings that many prize-winning contemporary novelists simply use "trendy stylistic gimmicks" to cover up a lack of talent. He claims that literary fiction reviewers and those that decide on the major literary awards are more impressed with confusing syntax and dull descriptions than they are with the telling of a story and that the glory days of fiction are behind us. There were many critisms of Myers' original article in The Atlantic Monthly, and Myers addresses some of these at the end of this book. The Myers article can be found at A Reader's Manifesto. Some of the criticisms can be found at Considering B.R. Myers' Reader's Manifesto, The End of Literary Fiction, and Unfair Sentence.
A stance similar to Myers' has been taken by Dale Peck. In June 2004 he published a collection of his scathing attacks on contemporary authors. Hatchet Jobs also maintains that the state of literary fiction is abysmal. There are critics such as the New York Times' Daniel Mendelsohn in Nailed!, who disagree and have taken Peck to task.

THE AWARDS

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READERS' ADVISORY RESOURCES

There are many print resources that will help a reader find a selection within the Literary Fiction genre.

1. Book Lust and Now Read This, both by Nancy Pearl are good sources for finding titles based on past reading experiences. Book Lust is organized into over 175 very general subjects but is not an exhaustive listing and is not limited to literary fiction. A reader would need to have a general idea of a subject that is appealing and be willing to accept Nancy Pearl's suggestions for books on that subject. It can also be a fun book just to browse for good ideas. Now Read This and Now Read This II makes use of the appeal characteristics of novels. The characteristics here are setting, story, characters, and language. The books are organized by their primary appeal characteristic. There is a 2-3 sentence plot summary, the publisher, date published, number of pages, a list of subjects and then suggestions for other books with similar appeal characteristics.
   
2. Bookmarks is a bi-monthly magazine that can be a useful readers' advisory tool. It's new books guide includes a section for literary fiction. There one can find critical summaries from Bookmarks as well as sample reviews from other sources. There are also numerous other articles that often focus on literary fiction and authors.
   
3. BookPage is a print resource available free to patrons in many public libraries. There is also a corresponding website. Many different genres are represented and there is not a specific literary fiction section, howver there are many reviews of interest to literary fiction fans. The is one review monthly that is titled "Well Read", which in many opinions would be a literary fiction selection.
   
   There are also many useful resources on the internet. Some of the best for Literary Fiction are:
   1. AllReaders.com has reviews of books by readers. Each review includes five searchable elements; plot,
      main character, main adversary, setting and style. The user can search by any combination of over 2,000 literary terms using a unique book reveiw search engine. This site is run by Steve Gordon, A Harvard Law School graduate, author, and creator of this search engine. The site is partenerd with Random House, but reviews books from all publishers. This is an interesting and different sort of readers' advisory site. It takes some time to become familiar with the search engine and how to find what you are looking for, but once the reader becomes accustomed to it, it is a very useful site for finding books with similar appeal points.
   2. The Complete Review reviews many new books. Each book is featured on an individual page that includes basic information, the CR review and recommendation, summaries of and links to reviews from numerous other sources, suggestions for similar books and author information. This site can be confusing to get around in and can take a few attempts to find what is needed. However, there is a great deal of information about individual books, and once the title in question is located, is a very useful reader's advisory tool.
   3. The Compulsive Reader is a site that has reviews of new books, author interviews, literary news and criticism.
      There are sections devoted to literary fiction, commercial fiction, speculative fiction, books for young adults, and various non-fiction sections. There are also aids for aspiring writers. The reviewers are a mix of professors, authors, and publishers.
      All have a short biography available on the site and are identified at the end of each review. A free newsletter is also available. This site is well layed out and easy to follow. Readers, or anyone attempting to assist a reader, looking for ideas in any of these categories will be well served by this site.
   4. Literary Fiction Lovers is a Yahoo! reading group and book club. To get full access, you must join the book club. The general public has access to the lists of books that are suggested by the group members. These are only lists however. Clicking on a title will take you to the Amazon.com site for the book. This is a nice site for getting lists of possible titles to explore.
   5. MostlyFiction.com is a very comprehensive and easy to follow site that reviews a variety of genres. The contemporary fiction section gives an extensive review of the book, the Amazon.com rating, a bibliography of the author's works, a list of links to other reviews, a biography of the author and often the option to read a chapter of the book. The home page has a selection of the latest books to look at and a column of authors names to click on. This takes the user to a page with all of the reviwed titles for that author. This site was started by Judi Clark, a marketing/management professional who is an avid reader. The other reviewers include teachers, authors and a variety of professionals who just enjoy books. Their biographies are available on the site. This site provides a great deal of information in a user-friendly format and is an excellent reader's advisory tool.
   6. The New York Times on the Web has a very complete book section that includes lists of best sellers as well as reviews of current books. This is a list and a resource that many literary fiction fans count on. The Book section requires a free registration to access.
   7. Overbooked.com specializes in literary and mystery books that were considered of unusual merit by Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal. It includes annotated lists of books as well as numerous reading lists and
      "best of" lists. This is a nonprofit volunteer project run by a public librarian from Chesterfield County Virginia who wanted to provide information about worthwhile books that she was afraid would be overlooked in the mainstream press. She also provides themed reading lists and a place for book discussions that unfortunately seems to attract many authors trying to
      promote their own books. This is also a good site for people looking for a good book that may not have ended up on the best sellers lists.
   
   
   

   THE BOOKS

   
   The following are annotations of just a few books representative of the literary fiction genre.
   
   1. Atonement by Ian McEwan. (2001). Using a love story, a family saga, and historical events, this book takes the reader through the events of three intertwined lives from childhood in 1935 England, through the WWII years and finally into the final stages of their lives. Foreboding from the start, the reader knows that something bad is going to happen. And it does about halfway through. The remainder of the book is spent learning about the consequences and the deep psychological makeup of these main characters.
   2. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. (2001). At a lavish, multi-national birthday party in a fictional South American country, terrorists invade. They were planning to kidnap the President, who is not there. A seige ensues that lasts for several months. The reader watches as many alliances are slowly formed, stereotypes begin to disappear, and opera becomes the universal language. The tone of this book is almost diametrically opposed to the premise. It is a story of love, friendship, and compassion set in the midst of a terrorist act. Although it may not be realistic, it is an elegant statement about art, universal emotions and humanity.
   3. The Blind Assasin by Margaret Atwood. (2000). Set in the 1930's and 1940's, this complex novel tells a family history through a series of flashbacks, complete with newspaper clippings. Central to the story is the apparent suicide of the narrator Iris' younger sister Laura, at the age of 25. Laura had also written a memoir, in the form of a novel titled The Blind Assassin. Within Laura's novel is another novel written by the characters in that book. That novel is a science-fiction type of story that the characters of The Blind Assassin work on together throughout their love affair. Throughout the use of these literary devices, the reader learns the family story and secrets. The political and social climates of the day are examined. Iris' father was a wealthy businessman who arranged a marriage for Iris that would be more beneficial to his business than to his daughter. Iris's sister's novel was published posthumously to much critical acclaim. Her novel involves an erotic love affair and the writing of a sci-fi novel. Iris thinks this novel may have been autobiographical. The fantasy story serves to illustrate the family reality. In the end, this novel is a biting social commentary about families, betrayal, and politics.
   4. Charming Billy by Alice McDermott. (1998). Billy Lynch's friends and family have gathered to mourn his death. Billy was an alcoholic, but was much loved. The reader quickly learns that Eva was the one true love of Billy's life. Billy was told by his cousin that she died. Billy spent the next 30 years mourning that loss, and drinking. The stories of Billy's life and charm are told from the point of view of many different friends and relatives. We see the good, the bad, and the ugly of Billy's life through the eyes of those who loved him. Issues of alcoholism, secrets, lies, loyalty, and friendship are explored. It is left up to the reader to decide right from wrong. Whether it was Billy's angst over losing Eva that caused his alcoholism or whether it was Billy's choice to drink too much are debated and ultimately left up to the reader to decide.
   5. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. (2001). Enid Lambert wants to have all of her family home for "one last Christmas." This is the basic premise for this sprawling, unforgiving, and satirical look at family life in America today. Enid's husband Alfred is suffering from Parkinson's Disease and dementia. Their three grown children live in different parts of the country and she becomes obsessed with having them all gather at the family home in St. Jude. The book is divided into sections for each character's story. In each section we see how the family members relate and how they affect each other. We discover what brought each of them to the dysfunctional point we find them in this novel and how they are dealing with the present day realities of their lives. This is a tragic commentary on contemporary life with some strong language and sexually explicit scenes.
   6. Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. (2002). Susie is a teenage girl who was raped and murdered near her home. She is now in heaven, watching the effects of her death on her family, friends, and murderer. She also fills the reader in on what heaven is like. The story does involve the murder investigation, but this is not a mystery novel. Instead, it is the story of how various people handle the disappearance and murder of Susie. The reader watches as people react to this event and eventually come to terms with it and, in the end, are able to move on. The fear, the anger, the determination, the horror, and the sadness are all played out in different ways. Death and especially murder are desperate and often violent themes. The details are written here, but in tones that are not grisly or overly morbid. This is the story of human beings coming to grips with these events. It is the story of people falling apart and then coming back together. The issue of heaven is dealt with in ways that would make the reader hopeful. The language is compelling and often the storytelling has a soothing quality to it. The reader is able to move on, just as Susie's earthbound family and friends have done.
   7. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. (2002). Although this is the story of Cal, a hermaphrodite who was raised as a girl until the age of 14, and then began to live as a male, it is far more complex than that. It is the story of the main character's Greek-American family. It begins in Greece in the 1920's and follows the family to the present day. There is a wealth of information about the Greek-Turkish war, the Burning of Smyrna, life in Detroit, Michigan during the depression and prohibition, the nation of Islam, race riots, and growing up in the 1970's. We follow the three generations of this family throughout all of these events in an attempt to understand the life of Cal. Although this feels like a multiple plot novel, it is really just the story of the three generations of a single family. It is very character-centered and at times is humorous and fun, and at times is sexually explicit and tragic.
   8. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. (1998). This is the story of the Price Family and their missionary trip to the Belgian Congo. Nathan Price is a Southern Baptist minister who takes his wife and four young daughters to the Congo to save the souls of the natives. The reader discovers through the narratives of his wife and daughters that he is an abusive man driven by the recollections of his WWII horrors. The entire family wrestles with their own inner thoughts while outwardly trying to do what they perceive as good in Africa. The reader is given a detailed look at the political climate in post-colonial Africa as well as the realities of day-to-day life in this unfamiliar world. The ideals of cultural diversity and morality are explored through the eyes of each the sisters. Each one is interested in a different facet of their experience, and through each of them, the reader sees a more complete picture of life within this family as well as life in Africa at this time. Through each sister, the reader is also introduced to some of the African natives. This proves to be an interesting contrast to this missionary family. This story explores many universal dilemmas such as religion, domestic violence, politics, environmental issues, and cultural clashes and harmony. These larger issues are interspersed with the individual struggles of these four teenaged girls and their parents. The tone of the book is dark and heavy. There is an extraordinary amount of detailed exploration of the Congo in this era and that coincides with the exploration going on in the souls and minds of the Price family. This is all countered with the elegance of the overall writing style throughout the book.
   9. A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. (1991). This novel is a re-telling of Shakespeare's King Lear, set on a farm in 1980's Zebulon County, Iowa. Larry Cook has three daughters, Ginny, Rose and Caroline (Lear has Goneril, Regan and Cordelia). He has a very prosperous 1000-acre farm and as he is getting older, he decides to give the farm to his daughters. Caroline refuses the offer. This so incenses Larry that he cuts her out completely. What ensues is a series of explosive events that rips the entire family apart and has dire repercussions for each of them. The farm is as important as any other character in the book. The reader will come to know each house and each person as if they were a part of the family. The over-all feeling is that this is a timeless tragedy. Issues such as truth, justice, jealousy, love, and pride are all examined throughout the story. Families, marriage, infidelity, incest, and death all play a significant role.
   10. Weight of Water by Anita Shreve. (1997). Jean is a photographer who has been given an assignment to photograph the site of a century old double murder on the Isles of Shoals, Maine. She and her husband Thomas, their daughter Billie, Thomas's brother Rich and Rich's girlfriend Adaline have sailed to this island in Rich's boat. Jean becomes enthralled with the story of the murders and the legends that have sprung up surrounding it. The reader is switched back and forth between the story of the murders and the events playing themselves out on the boat with Jean and her family. Mystery, intrigue, jealousy and infidelity all weave in and out of both plot lines. There are two parallel stories going on and each is filled with psychological intrigue and mystery. The stories flow into each other. There is no distinction between the two as the author switches back and forth at will, but remarkably, it is not difficult to know where each story begins and ends.
       
       
       
       
       

       REFERENCES

       
       Clark, J. (n.d.). a guided tour to mostlyfiction.com. retrieved Jul 20, 2004, from mostlyfiction.com Web site: http://mostlyfiction.com/index_more.htm.
       
       McCrum, R. (2001). The end of literary fiction. Guardian Unlimited, Retrieved Jul 20, 2004, from http://books.guardian.co.uk/critics/reviews/0,5917,532924,00.html.
       
       Myers, B. (2002). A reader's manifesto: an attack on the growing pretentiousness in american literary prose. Hoboken, NJ: Melville House.
       
       Pearl, N. (2003). Booklust. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books.
       
       Pearl, N. (1999). Now read this: a guide to mainstream fiction, 1978-1998. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
       
       Saricks, J. (2001). The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction. Chicago and London: American Library Association.
       
       
       © by Nancy Boisseau
       Last modified July 25, 2004