{"id":840,"date":"2015-07-06T09:33:04","date_gmt":"2015-07-06T15:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/?p=840"},"modified":"2015-07-06T13:27:07","modified_gmt":"2015-07-06T19:27:07","slug":"literary-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rolledscroll.com\/news\/archives\/840","title":{"rendered":"LITERARY FICTION"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LITERARY<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0LITERARY FICTION<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. <\/strong><\/em>(<\/strong>C.S. Lewis)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I lurk on a few writers\u2019 online message boards, and the other day someone posted about his dislike of \u201cliterary fiction\u201d (as opposed to \u201cgenre fiction,\u201d such as historical or mystery novels). Several subsequent responses showed this abhorrence to be common.<\/p>\n

Now, my stories have been described by some as literary, which I take as a compliment, even if my first publisher for marketing purposes insisted The Third Grace<\/a><\/em> be categorized\u00a0as a \u201ccontemporary women\u2019s\u201d novel (in other words, genre fiction).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that literary fiction\u2019s often depressing realism is based on a pessimistic and even nihilistic worldview. I’ve run into lots of such writing (more often Euro-Canadian than American, for some reason) that\u2019s just plain hard work to read.\u00a0And as for short stories, even many Christian literary journals valued for their high quality of\u00a0writing celebrate\u00a0the edgy over the orthodox, demanding a\u00a0level of artistic and academic snobbishness that can be very intimidating, so that we ask:<\/p>\n