tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post8107737584680085522..comments2024-03-28T11:57:21.902-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Classics and TrashPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-37129586910854134232016-04-05T13:02:13.881-04:002016-04-05T13:02:13.881-04:00As someone who's been reading romance novels s...As someone who's been reading romance novels since age 8 (starting with Ivanhoe), I would argue that there are classics within the genre. That said, are there trashy romance novels? Of course--see also, 50 Shades of Gray and their ilk. But there are also some truly high-quality romance novels, with smart protagonists (not all are written from the female POV), intriguing stories, and generally excellent story-telling. Courtney Milan, Nora Roberts, Ilona Andrews, Lilith Saintcrow, Grace Burrowes, Robin McKinley, Lois McMaster Bujold...I could go on, but you get the idea. The other point worth noting is that romance is by far the majority of books sold in the US, hands down. Less so when you include non-fiction, but according to my local B&N manager, 85% of books sold are fiction, and romance novels are more than half of them. Even an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters can produce Shakespeare. http://antickmusings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/because-this-point-cannot-be-made-often.htmlCourtney Ostaffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04327281665395277255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-22498335477786742892016-04-03T22:43:09.894-04:002016-04-03T22:43:09.894-04:00(don Quijote part 2)
At this time, the main genre ...(don Quijote part 2)<br />At this time, the main genre of novels written were fantasy knight-errant adventure novels originating from the Breton King Arthur tradition, arriving in Spain by way of France. They were so hugely popular that everyone was trying to make a buck writing them, and they were all pretty much trash. It galled Cervantes that people would read this garbage.<br /><br />We think of don Quijote as being about the valor of the idealist fighting for a noble, seemingly lost cause, but that's actually an interpretation of the 19th century European Romanticists. (Epitomized in the play Man of la Mancha, which, while it captures part of the spirit of the book, burns me because it's not factual, like saying Cervantes was imprisoned because of the Inquisition, which is not true at all. He was in jail for a time, but that was because he was trying to earn a living as a government tax collector, and the banker he entrusted to hold the money went bankrupt and fled to America.) Actually, Cervantes wrote the book with the idea of making don Quijote such a ridiculous laughingstock of a character that no one would want to read or write this kind of novel ever again.<br /><br />Along the way, the book became many things. It's very personal and autobiographical in some ways. It's also very universal and philosophical. (In the second volume, there's an incredible ode to feminism.) It's also a chronicle of the life and socio-political issues of the time. it's also insanely funny and uses all the kinds of humor there are --puns, farce, irony, satire. Unfortunately, it just doesn't translate well; puns and poetic prose make it particularly difficultRebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-68317140718541814762016-04-03T22:41:00.640-04:002016-04-03T22:41:00.640-04:00My understanding is that the word "romance&qu...My understanding is that the word "romance" was originally applied to things written in the vulgate, the languages that developped from Latin in the places the Romans conquered, while things that were considered serious and important were still written in Latin.<br /><br />The "father of the modern novel" is said to be Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, who wrote Don Quixote. (The full title is El Ingenioso Hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, but in Spanish we just refer to it as El Quijote.) The reason why Cervantes is called this is that he was the first to write a novel in which the characters and events, however crazy they seem, follow a logical and psychological sense, instead of things happening or people doing things without rhyme or reason.<br /><br />Cervantes wanted to be a playwright, but at this time (around the same time as Shakespeare), you had to write plays in verse, and Cervantes just wasn't that good at it, especially since he had the misfortune to live in the same time period as the most prolific playwright of the Spanish Golden Age of literature, Lope de Vega. But Cervantes' prose was pure poetic prose. It took him until he was in his 50's, though, to realize that this was where his talents lay.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-5681337133057785582016-04-03T22:39:55.940-04:002016-04-03T22:39:55.940-04:00My favorite romance writer is Nora Roberts. I real...My favorite romance writer is Nora Roberts. I really do think she's a good writer, especially in her descriptions and dialog. She improved a lot from her early writing, one reason being that after the first few years she started telling the story from both viewpoints. In her best books I always learn something, and come out of it feeling like I understand at least somewhat what it's like to live in Alaska, or be a fire jumper, or an artist, or a search and rescue dog trainer, or how the gem trade works. She's spoiled me for any other romance writer except Elizabeth Lowell.Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-56862381455357808762016-04-03T21:02:39.584-04:002016-04-03T21:02:39.584-04:00Sometimes the actual form of a novel gives as much...Sometimes the actual form of a novel gives as much pleasure as the plot. Reflecting on structure, the macro world of the plot in contrast to the micro world of the individual characters is also gratifying. When students go beyond simply tracking the sequence of events and the character profiles, they often make pleasant discoveries. Rolvaag's "Giants in the Earth" can seem tedious if read on the surface, but a reflective analysis of various dimensions turns it into an eye opening experience for students, even with regard to their own lives. <br />Most people need some training to develop that kind of analytical skill. Junky novels don't stand up to that analysis. They are for passive reading only.Kobishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16778054056084383752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-67077468793336496062016-04-03T14:05:49.077-04:002016-04-03T14:05:49.077-04:00What you've described is why we publishing typ...What you've described is why we publishing types have two categories for romantic novels. First, there's romance, which in the genre definition requires the HEA (Happily Ever After), which is usually implied because what really happens ten or fifteen years down the road for the H/H (hero/heroine) is a crap shoot. The other we call "women's fiction," which is a little sexist and probably should get a better name, and is fiction that may or may not have an HEA but on the way covers a broader agenda than is usually the case with category romance.<br /><br />But even there the line blurs. As the romance genre has taken a solid hold, there has also developed a growing body of readers who are no more pleased with the standard cliches than anyone else. They may still want their HEA, but they demand more realistic ways of getting there by people who have complex characters and real emotions.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09737598049116959997noreply@blogger.com