Comments on: The Most Influential Genre?

By: trevor johnson

trevor johnson — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 17:09:12 +0000

I don’t know what you would call it — quirky? — but I like books that go all over the place and don’t have predictable patterns: Chuck Palahniuk, Charles Bukowski, John Kennedy Toole, John Irving, Kurt Vonnegut, blah, blah.

I also like Ayn Rand though. A lot of people have given me shit for that.

By: David Thayer

David Thayer — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:57:24 +0000

Some would argue ( probably lawyers) that they already have. Take that to the Appellate Division with a feisty ADA and her boy toy turned investigator or heavily muscled, he cited three precedents before dead lifting his late model Mercedes.

By: david i

david i — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:51:53 +0000

And what’s going to happen when people get tired of reading about lawyers? I think there must be more lawyers writing crime novels these days than practicing law.

Maybe they’ll move to Romance?

By: David Thayer

David Thayer — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:36:40 +0000

I haven’t read Woodrell. You might enjoy Mo Hayder’s The Devil of Nanking or James Church’s A Corpse in the Koryo; both books are unusual and powerful.

By: Karen Olson

Karen Olson — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:23:21 +0000

You’re absolutely right. And there’s a mystery for everybody these days. If we want something more literary or chick lit-ie or dark or funny or action-packed, everything goes and there are no boundaries. I just recently finished Daniell Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone, which was labeled a crime novel, and while there was suspense and crime, it was so beautifully written and evocative of the best of Southern lit. It really transcended all genre requirements.

By: David Thayer

David Thayer — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:54:59 +0000

Hi Karen, thanks for stopping by. In addition to social issues I think crime authors are drawing from all sources of literary inspiration and not just post-modernist ironic bullshit.

By: Karen Olson

Karen Olson — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:53:29 +0000

I loved Kirino’s OUT, and can’t wait to read GROTESQUE.

Crime novelists take on a lot of social issues these days, i.e. Ian Rankin, Laura Lippman, George Pelecanos, and I think that does give crime novels a leg up in being influential with readers. At the same time, these books are not preaching but offer fascinating characters and wonderful plots that emphasize any type of “message” the author might want to offer. It used to be that mainstream fiction did this, but personally, I think Oprah killed that with her recommendations of so many books with victimized women that hit the reader over the head with their social issues. They left me shaking my head and wanting more out of a story.