writers not typically thought of as Literary....

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Lillith1991

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I enjoy reading a wide variety of things both Literary and not, but sometimes I come across a writer who isn't thought of as Literary and comes across to me as one. Take Octavia Butler for example, she's won some pretty major awards even outside of SFF awards; her work always deals with the questions of what being human means, race, and gender in some way or another. Far as I'm concerned, she does the same thing as Atwood does and is just as worthy of being called Literary.

I'm not asking why one is considered Lit and the other not, as I suspect starting audience is what plays most of the role with my given example. But I would like to know what writers other people may not consider Literary that you do.

So who isn't typically thought of as Lit that you consider to be Lit anyway, and why do you consider them Lit?
 
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Lhowling

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I haven't read too much of King's work; but I remember reading a quote somewhere that his work is literary... I'm paraphrasing, as I'm sure you can tell.
 

gettingby

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I haven't read too much of King's work; but I remember reading a quote somewhere that his work is literary... I'm paraphrasing, as I'm sure you can tell.

Stephen King does write literary fiction. He had a story in Tin House a few issues back. I don't think anyone familiar with his work would say he doesn't write literary fiction.
 

Hugh

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Stephen King does write literary fiction. He had a story in Tin House a few issues back. I don't think anyone familiar with his work would say he doesn't write literary fiction.

These two people disagree vehemently that King writes literary fiction:

"Told of Mr. King's selection, some in the literary world responded with laughter and dismay. ''He is a man who writes what used to be called penny dreadfuls,'' said Harold Bloom, the Yale professor, critic and self-appointed custodian of the literary canon. ''That they could believe that there is any literary value there or any aesthetic accomplishment or signs of an inventive human intelligence is simply a testimony to their own idiocy.''

Richard Snyder, the former chief executive of Simon & Schuster, which is now Mr. King's publisher, and a co-founder of the awards organization, said, ''I am startled every time you say it.'' He added: ''You put him in the company of a lot of great writers, and the one has nothing to do with the other. He sells a lot of books. But is it literature? No.'' "

There were two people on the National Book Awards committee who resigned after King won that award, but I can't find their names right now.

Also - to show King's (and Grisham's) sense of humor about what's literary and what's drug store crap:

"Ten years ago Mr. King and another blockbuster author, John Grisham, bought tickets to the annual awards presentation on the premise that ''that was the only way we were going to get in the door,'' Mr. King recalled in an interview. At the time, he said, he was pleasantly surprised then that ''nobody treated us like poseurs and hacks, which I think was what in our hearts we really expected.'' "

Link to NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/15/books/a-literary-award-for-stephen-king.html
 

C.bronco

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Stephen King was my hero as a child. Don't forget he wrote Stand By Me and The Stand among many other amazing stories. His gift is an understanding of the human condition. Great writers have that.
 
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M.S. Wiggins

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Has anyone read, We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart? If so, is it considered Literary, Contemporary, or something else?
 

djunamod

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"Told of Mr. King's selection, some in the literary world responded with laughter and dismay. ''He is a man who writes what used to be called penny dreadfuls,'' said Harold Bloom, the Yale professor, critic and self-appointed custodian of the literary canon.

How ironic! Because many 19th century writers whom people consider to be literary (among them, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins) were also big writers of the penny dreadfuls, which shows how literary tastes have changed over the years. Also, the article identifies Bloom as a "self appointed custodian of the literary canon". That screams complete arrogance to me. Who died and made him God of the literary world?

I haven't read King, so I can't comment on this. The only thing of King's that I read was his book on writing and I was quite impressed by his honesty and wisdom about writing.

Djuna
 

kuwisdelu

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How ironic! Because many 19th century writers whom people consider to be literary (among them, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins) were also big writers of the penny dreadfuls, which shows how literary tastes have changed over the years.

Literary taste hasn't changed so much over the years.

It's just that history tends to be kinder than one's contemporaries.
 

Kylabelle

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I have an example of a non-literary writer whom I consider to have written at least one novel I'd class as literary fiction: Elmore Leonard, with the book Unknown Man Number 89.

I haven't read it recently, and should re-read it soon, to check my perceptions I suppose, but as I recall it "goes there" -- into the territory beyond formulaic narrative and with enough art to really move and reveal....
 

Vito

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I have an example of a non-literary writer whom I consider to have written at least one novel I'd class as literary fiction: Elmore Leonard, with the book Unknown Man Number 89.

I haven't read it recently, and should re-read it soon, to check my perceptions I suppose, but as I recall it "goes there" -- into the territory beyond formulaic narrative and with enough art to really move and reveal....

I haven't read Unknown Man Number 89 but I classify Leonard's most well-known Western novel, Hombre, as literary fiction.
 
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