In English class on Monday we talked about literary fiction versus commercial fiction. I was surprised to realize that I had somewhat talked about literary and commercial fiction in my summer reading journals. I mentioned how both my summer reading books, American Gods by Neil Gaiman and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, were more character based than plot based. Literary fiction is more character based and commercial fiction is more plot based. I also said that I like the plot based books better because they are easier and more enjoyable to read, which means I like commercial fiction.
Commercial fiction is extremely popular and gives people and escape from their daily lives. Literary fiction on the other hand makes you see the world in a different way after reading and is usually less enjoyable to read. The books we read were in between literary and commercial fiction. This makes sense because both books were enjoyable to an extent, but also changed my views on the world. With American Gods, I learned about how it is hard to tell the difference between good and evil through Neil Gaiman's character Mr. Wednesday. Never Let Me Go opened my eyes to how the world sometimes overlooks how technological advancement can negatively affect certain groups of people.
I agree- although commercial fiction might not have literary value, it's still far more interesting...but I guess that is the goal of the author. I wonder if literary fiction will soon become obsolete as less people are willing to read and write it.
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