books

<p>Could you explain literacy fiction? I come from scifi/fantasy land and am confused.</p><p>There’s this definition that feels like “genre fiction has some recognizable theme/trope/rule/setting/whatever. Literary fiction is just the stuff that doesn’t fit easily.” I guess that’s a fine definition. Useful! Though I think my library just calls that “fiction” or “general fiction”.</p><p>But there’s this other “literature makes you think” definition. That’s the definition I feel like people mean when they say the word with reverence. There’s some “genre is popcorn and literature is vegetables” there too. Genre is of plot driven literature character driver. Literature examines the human condition and has complex story structure.</p><p>So, like, Use of Weapons and Chasm City are just about the most scifi books to ever scifi. I’m not as into war fiction, but Catch 22 counts, right? They use they’re complex narrative structure to make you feel a way. In service of their examination of war/time/identity. I dunno. Slaughterhouse Five leans on scifi to process war.</p><p>Never Let Me Go uses it’s simple structure and scifi tropes to examine a very complex theme. That book is not candy.</p><p>Ender’s Game taught me more about empathy than religion ever managed to.</p><p>There is certainly plot driven scifi with not great characters that’s super duper scifi. Three Body Problem, 2001, Childhood’s End. I don’t tend to like those as much. But they sure have things to say about the human condition.</p><p>We’re living in some terrible mashup of Snowcrash, The Diamond Age, Neuromancer, and The Fifth Season. And they wrote those books because they saw it coming. Or wanted to explain that I was already here. Hell, there’s even the classic “we built the torment nexus from the classic book don’t build the torment nexus” meme.</p><p>I’m just… What even is literature?</p> <small class="notice" x-post-type-data="None"> Takahe has limited support for this type: <a href="https://programming.dev/post/44253465">See Original Page</a> </small>

<p>Readings:</p><p><p><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/30205807/" rel="nofollow">Ultra-processed Food</a> by Chris van Tulleken</p><br><p><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/22205950/" rel="nofollow">The Bullet Journal Method</a> by Ryder Caroll</p><br><p><a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/15782979/" rel="nofollow">The Bands of Mourning</a> by Brandon Sanderson, 3rd book in the 2nd era of Mistborn</p></p><p>Still the same books as last week. I don’t think it was a good idea to start 3 books at once, I am probably going to focus of Bands of Mourning, which has become really interesting. Still have about 1/3rd of the book to go though.</p><p>What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?</p><p>For details on the c/Books bingo challenge that just restarted for the year, you can checkout the initial <a href="https://threadiverse.link/lemmy.world/post/28953205" rel="nofollow">Book Bingo</a>, and its <a href="https://threadiverse.link/lemmy.world/post/28953205" rel="nofollow">Recommendation Post</a>. Links are also present in our community sidebar.</p> <small class="notice" x-post-type-data="None"> Takahe has limited support for this type: <a href="https://discuss.online/post/34183928">See Original Page</a> </small>