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Recently, I’ve noted a subtle change in
the way some websites are doing their reviews. It’s primarily at some
of the more visible sites. The reviews being posted have a literary
bent to them. I don’t see this as a bad thing. Actually, it’s nice to
read a review that fully documents why a book does or doesn’t work for
the reviewer.
The interesting thing
is that I sometimes feel like I’m reading a review that could easily be
at home in a literary magazine, which reviews books like Memoirs of a
Geisha, The Joy Luck Club etc. Both excellent books, but I’d probably
lean toward calling them general fiction as opposed to women’s fiction.
Of course, that’s a subjective observation, so don’t flay me alive if
you happen to disagree.
Here I Go Again -- Thinking!
What
got me to thinking about these expansive reviews and insightful
commentary is that over the past couple of years, I’ve seen a movement
to “legitimize” romance. To study romance from an academic
point-of-view and see how it reflects our culture and its values. I’ve
been a part of it myself to some extent. Although
I’ve stepped back from the movement some because I’m not sure my work
is a reflection of current culture and /or society mores. That is, I
don’t believe my work embodies a Jane Austen quality in which the story
reflects social aspects of the time. So thinking about this made me
curious as to whether or not the phenomenon of in-depth reviewing of a
“literary” nature might be an natural progression of changing
perceptions about romance
As someone
who tends to over analyze everything I do or say (hence today’s post),
these literary-style reviews of romance intrigue me. However it does
make me wonder if reviews searching for the inner meaning of life
inside a romance novel might be expecting more of a fictional book (any
genre) than its primary purpose. What’s its primary purpose? In my
mind, the ultimate goal of a work of fiction is entertainment. I write
my stories to entertain my readers as well as myself. I don’t
deliberately set out to write a book that speaks to current social
conventions or is a thesis on women in a patriarchal society. If I were
to happen to write a book like that, cool, but it’s not something I
have in mind when I write my stories.
If
I were to see a discussion of my work in terms of its meaning in the
greater scheme of things, I’d probably frown and go huh? I didn’t write
it with the intent to discuss the meaning of life. I just wanted to
write a good book that entertains my readers—a book that takes them
away from their problems if only for a short time.
So
what do you think? Are in depth, “literary-type” reviews a way to
legitimize romance? Do we need to write stories that contain a
“message” in addition to a good story with an HEA? Or maybe as usual, I’m over analyzing the whole thing. *shrug* But at least I got a topic out of it. *grin*
