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re: SECrOTB Book Club: I need a good book to read
Posted on 4/16/15 at 9:23 am to hipgnosis
Posted on 4/16/15 at 9:23 am to hipgnosis
quote:
I think commercial, pop-mainstream refers a certain type of book maybe more than it's level of production, which I know might seem contradicting.
Maybe level of marketing might be a better gauge.
The Grisham's, Clancy's, King's, Crichton's and the abundant many that use their playbook.
When you're trying to gratify a mass market, when that is the intention it's very difficult for the art to be intellectually nourishing, even if the aim is to just entertain.
Note: Entertainment can end up gratifying the masses without the intention to do so, without going through a corporate filter. Not to say that the indie artist isn't hoping to be widely liked, it's more about nonexistent parameters that help make something mass appealing.
This sounds like a lot of hipster bullshite.
Parameters which make a book appealing:
Good plot
Good dialogue
Interesting concept
Editing
Most of the 'indie' books I have read are good at the concept portion, but really, really, really (cannot say this enough) suffer from lack of professional editing. Most of them also suffer from poor or repetitive dialogue, which is also usually fixed by good editing.
You see this in older 'classics' that were written before major publishing companies became a thing. Robinson Crusoe is a great example of this. That book would be a $.99 on amazon if it was written today.
Back in the day, Asimov, Heinlein, Wilde, etc had great concepts and good editing/plot/dialogue, which is why they have stood the test of time.
However, there is nothing wrong with Grisham, Clancy, King, or Crichton. They are good authors and their books are well done for the most part. Better than 95% of the drivel out there.
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Posted on 4/16/15 at 5:15 pm to cokebottleag
quote:
there is nothing wrong with Grisham, Clancy, King, or Crichton. They are good authors and their books are well done for the most part
They are good authors. Their books do really well.
But Doritos are very good. They satisfy hunger in a satisfying way. Which is why they sell very well. It's an enjoyable experience to eat Doritos but afterwards you've done nothing but pacify your hunger.
You read a typical modern mainstream book, it's like a Doritos. It's enjoyable. It's pacified your boredom or intellectual itch. But there wasn't much real nourishment.
A 'better' book, not necessarily a more difficult book (stuff like The Stranger or Monkey Wrench Gang) can offer entertainment and nourishment. Instead of snacking on Doritos you decide to start snacking on homemade sweet potato fries. Maybe a little more work, but not much, still eating something fun and snackable, but you're getting nourishment while you're enjoyably snacking.
quote:
You see this in older 'classics' that were written before major publishing companies became a thing. Robinson Crusoe is a great example of this. That book would be a $.99 on amazon if it was written today.
I'd probably recommend more older, or new old books to people. I don't think my argument is talking strictly about new indie vs new commercial mainstream. There's more going on.
This post was edited on 4/16/15 at 5:17 pm
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