Links and Sales and Other Awesomeness

First, from Mel J., Ursula LeGuin on the distinction between lit fic and genre fic:

To get out of this boring bind, I propose an hypothesis:

Literature is the extant body of written art. All novels belong to it.

The value judgment concealed in distinguishing one novel as literature and another as genre vanishes with the distinction.

Every readable novel can give true pleasure. Every novel read by choice is read because it gives true pleasure.

Literature consists of many genres, including mystery, science fiction, fantasy, naturalism, realism, magical realism, graphic, erotic, experimental, psychological, social, political, historical, bildungsroman, romance, western, army life, young adult, thriller, etc., etc…. and the proliferating cross-species and subgenres such as erotic Regency, noir police procedural, or historical thriller with zombies.

Some of these categories are descriptive, some are maintained largely as marketing devices. Some are old, some new, some ephemeral.

Genres exist, forms and types and kinds of fiction exist and need to be understood: but no genre is inherently, categorically superior or inferior.

This makes the Puritan snobbery of “higher” and “lower” pleasures irrelevant, and very hard to defend.'

Well, that was just stone cold awesome, ma'am. 


 

Via James L. comes two links to Topless Robot's 2011 and 2012 lists of badass heroines from fantasy literature. 

I confess, fantasy is not one of my favorite genres – but what do you think. Do you agree with this list?


And finally: a few books on sale, and a big ol' sale!

  • Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • The Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • Kilts & Kraken by Cindy Spencer Page * $.99 * A | BN | K | S
  • Slow Summer Kisses by Shannon Stacey * $.99 * A | BN | K | S

About that last one – Slow Summer Kisses – I really enjoyed that novella. It was realistic and funny and adorable – and worth picking up for $3.00. 

And, it's time for the Amazon Big Deal in romance – and there's a ton of other genres as well. Most books are between $.99 and $3.99. Thanks to Heather and many other's for the OMGYAY and the heads up! 

So, what are you buying? 

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The Link-O-Lator

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  1. Noelle Adams says:

    That Ursula Le Guin quote is fantastic. I always tell my students that there’s as much chance of college literature students a hundred years from now studying a 2012 commercial romance novel as their studying a 2012 “literary” novel.

    Obviously canon is a dubious concept, but if we take our English canon as a somewhat reasonable sampling of enduring literature, as many of the great English writers wrote for a popular audience as wrote for an elite audience, as many writers wrote primarily to entertain people as wrote to consciously craft “great” literature, and as many writers wrote squarely within genre conventions as defied them. The criteria that causes literature to endure beyond its own age is something very different than the criteria used to differentiate between “literary” and “genre” fiction today, which makes the whole assumption of superiority with literary fiction kind of crazy. The great, enduring writers of today could just as likely be writing romance or fantasy as writing literary fiction—and I really hope they are!

  2. Sarah {CEFS} says:

    I love, love, love that quotation from Ursela LeGuin. LOVE. Thanks so much for sharing it.

    Oh, by the way, the Shannon Stacey novella is only 99 cents this weekend. It’s a great read for $3, but a screaming deal at just a buck.

  3. McKenna Lang says:

    LeGuin is too awesome for words. And I want to second what Sarah said, above—- Slow Summer Kisses is a really fun read.

  4. CarrieS says:

    I have a full-length review of Kilts and Kraken in the works, but the short version is that it is AWESOME.  The most fun you can have for $2.99.  Buy it right now.

  5. wingednike says:

    I checked the 2012 and 2011 lists of heroines.  I like the authors chosen but think they’ve written stronger characters in other novels.  I also love that Princess Cimorene from Dealing with Dragons is on there

  6. laj says:

    Ursula K. Le Guin. Please edit your post.

  7. Staplegun says:

    Loving all the YA fantasy women in the lists: Keladry, Meliara, Harry Crewe, Princess Cimorene, Daja, Sabriel. I still re-read all of those books. (Hermione too, but I haven’t reread the HP series) In my opinion, Tamora Pierce pretty much always writes badass heroines: Alana, Daine, Alana’s daughter, etc.

    Arya Stark is the only reason I’ve continued to read GRRM. She’s a total badass, so I definitely agree with that one.

    Karigan and Kerowyn are both pretty cool if I remember correctly, but I haven’t reread those in a while.

    Eowyn was also pretty cool, but I felt she got overshadowed by the dudes in the book. In the movie she was quite awesome though.

     

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