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Should we abolish literary genres? (alien.top)

submitted 1 year ago by dervishman2000@alien.top to c/books@metacritics.zone

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"Genre is a confining madness; it says nothing about how writers write or readers read, and everything about how publishers, retailers and commentators would like them to."

I can see why some authors might find them annoying (see Vonnegut & SF label), and granted some books are too complicated to categorize comprehensively, but readers need some parameters when browsing.

To this end, I'm always thankful to fellow readers who take the time to comment on novels upon completion.

Edit: This is NOT my suggestion. See article by Alex Clark at:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/27/the-big-idea-should-we-abolish-literary-genres?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Weekly:%20November%2027-December%201%2C%202023&utm_term=lithub_weekly_master_list

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[–] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

I wouldn’t. There are a million different ways to describe every book and some of the more general ones help readers to the right area. I think promoting deeper understanding and asking reference librarians for suggestions can deepen/enhance the search.