Book Genres And Predictability

-

Book or product?

Relaxing with a good work of fiction is not relaxing in the true sense of the word, because of anticipation. 

Readers don’t know whether the story will stay in the north or gravitate towards the south.  They have a jaundiced view of certain characters to the extent of treating them like humans, by either loving or hating them.

That is why publishers’ propensity to cubby hole books into genres: romance, thriller, sci-fi, chic lit etc. militates against that anticipation, because readers can predict the DNA of characters.  Authors tweak characters’ make-up from time to time for example, making the FBI or CIA agent a woman. 

For example, in Duplicity, the suspense thriller jointly written by Newt Gingrich and Pete Early, the fictitious U.S. President is a woman, Captain Brooke Grant is African American, her uncle is the Joint Chief of Staff and the terrorist an American of Somali descent, seduced by online religious fanaticism.

Sliding fiction in appropriate drawers dampens the creative side, if the genre demands that there must be a murder, a car chase and men in a van staking a joint.  Authors try to resist the required script, but agents and publishers convince them that it is the only Autobahn to book sales.  After all, they write to be read. They can only be read if they are published.

Declining Book Sales

Where does that leave readers?  Empty handed after a visit to the bookstore or online browsing.  Fiction is the result of imagination, which ends up being typed in a computer, printed and bound, then shipped to bookstores.
 



Potential buyers in bookstores test the waters by reading the back cover, the big seduction.  Unfortunately, it is one of the reasons for declining book sales because back covers reveal the story. 

Take chic lit for example. This genre has its generic plot, something similar to the movie The Devil Wears Prada.  The poor heroine will have an egomaniac boss that works her to the bone, making her chaotic and a fashion disaster. 

The consolation for the poor heroine is that she will meet a British guy and they will live happily ever after.  I’ve read three books where the guy is British.

Genres are not the only reason for declining book sales.  It is the printed word itself that is facing an uncertain future.  What happened to newspapers and magazines might also happen to books especially if readers can predict them. 

What’s the point of buying books if anticipation is gone and they know what will happen?  And, do readers really want happily ever after?

By:  Nonqaba waka Msimang.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

Internet Manners

-
Image
The internet and mama have something in common: manners.   They believe that always say Hi! To people you meet. Home is where the heart is, but it is rough being at home these digital days.   People are so tied up in chat rooms, Instagram, Twitter, FB, YouTube or Google mania, they don’t have a minute to say hi or good night to people they share a toilet or kitchen with. Thank god for internet players.   They say hi to me when I re-open a document after a thirty minutes’ break.   It’s all automated, but it is nice when the computer calls me by my name and encourages me to continue, where I left off. The internet understands that greetings are the definitive ice breaker, before saying mum, I’m hungry or dad, can I have the car keys? Facebook has taken it to the next level because it understands that I live in a strange province where the weather is a headline story, and not what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinks about the Keystone Pipeline, so Facebook reminds me of temperatu
Read more