Genres

[mrissa]

Okay, you people, I'm in a restless mood sitting here writing my book, and that means it's question time on the livejournal. What I want to know about this time is genres and subgenres:

Do you have genres you definitely don't read? (And if so, what?) Do you have subgenres you definitely don't read? (And again, what?) Do you have genres or subgenres in which you'll read very nearly anything? Does genre have anything to do with what book you get in the mood for, or do other characteristics have more to do with what book you choose to read at a given moment? For what else do you use genre (recommending books to others, finding it in libraries or bookstores,...)? Do you feel certain that you know the difference between genres? Between subgenres? Do you make up your own categories? How do you categorize nonfiction, if at all? Do you consider age indicators (middle-grades, YA, etc.) to be genres or some other type of categorization or completely irrelevant to you or what? What does it take to get you to read a book in a genre you usually dislike? Any other genre-related thoughts you want to share with me? Is the word "genre" starting to sound nonsensical the way words do if you repeat them enough?

Comments

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

I don't read non-supernatural horror. Nor do I read most supernatural horror, though I read some by Stephen King and Clive Barker. Generalized Anxiety Disorder means never having to pay for that feeling.

I don't read Tom Clancy books, by Clancy himself or anyone else.

I read spy fiction only if the writer has an obvious political agenda; for example, the novels Eric Ambler wrote before WW II. Which is, oddly enough, what I _don't_ read in other fiction genres.
I think it's because, in a spy novel that's not politically charged, the events are merely moves in a game.

This isn't an established subgenre: The kind of fantasy which most interests me takes place along the border of our world and Elfland.
Note that this does not include fantasy which begins along that border and then moves firmly into Elfland.

Note: It's probably a good idea to distinguish between publishing categories and genres. Publishing category is the label the publisher puts on the book. Genre is the set of distinctions which make sense.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Genre is at least the set of distinctions that make internal sense. I think if you try to get people to define a genre very specifically, you'll find that definitions that work perfectly fine internally don't always do so well externally.