The Ultimate Guide to Literary Fiction: What It Is & Where to Start

Comments · 59

• CA

  @cafeaulivre · 1 year ago · pinned

  Do you agree with my definition? And what is your favorite literary fiction novel? Let me know down below and let's create a whole list of recommendations!

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• AN

  @annschmidt5461 · 1 year ago

  So funny, I happen to be reading " The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime".right now.  I love that you included it; it's a great story.  Your definitions of literary fiction are excellent as well as thought-provoking.  Thanks for a great video.

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• BO

  @Books_read_sam · 1 year ago

  Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace will ALWAYS live rent free in my head, I’m gearing up for a reread😊

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• SH

  @shisharma · 1 year ago

  You defined it well, i completely agree with your definition .<br>I would include two books in the list &quot;To kill a mockingbird,&quot;and The great Gatsby .

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• NE

  @NedBalzer · 5 months ago (edited)

  Coming late to the party. I like and agree with your thoughts. It&apos;s unfortunate that both genre and lit fiction fans criticize each other&apos;s tastes. I think literary is an adjective that can be applied to any book or story, and it doesn&apos;t have to check all the boxes you listed, as long as it checks some of them: thematic, character-driven, stylistic, experimental, employing beautiful language, playing with point of view or setting in interesting ways. What drives me nuts, as a writer, is to see &quot;literary&quot; as an item in a genre dropdown on a site like submittable. It&apos;s like &quot;tell me your favorite fruit: apple, orange, tractor, banana, strawberry.&quot; So the most important thing you said is that it is not a genre. Thanks for the video! As for recommendations, almost any work by Karen Russell.

• RO

  @romaisblooming · 1 year ago

  That is the best definition of literary fiction I’ve heard. I would recommend “The Elephant on Karluv &nbsp;Bridge” by Thomas Trofimuk. It is a story of several individuals and an elephant, told by a 600 year old bridge in Prague. Excellent!

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• SA

  @sailormiu · 1 year ago

  a really insightful video with a great array of book recs! some of which have definitely piqued my interest :] thank you for you efforts!

• WI

  @WilliamsLibrary · 1 year ago

  Experimental literature &nbsp;fits comfortably into literary fiction. There&apos;s a book called &apos;Time&apos;s Arrow&apos; where the narrative is told backwards. Example: people go to the doctor to CAUSE injury and illness!

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• AD

  @adrianmcmahon5731 · 1 year ago

  I&apos;ve often found the term literary fiction to often come across as quite snobbish and more than a little elitist and proponents (often book reviewers from the more traditional critic background, not the more down to earth and very nice BookTubers 😉) of it often look down on anything else. For example Cloud Atlas &amp; Handmaid&apos;s Tale that you started your list with crosses the line with genre SF. I&apos;ve always hated the snooty attitude that science fiction can&apos;t be literary and the same goes to other genres that often get looked down on. A great book can cross genre boundaries and successfully reach a wider audience than genre fiction often commands.

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• QM

  @QMan316 · 1 year ago

  Keep up the content!

• TE

  @techidna-h9t · 1 year ago

  Great accessible choices. I would add in Atonement by Ian McEwan and Orwell&apos;s 1984 as a more historical choice.

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• MO

  @monicai.3034 · 1 year ago

  Great! Thank you for the promptitude! 👏👏 Precise and clear information! Indeed I prefer literary fiction, I discovered in time that I&apos;m interested to read more about the human condition, the significance over the entertainment.<br>Some of my favorite books that fit here:<br>Normal People by Sally Rooney, The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini and The remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro.

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