What would you like to see in Mainstream/Contemporary/Literary?

I want to be surprised! Part of what I love about writing that doesn't adhere to a formula is the unexpected. It's like watching films that aren't made in Hollywood.

Real people. Lower class people. Become more democratic. Move minority fiction into "regular." Stop rendering to Bourgeoisie expectations. Fun crossovers might be nice. I like fun.

CaroGirl said:

I want to be surprised! Part of what I love about writing that doesn't adhere to a formula is the unexpected. It's like watching films that aren't made in Hollywood.

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That.

More magical realism and hysterical realism.

Or magical hysterical realism.

kuwisdelu said:

More magical realism and hysterical realism.

Or magical hysterical realism.

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I think my book might qualify. Seriously. LOL.

I want characters who have real problems, but can step back sometimes and see the silliness in things. Less angst, more humour.

I want to see different cultures portrayed in non-stereotypical ways. E.g., a British girl with Iranian parents who dreams about being a cowgirl.

Old stories in modern settings. E.g. girl has problems with her jealous stepmother and goes to live with 7 gay men.

More psychological thrillers with a literary twist.

It's getting really hard to find these books!

More of the modern, philisophical, gadfly style of literature. Basically those books that try and define our current culture. Maybe it's that the absence of those kinds of books in today's world defines us by ommission.

I think a good novella would be nice. Something that will make everyone of all ages just sit there and think about the life we lead.

The novella becoming a more popular form would be awesome.

I'd like to read more about interracial relationships, preferably between blacks and whites but presented more as a norm even though society hasn't reached that point of acceptance.

Great thread!

Less band wagon jumps, for example does everyone have to copy the newest best seller on the market? That is how I grew tired of vampires and most paranormal in general.

I second the magical realism as well as books with more plot twists and darker themes.

llalah said:

I second the magical realism as well as books with more plot twists and darker themes.

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I have a theory that pretty soon we're going to have red herring twists as twists. Plots that look like they're going to have a twist, and you can almost see it coming, and you believe in the twist, and then subverts it and not have one at all.

kuwisdelu said:

I have a theory that pretty soon we're going to have red herring twists as twists. Plots that look like they're going to have a twist, and you can almost see it coming, and you believe in the twist, and then subverts it and not have one at all.

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Yes, I'd like fewer twists. In recent years there has been some stories with good twist endings, but the twist thing seems to have become obligatory. Nowadays it seems like every book MUST have a twist to be considered good. So give me some untwisted novels.

Camilla Delvalle said:

Yes, I'd like fewer twists. In recent years there has been some stories with good twist endings, but the twist thing seems to have become obligatory. Nowadays it seems like every book MUST have a twist to be considered good. So give me some untwisted novels.

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How about a twisted novel without a twist ending?

mkcbunny said:

How about a twisted novel without a twist ending?

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Yes, that would be perfect.

Literary with a commercial bent. Sorry, I know... why not just read commercial fiction? But I like my literary fiction to have a gripping plot besides luxurious prose and intricate themes. I don't like reading 150 pages of interpersonal relationships that go in circles. Give me a plot!

And like someone else says, surprise me!

Less gimmicks!!! I'm so tired of quirky for quirky's sake. Just tell me the story without all the smoke and mirrors, please.

Hope.
Seriously. The last century was so full of self loathing and flagellation...reminding us all how dark, unfair and meaningless it all is. I'm tired of it. To me, fiction and art can show us the way to a better world. It needn't simply obsess over the inequities of life and how there's no answer to our questions.
Fiction can light a path to a more hopeful future. It can show us what we CAN acheive. It can be about ideals and doing what's right and fair. We don't have to wander aimlessly. Give me something to reach for!

EG

Novels that capture the majesty, realism, and mysticism of films like Pan's Labyrinth and The Devil's Backbone. I'd also like to read a high-quality, super-imaginative, and in-continuity Superman story for adults. I dislike having The Sandman, which I adore, as my only source for mindblowing, literary graphic fiction -- and that ended years ago; haven't found anything to fill the gap since.

_Richard

More books that capture the magic of childhood in something adult and literary - like The Magicians and The Book Of Lost Things. It'd be nice to see one with a female heroine, too.

More literary with a sense of humor. I like that about Franzen's work, but I feel most of the literary I've read is unrelentingly serious. I'm with Roald Dahl's Matilda - I like books with "funny bits". I have never been in a situation, including some very dark ones, where there wasn't a spark of humor.

I kind of feel like it's all out there. But. Just in terms of what seems to get all the pub amongst snotty-MFA-literary-bohemian-whatever-you-know-like-The-New-Yorker-reading-and-imported-beer-drinking types, I'd like to see a move away from the direction of poorly-constructed stories that, say, center around a glossed-over, semi-tragic-but-funny shell of a character and an incredibly "hip" vagina metaphor and a move toward stories that contain characters who're meaningfully developed over the course of a tightly put-together plot. But I'm an old-fashioned kind of fellow (which may just be a nicer way of saying I'm an old fart), and I miss the gritty sort of wholeness that seemed more smiled-upon, a generation ago.