I was making dinner the other evening when a revelation came to me. I do not like modern fiction. By that, I mean books written in and about the current day. I only like historical books. By this I mean books written in time periods prior to this one, or books written in this time period but not about this time period.
A quick survey of my shelves confirmed my suspicions. The bookshelf in the study is filled primarily with non-fiction history books, mostly about royalty, ranging in time from the Ancient Greeks to the Cold War. But nothing really recent. My fiction shelves also contain a wide variety of mystery, fantasy, sci-fi and other types of novels, but nothing current. In fact, the only novels I have set in the present day are Confessions of a Shopaholic and Bridget Jones's Diary.
All of my mystery selections are either written prior to the current day (Agatha Christie), or written about the past from the present day (Laurie R. King's Mary Russell series). Some of my favourite authors are no longer living: Lucy Maud Montgomery, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie. Fortunately there are many excellent historical fiction authors which are living and whose works I enjoy: Sharon Kay Penman, Judith Merkle Riley, Fiona Buckley.
I don't just enjoy historical fiction, I also enjoy sci-fi and fantasy. These are also books that do not take place in the current time. Some of my favourite sci-fi/fantasy authors are Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey, and Robin McKinley. I would almost classify my chick-lit favourites Confessions of a Shopaholic and Bridget Jones's Diary as fantasy just because their setting and heroines are so far removed from my daily life as to seem almost unreal. I will never be a singleton with a chic publishing job living in a little flat in London.
The rationale behind my apparent antagonism is probably this: I live in the daily world. I know what it is like. I read to take me away from the everyday, whether it be to a farm in Prince Edward Island (Anne of Green Gables), the bloody civil war in 1100's England (When Christ and His Saints Slept), or soaring on dragonback across the skies of Pern (The Skies of Pern). That doesn't mean I don't sometimes enjoy a well-written piece of modern fiction. But my favourite books and authors will always be those who can transport me away from the everyday to a different place or time.
My gripe about a lot of modern fiction is that it's so damn depressing. But there are lots of really good contemporary books. Some of them mysteries, too ;)
ReplyDeleteI like to be swept away to another world or another time when I read, so I would probably like any modern fiction that could do that. I agree with you on the depressing part.
ReplyDeleteAny recommendations for some good modern books?