Armchair BEA Day 3: Literary Fiction

Armchair BEA is an online ‘convention’ of sorts that allows bloggers who can’t make it to BEA in New York a chance at some of the awesome action.

What got your started in literary fiction?

Well I’m not entirely sure about that. I think it was kind of because classic novels are usually in the literature section, or at least they were in my Borders. So It’s natural that while looking for another classic novel in my freshman year that I would snag a lit fic novel along the way. I think one of the first ones I picked up was Interview with the Vampire…which I guess is a bit debatable on if that series is literary fiction or not. At any rate I blazed through that series and while I was working it I started grabbing others at the recommendation of my literature teachers. Books like The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston or Sophie’s World by Jostien Gaarder.

A novel that needs more buzz.

Sophie’s World by Jostien Gaarder – It’s a fiction philosophy book about a girl who begins a rather curious adventure through philosophy thanks to little slips of paper from a mysterious teacher. This is a book that changed the way I think. I read it as a group read and we were all in awe every single time we met. There was so much to discuss, so much to think about, and at times it was overwhelming. I was shocked to learn that a lot of people hadn’t even heard of this one when i got out of school, it made me incredibly sad that people didn’t even know it existed. It’s a heavy book, not emotionally, but anything that makes you think this much will take time to read…if you blaze through it you’ll miss out on something.

Misconceptions about Literary Fiction

I think when people hear the world “literature” they either think of school classes or ‘classic’ novels, and while those are both correct to some extent literary fiction is so much more than that. It’s not just some distant, stuffy, and dated section in your bookstore. It has just as much life, vibrancy, and variety as other genres…in most cases there is actually more variety because literary novels include fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, and romances. It’s not singular in that respect, but when you pick up a book from this section you’ll know it. It has a certain feel to it, even when the style is different. The words hold depth and it’s more about the character’s journey than a plot line.

Literary Fiction Read this Year

I just finished The Harem by Safia Fazlul. It’s a hard hitting and quick read but I’m so glad I took the chance to accept the review request.

Recommendations:

• Sophie’s World by Jostien Gaarder (Philosophy/Fantasy/Historical)
• Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (Gothic Fantasy)
• The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
• The Gargoyle by Andrew Davison (Historical Fantasy/Romance) – It’s really unique and a bit hard to fit into a single catergory.
• How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez