Dumbing down of American fiction?

Kosmex5 · Post by **Kosmex5** » 17 Apr 2009, 10:18

I hope I don't sound elitist when I say this, but it's getting harder to find great books. The books I see seem to be targeted towards TV enthusiasts with short attention spans and an aversion to "big words."

Nowhere is this more evident than in the airport gift shop. Whenever I travel I always look forward to picking out a book for the flight. Lately, I've had a hard time finding anything acceptable. After wading through the , "Based on CSI!", romantic fiction and idiotic diet manuals there isn't much left. Seriously folks, do we really need another formulaic crime mystery about a plucky female detective going through a divorce?

The last book I bought claimed it was on the New York Times best seller list for over 6 months. After reading a few chapters I'm here to make the claim that it was written by monkeys. Another "gripping best seller" I picked up used such juvenile descriptions that I frequently checked and re-checked the cover to make sure I hadn't mistakenly picked up a book from the Young Adult section.

What is going on here?

hyukawa · Post by **hyukawa** » 19 Apr 2009, 20:24

kosmex5, which book was this?

if i were to offer an optimistic explanation, i think the airport book gift shop is an attempt by the smart publishing industry to get traditional nonreaders to buy a book. so people who are not usual avid readers get sucked into reading and into the market. so yes, it's dumbed down over all, but it's because there's still a constant core of solid readers being joined by a lot of less enthusiastic ones who settle for lighter reading. heh. maybe.

SoggyPeanutPatrol · Post by **SoggyPeanutPatrol** » 19 Apr 2009, 22:15

There is just as much great fiction as there always has been. Our problem arises because there is a lot of crap. A lot of people who read books aren't really into "literature," as paradoxical as that sounds, and the publishing industry is well aware of this. So maybe American fiction is not being "dumbed down," but rather being bogged down by a new surge of pulp fiction in which the goal is mass-appeasement and not art. This may turn out to be not all that bad in the future. Where would we be without the influence dime novels of the turn of the last century or the pulp novels of the 30's and 40's?

breakingthehabit · Post by **breakingthehabit** » 20 Apr 2009, 05:13

I learned my lesson not to trust the words "No 1 Bestseller based on..." . I pick the one which usually says " the winner of ....prize" or something along that line. or you can basically read the summary first before you buy it.
I agree with the previous response that it is not entirely bad to have those heavily-published-but-loads-of-crap books. At least we live in a society that can read

hyukawa · Post by **hyukawa** » 20 Apr 2009, 17:12

SoggyPeanutPatrol wrote:There is just as much great fiction as there always has been. Our problem arises because there is a lot of crap. A lot of people who read books aren't really into "literature," as paradoxical as that sounds, and the publishing industry is well aware of this. So maybe American fiction is not being "dumbed down," but rather being bogged down by a new surge of pulp fiction in which the goal is mass-appeasement and not art. This may turn out to be not all that bad in the future. Where would we be without the influence dime novels of the turn of the last century or the pulp novels of the 30's and 40's?

yeah, true, pulp has always existed. is this much less true now? are modern romance novels considered pulp? i can also certainly think of a lot of pulp science fiction that's still being published. they're the books which after one reads chapter 1 you can accurately predict the plot of the rest of the book.

Lucinda · Post by **Lucinda** » 23 Apr 2009, 08:52

If you want to get a feel for Australia read Tim Winton's Cloudstreet, or Robert Drewe's ,The Shark Net. For a US classic try To Kill a Mockingbird. Any of the pommie git Ben Elton's works are great for a plane ride. Douglas Adams ?

Doug_Brunell · Post by **Doug_Brunell** » 03 May 2009, 01:13

You do have to remember that the airport is not the kind of place where you will find books that cause some serious introspection. The sad thing is: Do you really want the last book you read before you crash into the mountain to be "The Client"?

Kosmex5 · Post by **Kosmex5** » 04 May 2009, 23:15

Doug_Brunell wrote:You do have to remember that the airport is not the kind of place where you will find books that cause some serious introspection. The sad thing is: Do you really want the last book you read before you crash into the mountain to be "The Client"?

That's pretty funny because I have in fact read "The Client" on an airplane. Echh.

mohses · Post by **mohses** » 08 May 2009, 05:11

[quote]I hope I don't sound elitist when I say this, but it's getting harder to find great books. The books I see seem to be targeted towards TV enthusiasts with short attention spans and an aversion to "big words."

Nowhere is this more evident than in the airport gift shop. Whenever I travel I always look forward to picking out a book for the flight. Lately, I've had a hard time finding anything acceptable. After wading through the , "Based on CSI!", romantic fiction and idiotic diet manuals there isn't much left. Seriously folks, do we really need another formulaic crime mystery about a plucky female detective going through a divorce?

The last book I bought claimed it was on the New York Times best seller list for over 6 months. After reading a few chapters I'm here to make the claim that it was written by monkeys. Another "gripping best seller" I picked up used such juvenile descriptions that I frequently checked and re-checked the cover to make sure I hadn't mistakenly picked up a book from the Young Adult section.

i agree old mate , but sadly its not just american airports its a global issue

flashgordon · Post by **flashgordon** » 08 May 2009, 17:19

I'd have to agree with you. I can't read contemporary fiction very often for this exact reason. Anything written prior to 1950 usually is good enough for me.

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes · Post by **Scott** » 09 May 2009, 20:05

I think this "dumbing down" process is not just affecting books. I think it affects the commercialized mass-production of all forms of art, namely television, movies and music. I do not expect to find quality, artistic music in the pop aisle at a music store anymore than I expect to find quality books on the "popular" shelves of a bookstore. In more of an analogy, don't go to McDonald's for quality food. There's a difference between what you or I consider great and what sells. What sells is what appeals to the common denominator. What sells is what a lot of regular people with money think is good enough to buy, not necessarily what many or even just some people think is great, and not what the people with the most sophisticated taste like most.

But I think quality books are out there, just like quality music, television and movies. You just have to find it in the classics, the independents, or the exceptions in the pop.

thisislissa · Post by **thisislissa** » 09 May 2009, 22:27

I suppose this is why I don't really go for contemporary literature (unless I want pulp). Anything that's still in print 50 years after it was written is probably either good literature or really great pulp! Hope not everyone takes my approach though, or those who are writing great books today will be skrewed.

Doug_Brunell · Post by **Doug_Brunell** » 11 May 2009, 20:04

Kosmex5 wrote:
Doug_Brunell wrote:You do have to remember that the airport is not the kind of place where you will find books that cause some serious introspection. The sad thing is: Do you really want the last book you read before you crash into the mountain to be "The Client"?
That's pretty funny because I have in fact read "The Client" on an airplane. Echh.

And I thought I felt bad when the in-flight movie was that Brady Bunch movie.