| The term literary fiction is
relatively new, in common usage since
the 1970s. It describes serious fiction,
as opposed to genre (such as fantasy or
mystery), and popular fiction. The
novels use narrative creatively to
explore significant philosophical,
psychological, and linguistic themes.
While plot is the focus of popular or
mainstream novels, characters and style
drive literary fiction. Readers of
literary fiction usually do not find
neat, tidy happy endings; these books
are full of ambiguity.
|
| Check out these
literary fiction titles and authors: |
Michael Chabon’s Amazing
Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is a
magical, epic tale of a refugee from the
Nazis who joins his American cousin in
1939 New York City. The two create comic
books based on their own fears and
dreams. |
| Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with
a Pearl Earring, continues to weave
historical facts, art, and fiction with
The Lady and the Unicorn. The creation
of a fifteenth century tapestry provides
the backdrop for this beautiful,
intriguing story set during France in
the late fifteenth century. |
| The unique Extremely Loud and
Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran
Foer, follows nine-year-old Oskar’s
quest to learn more about a key found in
his deceased father’s closet after 9/11.
It’s the second novel by the author of
Everything is Illuminated.
|
|
A Gesture Life, by Chang-Rae Lee, is the
moving story of Hata, a Korean man
raised in Japan and living in America.
His quiet, correct life masks the pain
of his experiences in World War II. |
Philip Roth’s American Pastoral
relates the story of Swede, who lives a
charmed life until his beloved daughter
gets involved in the 1960s anti-war
movement and goes underground after
accidentally killing someone. It’s a
vivid, powerful portrayal of modern
America. |
|
Set in India, Arundhati Roy’s The God of
Small Things depicts the tragedies that
haunt the doomed family of fraternal
twins Rahel and Estha. The twins learn
that everything can change in a moment
in this outstanding debut novel. |
|
Zadie Smith wrote White Teeth, a
multigenerational remarkable tale set in
post-war London. Two intertwined
families, outsiders in Britain, cope
with the struggles of immigrants in an
examination of fate and choice.
|
| More literary
luminaries |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Authors of popular
fiction, genre fiction, or nonfiction
occasionally venture into literary
fiction. Here are just a few: |
| Margaret Atwood, who wrote the
science fiction classic, Oryx and Crake,
also penned Alias Grace, the compelling,
fascinating psychological portrait of an
accused murderer and former maid.
|
| Anita Diamant has written numerous
nonfiction books on Jewish rituals, but
also wrote The Red Tent, giving voice to
the Old Testament character, Dinah, in a
sweeping literary fiction tale. |
| Alice Hoffman’s fantasy novels are
spellbinding. In The Blue Diary, Hoffman
spins a lyrical tale of a “perfect”
husband and father with a dark past and
his small town’s reaction to his
previous life. |
| Barbara Kingsolver wrote the popular
fiction title The Bean Trees and moved
into the literary fiction realm with The
Poisonwood Bible, vividly chronicling
the unraveling of a missionary family in
Africa. |
| Anita Shreve also turned to literary
fiction after her popular fiction title,
The Pilot’s Wife, with Fortune’s Rocks.
It follows a fifteen-year-old during the
summer of her sexual awakening, her love
affair with a married man, and the
scandal’s aftermath. |
| |
