Skip to main content

Are novels over-rated?

I've guest-blogged for the Oxfam Bookfest blog, today, on the over-valuation (maybe) of The Great British Novel.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well, yes, of course, bad novels are over-rated. By definition. And the whole hootenany that accompanies the arrival of the next Great British Novel isn't particularly encouraging. But good novels will out, will avoid the hype, somehow... Take John Kennedy Toole's 'Conspiracy of Dunces'(not by a Brit, obviously). Ignored, bypassed, sent off into the realms of darkness (i.e. only the occasional Penguin reprint if you're lucky) and yet a couple of days ago someone said to me, out of the blue, 'Have you read that New Orleans novel, the one about the big fat bloke with no self-esteem?'. The strength of the novel is word of mouth not big hype campaigns. Or the publishing world's hoopla. Depressing? Perhaps. But that's how it's always been.
Sun Jul 12, 11:58:00 pm 2009
Post a Comment