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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab
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To: Dayuhan who wrote (2994)6/21/1999 3:05:00 PM
From: jbe  Read Replies (3) of 4711
 
Yes, Steven, I've read Conrad's The Secret Agent. I have also read his Under Western Eyes, another "spy novel."

For that matter, much of Conrad's work could be considered "genre fiction" of one sort or another. But the real point is that Conrad set out to produce literature, not formula fiction.

Maybe the key is in the intent of the writer and the object of the reader.

Most "genre fiction" is pretty unpretentious stuff, written according to a certain formula, faithful to accepted conventions of the genre, read by people looking for some entertaining distraction. Some writers will be "better at" it than others; but, for the most part, they are not even attempting to produce "Literature."

Those that do produce it use the genre for their own ends. For example, would you call Aldous Huxley's Brave New World an example of the science fiction genre?

Joan
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