> are there really no distinctions made between genre
fiction and literary
fiction in Europe?
I did a master's in Anglo-American Literature at University
College London in 1996-96, and I did notice that distinctions
between genre fiction and
"serious" fiction were far more ignored. In fact, that is how
I found out about Raymond Chandler. My professors, when
discussing great American authors of the first half of the
20th century, would often list such notables as Hemingway,
Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Steinbeck, and Chandler. I finally
protested, "But didn't this Chandler just write detective
fiction?" My prof (Dr. Michael Mason, I believe) wisely
snapped back, "Yes, but have you READ any of Chandler? If
not, then how dare you presume to judge his writing? If it's
GOOD, then who cares if it's also a mystery novel?" Well, I
realized my arrogance and read _Lady in the Lake_ and was
blown away.
Check the reviewers from Chandler's lifetime and the same
patterns hold; American reviewers considered him one of the
top mystery writers (but still a mere mystery writer), while
British reviewers tended to take him seriously as a
writer.
By the way, I turned in the first two chapters of my doctoral
dissertation yesterday... on Chandler.
~Marc Seals
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