bonnet rippers!
By jb78000
@jb78000 (15139)
September 20, 2009 5:19am CST
a low key adaptation to lust filled romances is proving very successful in the united states. these are amish based love stories - not much gets ripped (except bonnets) but sales are going through the roof. what changes would you make to established fictional genres? in my case i think i'd have to start with all those that involve cats as detectives - a man with a profound dislike of cats, a shotgun and a binbag needs to be there on page one. chic lit minus all references to shopping and food might be a slight improvement. lots more spring to mind but hoping for some other suggestions.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@dawnald (85139)
• Shingle Springs, California
23 Dec 09
In that case, how about the book I just read about the flood, only instead of it continuing until the entire planet is underwater, how about just England. they can't be peevish if they've all drowned....
@unusualsuspect (2602)
• United States
20 Sep 09
Bonnet rippers? That's pretty funny, but also sort of pathetic when you think about it. I've only read a couple of romance novels -- that genre isn't of any real interest to me, and once you've read one romance, you've read them all. What's notable about them is they they cater to a very specific interest -- or maybe tittilate a specific interest is more like it. But no matter how much people get off on a subject, it eventually wears out and they go looking for novelty. Bonnet rippers are probably the same old, same old, tricked out in new clothes.
Cat detectives are a subgenre that was bound to get repetitive, just as every such genre does. The problem is that they depend on a gimmick and gimmicks always wear out. Gimmicks are also used as a substitute for good writing.
Science fiction, my favorite genre, has subgenres which have worn themselves out, and only the most original and creative writers are able to bring anything new to them. The rest depend on gimmicks.
@jb78000 (15139)
•
20 Sep 09
i think most genres have some kind of formula but romances are definitely particularly bad for this. i know because i used to have a neighbour who was addicted and was always passing the ones she'd finished with on to me. i read a few when i got very bored indeed and yes, they were all exactly the same. i like some science fiction - not that much. which writers are you keen on? i like iain. m. banks because his stuff tends to be fairly intelligent with moments of humour.
1 person likes this
@unusualsuspect (2602)
• United States
20 Sep 09
For some reason, I've never gotten around to reading Ian Banks, but I have a fairly long list of SF writers that I want to get familar with. If I live long enough. Some of my favorites are John Brunner, Frank Herbert, and Isaac Asimov, among the older writers. Vernor Vinge, William Gibson, Greg Egan, David Brin, and Neal Stephenson of the contemporary writers. I like Greg Bear fairly well also, and individual novels from a lot of other writers. I'm not much on hard science novels that depend on a knowedge of math or physics, but I do prefer intelligent explorations of science and of possibilities that are realistic outcomes of how we live now. A lot of people include fantasy and sword and sorcery in science fiction, but I consider them completely separate, and not as interesting.
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
21 Sep 09
Brunner, I believe, is one of the most intelligent of all the male SF writers. I would recommend Sheri Tepper, although her stuff can be a bit weird at times, Ursula LeGuin who is of the same vintage as Brunner, and if you like plenty of science in your SF, Kim Robinson's writing is fascinating. I prefer a little more fantasy in it as a rule, and love Anne McCaffrey as a result.
How about some space opera with intelligent horses and evil steers, with humans as the dogsbodies and sidekicks?
Lash
