I find it interesting that in an age when we're told that

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Anonymous
2016-01-14 20:54:11 Post No. 7586156
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Anonymous 2016-01-14 20:54:11 Post No. 7586156 [Report]

I find it interesting that in an age when we're told that reading is on the decline and that the Internet has shortened all of our attention spans, that instead of fiction readers shifting to short stories or novellas, that it actually seems like things have gone completely the other way. It seems like we're living in a time when novelists are taking on huge, epic, multi-book projects.

>Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
>My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard
>The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
>The Familiar by Mark Z. Danielewski
>The Iowa Trilogy by Jane Smiley

You could probably think of more. It's odd, no? I don't remember such a number of sprawling, multi-book novels ten years ago. Instead of shrinking to account for everybody's shorter attention spans these days, novels seem to have exploded. Anyone else notice this or think it's interesting? Everyone's Proust these days.

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Anonymous 2016-01-14 23:54:33 Post No.7586905
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Anonymous 2016-01-14 23:54:33 Post No.7586905 [Report]

As someone who enjoys single books in the ~250 page region this trend towards trilogies of huge books digusts me.

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Anonymous 2016-01-14 23:56:50 Post No.7586918
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Anonymous 2016-01-14 23:56:50 Post No.7586918 [Report]

That is interesting, I have no explanation for it. Given the general cultural context I'd expect novellas or short books of aphorisms to be all the rage, but literature seems to have gone the other way.

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Anonymous 2016-01-15 01:57:41 Post No.7587412
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Anonymous 2016-01-15 01:57:41 Post No.7587412 [Report]

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>>7586156
While general readership is definitely in decline the internet has given a market to niche interests (which reading has, to a certain degree, become). So while the attention span of the average person has definitely decreased there has also sprung up a new market of reading enthusiasts who are precisely the market for epic, sprawling, literary series

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Anonymous 2016-01-15 02:28:55 Post No.7587510
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Anonymous 2016-01-15 02:28:55 Post No.7587510 [Report]

>>7587412
>general readership is in decline
Christ. Maybe percentage-wise. Dumbest fucking thing I've ever read.

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Anonymous 2016-01-15 02:46:36 Post No.7587553
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Anonymous 2016-01-15 02:46:36 Post No.7587553 [Report]

>>7586156

tv/movies won out as simple distraction. the book must become more book -- long & sprawling (like yo daddy dick)

they sell. are easier to market w/ consistent covers, subject, story. 'fans' know exactly what they will get.

pubs less willing to invest in new projects/authors. similar to hollywood and franchising superhero crap