Oh no not at all! You raise a very good point as most novels do not entirely conform to one specific genre. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a good example to discuss. At its heart, it is a science fiction novel as it addresses man's relationship/reaction to technology. I think Dick does this in a sublime manner by introducing his "mood organ" in the very first sentence of his novel. Structurally, the story is a mystery. But I believe that Dick was more fascinated by the idea of soul and honor (and could a "copy" possess either) that the detective story was really a secondary thing (otherwise he could have written it as a mystery set in a modern day city). This is a very simplistic view of the novel of course - it is a wonderfully complicated story and accessible on many levels of interpretation.
But I digress. As a writer, I can approach the idea of genre from several POVs. As others have said, one can sit down and simply write their story, giving little thought or concern about genre. But from another direction, with theme in hand (or cause or concern or situation), I might want to consider what setting, characters, etc. (the things that help categorize genre) would best tell my story and work from there. Do I want or need a wizard or detective or Queen's captain to tell my story? What time and place would best serve the theme(s) that I want to write about?
As to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (you have correctly identified the novel), I believe that many readers of (traditional) historical fiction would refuse to accept it as a historical novel but instead as a work of speculative fiction (fantasy in this case) with a well-written historical setting (as opposed to a more traditional fantasy setting). But in the end, no matter the genre, it is a fascinating read!
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Date: 2009-06-01 11:04 pm (UTC)But I digress. As a writer, I can approach the idea of genre from several POVs. As others have said, one can sit down and simply write their story, giving little thought or concern about genre. But from another direction, with theme in hand (or cause or concern or situation), I might want to consider what setting, characters, etc. (the things that help categorize genre) would best tell my story and work from there. Do I want or need a wizard or detective or Queen's captain to tell my story? What time and place would best serve the theme(s) that I want to write about?
As to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (you have correctly identified the novel), I believe that many readers of (traditional) historical fiction would refuse to accept it as a historical novel but instead as a work of speculative fiction (fantasy in this case) with a well-written historical setting (as opposed to a more traditional fantasy setting). But in the end, no matter the genre, it is a fascinating read!
Thanks for commenting!