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nano_writers2009-05-31 12:24 pm
Blue/Purple Mini Challenge: What Genre Is It?
The first sentence from ten different novels is quoted below, each novel a well-known representative work of a particular genre. With careful reading, can you identify the correct genre? Bonus points if you recognize the opening line and can name the book and author!
Let us know how you did in the comments below: what clues did the author provide?
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4
“The light hadn’t even officially turned green at the intersection of 17th and Broadway before an army of overconfident yellow cabs roared past the tiny deathtrap I was attempting to navigate around the city streets."
“Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians.”
“You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.”
“A purple ocean, vast under the sky and devoid of all visible life apart from two minute ships racing across its immensity.”
“When I was a young boy, if I was sick or in trouble, or had been beaten at school, I used to remember that on the day I was born my father had wanted to kill me.”
“At the beginning of July, during an extremely hot spell, towards evening, a young man left the closet he rented from tenants in S-----y Lane, walked out to the street, and slowly, as if indecisively, headed for K-----n Bridge.”
“A merry little surge of electricity piped by automatic alarm from the mood organ beside his bed awakened Rick Deckard.”
“The old chrome-yellow school bus crawled south on Market Street at half past seven that May morning.”
Literature
1 (25.0%)
Romance
0 (0.0%)
Adventure
0 (0.0%)
Mystery
3 (75.0%)
Historical
0 (0.0%)
“OK – answer me this: why would anyone want to wear an overcoat in San Francisco in the middle of summer?”
Sci-Fi
0 (0.0%)
Mystery
1 (25.0%)
Literature
0 (0.0%)
Young Adult
3 (75.0%)
Adventure
0 (0.0%)
“Madam – I sit down to give you an undeniable proof of my considering your desires as indispensable orders.”
Mystery
1 (25.0%)
Chick Lit
0 (0.0%)
Adventure
0 (0.0%)
Erotica
2 (50.0%)
Historical
1 (25.0%)
Answers for the curious will be posted Friday!
no subject
'Some years ago there was in the city of York ... '
I think recognise Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by S Clarke. I haven't read it, but it was reviewed in the Historical Novel Review, so I am presuming it has large doses of the historical genre. I can't remember which category they reviewed it under (reviews are put under era, but also Alternative histories, children's etc). Suspect it has some fantasy aspects from vague memories of read reviews.
The other is:
'A merry little surge of electricity piped by automatic alarm from the mood organ beside his bed awakened Rick Deckard'
'Deckard' gives it away as being 'Blade Runner' & 'Do Androids dream ...' Presumably Sci Fi, though there were other elements in there.
Lots of the other sentences could be leading to historical fiction, for all I know.
Sorry if I'm being dense!
no subject
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!