![]() ![]() Are they mysteries? Thrillers? Goodreads has the series listed by no less than nine categories, but the main three used there are mystery, thriller and crime. I wonder how these novels should be labeled: The stories are certainly historical, as they range from 1918 to the late 1940s. I’ve only read the second and third books so I can’t comment on the series as a whole, but I’ve been told by several people that the first book, a 704-page monster, is the best of the three. The book completes his The Given Day trilogy. ![]() Recently I cruised through Dennis Lehane’s World Gone By. What’s more, I’m convinced many of these labels are shape-shifting to boot, and don’t quite mean what they once did. ![]() (In case it’s also new to you: I’m simplifying a bit, but at essence the word denotes a coming of age story.) We’re well beyond the simple taxonomies of fiction and nonfiction – there are a dizzying number of ways we label books now. I confess, I had turn to trusty old Wikipedia to find out what “ bildungsroman” even means. I remember the very moment I had that realization: I was looking up a specific title and found it listed in fiction, subcategories historical fiction and bildungsroman. ![]() The official book categorizations we use have gone haywire. Tags : Bookish bookselling crime fiction criticism genres mnartnews mysteries pulp taxonomies 1 ![]()
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