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The best light works do not lay their themes on with the proverbial trowel. As you read the marvellous prose and get behind those characters, you will pick up the themes almost by osmosis. There is no lecturing. You are left to follow the characters on their journey.
You will want to know what the outcome will be. You will know what you want the outcome to be. (The downfall of Spode is some of the funniest writing in English literature. The best in my view? Wodehouse’s The Great Sermon Handicap. I cannot read that without laughing out loud).
Why are light works, in my view, not taken so seriously? I think it’s because the prose is so easy to read, people fall into the trap of assuming it must have been easy to write. Err…. No. What did happen was lots of hard work, editing, crafting, improving before any of us got to see those works. I think it is also because it is not considered to be literature. I think this is snobbish nonsense.
Pratchett, when he was knighted for services to literature, said ‘I suspect the “services to literature” consisted of refraining from trying to write any.’
I would see Discworld as being literature, especially since it is read widely!
I’ve long thought humorous writing isn’t taken seriously. It is the hardest form of fiction to write, given humour is subjective. Funny/light books can touch on deep issues every bit as much as a literary novel can. In some ways, I would argue light works do this better. Why? For one thing, they reach more people. For another, they don’t lecture readers.
I have never been impressed with “worthy” volumes which are a chore to read. The first job of any story is to take your reader with you on a journey to The End. Having people do this happily, and eagerly awaiting your next, is what every author aims for. Themes can be conveyed within characters and the situations the author dumps them in. This is seen to good effect in Discworld.
It is the perception of light works which needs to change. After all, every writer will want more people to read. You have to persuade them to get into reading. Light works are far more likely to to this than a heavy in tone literary book.
I also simply dislike snobbery in literature and funny/light works have been looked down on for far too long.
Tone, Genre, and Style
What unites Pratchett and Wodehouse is (a) their dedication to their craft, (b) their tone of voice in their novels which are just joyous to follow, and (c) characters you want to find out more about. Their worlds are very different though.
The tone of light works is by nature light but genres can be different, as can styles. Some of Wodehouse’s sentences are gloriously long and so funny. Pratchett’s sentences are different in their construction but are funny in a different way. Sadly neither of them received the Booker Prize but both would have been worthy of it.
Within a few lines of either gentleman’s work, you are gripped. You want to keep reading. Their prose and characters entice you in to read more. That is how it should be.
A book should not be a challenge to read.
Books which are challenging should be because they are tackling difficult issues but they shouldn’t be difficult to read. Don’t you want people to pick up on the points you’re making?
Reading is a two way communication between author and reader. I see anything that could put people off reading as a bad thing.
Light works shouldn’t be dismissed as fluffy reading. Firstly, there’s nothing wrong with fluffy reading. There is a huge market for that (one I suspect which has increased significantly thanks to the pandemic).
Secondly, I find it patronizing and annoying to dismiss genre fiction this way. It does tend to be genre fiction which is looked down on rather than literary though the sales of the former help support the latter. Literary fiction has its place (I liked Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel though I know of those who couldn’t get into it). But light works, the craft it takes to produce these, well for me, this is the finest fiction of all.
Conclusion
Reading is the most important thing any writer should do. We learn so much from what has gone before. We find out what it is we like in stories, what we dislike etc. You take in by reading how stories are laid out. You subconsciously take in how the Rule of Three works. I hadn’t read too many fairytales before realising that something has to change on the third time of something happening.
If your prose is a joy to read, you’re taking readers with you. Who wouldn’t want that?
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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