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Readership Comparison

Is there a greater readership of contemporary writers or are the classics still in as great a demand as they always were?

Asked by: S G Romee

  1. Gilly Ansell on August 13, 2012

    Personally I like to read work by more recent authors, such as Jodi Picoult, Marianne Keyes etc. My time is limited and I find some of the classics too deep and the language difficult to interpret. I enjoy reading for relaxation and losing myself in a book (albeit on my Kindle) and if I can relate to the characters and what they are going through then all the better for me to get more engrossed.

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  2. Victoria Whithear on August 13, 2012

    I'm currently reading a Jodi Picoult which appears to be for teenagers. What can I say, the cover just got me. Then I opened the book and noticed some of it was printed in purple ink. Got to love a gimmick! As you read there are illustrations of the character in the book trying to climb out of the book. Love it! The whole thing makes you want to watch the book when it might not be looking to see if it moves. Yeah, I know, bonkers! But fun.

    I'm sure I do read more modern novels than classics but the classics take so long that I probably spend more time on them when I do read them. Generally, like Gilly, I prefer something a bit more easy reading, but there is nothing like going back and reading a classic you read as a child and seeing your new perspective on it as an adult. A Little Princess is my favourite in that respect. I read it as a child, an adult and then a mum and it shows me something different each time. Few modern books manage that.

  3. Adrian Sroka on August 13, 2012

    I have benefited enormously by reading the classics, and traditional poetry. I could list more examples than, Austen, Conrad, James, Eliot, Hardy, the Bronte sisters, and Tennyson. I have learned much from them. They have improved my writing, and I have been greatly enriched in the process.

    Traditional authors have specific strengths and weaknesses. However, their weaknesses are few. because they write about what they know. It is what makes them worth reading.

    I have also benefited from reading award-winning contemporary authors. Michael Morpurgo, Sharon Creech, Joanne Harris, Malorie Blackman, Geraldine McCaughrean, Anne Fine, and Eva Ibbotson are excellent examples of hugely-successful, and well-respected contemporary authors.

    Learn from the best is my advice to budding authors. The only way you can do that is to make sure you read the best traditional and contemporay literature, as well as your other reading material.

    I read five or six contemporary novels and then a classic. This ratio has served me well. I also read traditional and contemporary poetry, as I strongly believe poetry aids the creative process.

    I believe that you will vastly improve as a writer, if you soak yourself in the best traditional and contemporary literature.

    There is a greater readership of contemporary writers, simply because there are more of them. However, the classics have stood the test of time. The classics have always had widespread appeal. They will always be read and talked about. It remains to be seen how many contemporary authors books will be regarded as classics in the future.

  4. Christina Howland on August 14, 2012

    I have just started a Murdoch Mystery novel by Maureen Jennings. I try my best to read a variety but I have to admit at the moment I seem to be reading historical novels in some form or another.

  5. S G Romee on August 16, 2012

    It's a fact that classics have to be read with abundant leisure time on your hands. Though the language is sometimes difficult to interpret, like Gilly has said, a budding author may gain a lot of style and technique from reading classics. By asking the question I was merely judging the market open to contemporary writers. I have yet to approach a publisher to submit my manuscript, but from what I gather publishers are tending to be choosy about accepting manuscripts. This fact tends to indicate that maybe books are not that much in demand!!

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