Literary Fiction

Novels trading in pop culture and the trends of the day may be all the hype in the short term, but even a casual glance at the classics of the past few centuries shows that it’s the more esoteric, literary novels that stick in the psyche of mankind.

We want the stories that can expand on the little details of life, and then allow us to fold them away in our subconscious for safekeeping. The question isn’t “what does it mean to be human,” but rather this: what is it about being human, about being alive and self-aware, that is so confounding to us, that can fill us with joy one moment and utter dread the next?

And how does one address these questions without dabbling in cliché, treading tired and familiar ground once too often? Sometimes, the greatest message a story can provide us isn’t what’s on the page, but what isn’t.