Garbage Dump


All right, so you're interested in trash. Let's start with a piece of trash you've probably heard of. John Grisham. Take any novel... well... except A Time to Die, that may or may not have some literary merit. Why are his novels trash? (Trash isn't necessarily a bad thing, but we have to make the distinction)

They're trash because they're essentially screenplays in novel form. No imagery, no attention to language and its subtleties, no profound character development. In fact, characters in such novels are generally meant to be stereotypical... then they're easier to picture, yes? Easier to picture means easier to read, and easier to read means easier to swallow up the plot. And be done with it. These plot-dominated prizes are chips and dip for the brain.

Unlike, say, Faulkner's As I Lay Dying...




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