Truth in Memoir

For a book to be non-fiction it has to completely 100% true.  There can’t be a single false statement, because nonfiction is true, and if there’s a lie than it is not true.  Half truth’s are still considered lies, so it is not oaky to put them in a story.  No, it is not okay Frey or Mortenson to bend the truth in their stories.  We do need lines in stories, I mean without lies we don’t know what we will be reading.  We need to label the line between fiction and non-fiction.  The reason is we would not now what we are reading or have read is fake or real.  It does matter; it would be helpful to a lot of people to have lines between genres. 

Non-fiction is a book, story etc. that is not fake.  By those writers who put in fake information about them doesn’t make it non-fiction.  It makes it a fiction, so fantasy, magic realism etc.  When readers, like myself and you, would want to read a book knowing if it is truly non-fiction.  That brings me to the next topic.

We need lines between what’s fiction (fantasy, dystopia, romance etc.) or fiction (memoirs etc.).  if there is no lines, the readers will have trouble knowing what they read. Certain people like fiction, or non-fiction, or something specific.  If there weren’t labels at books, we would know what we read or what we like to read.  But labels can ruin a person image such as Nicolas sparks.  He is classified as a romance novelist when that is not fully true. 

That is my thought to How true does a book have to be in your mind to be considered non-fiction?   Why?  Are half-truths okay if it’s still a good story? Does it matter if Frey or Mortenson bent the truth to tell their stories? Is David Shields right?  Do we need lines between genres—do we need to label something fiction or non-fiction?  Why does it matter?

Readicide

Is Genre Fiction less “worthy” than Literary Fiction of our time as readers?  Is it less worthy of a place in a school’s curriculum?

No, Genre Fiction is more worthy during this time as readers.  We can relate more to Genre Fiction than Literary Fiction.  Genre Fiction is more current time and more interesting that Literary Fiction.  However, you can learn more from Literary Fiction books.  They should place both in the curriculum of the school.  The reason is they are both from different times so the lessons from the book can be important.  For example, Macbeth and Hunger Games, they are both similar.  They both want to be the top authority, Hunger Games you fight to the death.  In Macbeth he kills Banquo, King Duncnan, and Malcoms family.  They both want to be king/winner from the games.

What should a 21^st century English class reading list look like?

21^st Century books should looks like a mix of Genre and Literary Fiction.  If it’s just Literary, kids will hate reading, because it lacks their interest of the book.  But if it’s just Genre, the message won’t be as big as the literary books.  That why to make kids read more actively, you have to mix the books the English teachers teach in school