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Monday, March 05, 2007

Category Romance --- Real or Contrived?

Almost all of us have read at least one. And if we haven't, we know someone who has been more than willing to tell us the story. What are they?

Romance novels.

No, I don't mean the ones with the questionable covers and risque content within the pages. I'm referring to the standard "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back" stories. The sweet ones that always end with a "happily ever after" which follows the struggles and loss in order to gain.

But, something struck me recently about those books. Much like fairytales, they seem to focus a lot on the "bells" and "whistles" and "stars" that sound in your ears and light up the sky. It isn't often that I've read a book where the hero and heroine experience a more practical approach to their relationship and natural progression without all the "tingly" feelings these books are known for including.

So, that brings up the question. Are these books a good representation of reality, or is the way they're written contrived, making real life seem better than it really is?

What do you think?

If you can name a book or two where the "real" is demonstrated, please share that as well.

2 comments:

Annette M. Irby said...

Hey Tiff, great topic. As a reader and writer of Christian romance, I love the tingly feelings and HEA (happily ever after) aspect. But, there are times when I'm in the mood for something more true to life. Unfortunately, that's rare in inspirational romantic fiction at this point. For now, I'm comfortable reading what's out there. But, I'll keep writing what I want to read, including marrieds' stories where true-to-life is rule of thumb.

mirth-quake said...

i guess the reason why romance novels are what they are is because human as we are we have the innate desire of perfection in love and life which is, unfortunately, hard to realize in real life. so we end up reading stories "we" would like to live in real life.