--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People talk about mainstream fiction and…" description: "\"“People talk about mainstream fiction and sf as though they were two quite different kinds of writing, and fantasy as well, as though it was quite diff..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ea/angela-carter-1237_fantasy_people-talk-about-mainstream-fiction-and_2402767.jpg" --- # People talk about mainstream fiction and sf as though they… ![“People talk about mainstream fiction and sf as though they were two quite different kinds of writing, and fantasy as well, as though it was quite different. But I think this a false distinction, that it is a labelling that helps librarians, and people who know the kind of thing they like and don't…” quote by Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ea/angela-carter-1237_fantasy_people-talk-about-mainstream-fiction-and_2402767.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ea/angela-carter-1237_fantasy_people-talk-about-mainstream-fiction-and_2402767.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ea/angela-carter-1237_fantasy_people-talk-about-mainstream-fiction-and_2402767.jpg) > ““People talk about mainstream fiction and sf as though they were two quite different kinds of writing, and fantasy as well, as though it was quite different. But I think this a false distinction, that it is a labelling that helps librarians, and people who know the kind of thing they like and don't want their prejudices to be disturbed.”” [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The distinction between mainstream fiction, sci‑fi, and fantasy is a convenient label, not a true literary divide. **In simple terms:** Genres are marketing tools, not strict categories. Key Takeaway Read beyond labels. Themes genre literature classification Mood thoughtful critical Type analytical literary When to use this quote - book clubs - library cataloging - author marketing Key Concepts cultural studies reader expectation Questions to Reflect On - How do labels shape our reading choices? - Can a work belong to multiple genres? A Different Perspective Rigid categories can limit creative exploration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Genre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genre/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I hardly ever read mainstream fiction that deals with life as it is. I like an element of fantasy, something that isn't quite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-hardly-ever-read-mainstream-fiction-that-deals-with-life-as-it-is-i/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Fantasy is an area where it is possible to talk about right and wrong, good and evil, with a straight face. In mainstream fiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/fantasy-is-an-area-where-it-is-possible-to-talk-about-right-and-wrong/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [“If the weakness of mainstream fiction is its deliberate smallness, the weakness of sf is its puffed-up size, its gauzy immensities. SF often pays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kessel/if-the-weakness-of-mainstream-fiction-is-its-deliberate-smallness-the/) [John Kessel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kessel/) > [“Librarians are serious people, seldom given to jocularity. The reason for this, I believe, is because we are overwhelmed by the enormous number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-austin/librarians-are-serious-people-seldom-given-to-jocularity-the-reason/) [Lynn Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-austin/) > [I have a real soft spot in my heart for librarians and people who care about books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-richards/i-have-a-real-soft-spot-in-my-heart-for-librarians-and-people-who/) [Ann Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-richards/) > [Librarians are serious people, seldomgiven to idle jocularity. The reason for this, I believe, is because we are overwhelmed by the enormous number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-austin/librarians-are-serious-people-seldomgiven-to-idle-jocularity-the/) [Lynn Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-austin/) > [I love librarians more than any other people in the world. When I was an immigrant kid, they’ve made me feel like a human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/i-love-librarians-more-than-any-other-people-in-the-world-when-i-was/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) > [“How can so many (white, male) writers narratively justify restricting the agency of their female characters on the grounds of sexism = authenticity while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foz-meadows/how-can-so-many-white-male-writers-narratively-justify-restricting/) [Foz Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foz-meadows/) > [A large fraction of the most interesting scientists have read a lot of SF at one time or another, either early enough that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederik-pohl/a-large-fraction-of-the-most-interesting-scientists-have-read-a-lot/) [Frederik Pohl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederik-pohl/) > [I have to believe SF writers will continue to inspire the public to have faith in - to demand! - a future that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/i-have-to-believe-sf-writers-will-continue-to-inspire-the-public-to/) [Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) > [In mainstream literature, a trope is a figure of speech: metaphor, simile, irony, or the like. Words used other than literally. In SF, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/in-mainstream-literature-a-trope-is-a-figure-of-speech-metaphor/) [Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) > [Tor.com has been a venue for original SF and fantasy since 2008, but we've never formalized our process for submissions. Indeed, for a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-nielsen-hayden/tor-com-has-been-a-venue-for-original-sf-and-fantasy-since-2008-but/) [Patrick Nielsen Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-nielsen-hayden/) > [“But what if things aren’t what they seem? As you said, there is no truth in the Digital Sea.” “Eventually we must cling to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carpenter/but-what-if-things-aren-t-what-they-seem-as-you-said-there-is-no/) Thomas Carpenter > [To my mind, the best SF addresses itself to problems of the here and now, or even to problems which have never been solved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sladek/to-my-mind-the-best-sf-addresses-itself-to-problems-of-the-here-and/) [John Sladek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sladek/) > [The SF genre, of course, is really an organically evolved, marketplace-determined, idiosyncratic grab bag of themes and signifiers and characters and icons and gadgets,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-di-filippo/the-sf-genre-of-course-is-really-an-organically-evolved-marketplace/) [Paul Di Filippo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-di-filippo/) ## More by Angela Carter > [He was a lovely man in many ways. But he kept on insisting on forgiving me when there was nothing to forgive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/he-was-a-lovely-man-in-many-ways-but-he-kept-on-insisting-on/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/reading-a-book-is-like-re-writing-it-for-yourself/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Losing their names, these things underwent a process of uncreation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/losing-their-names-these-things-underwent-a-process-of-uncreation/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I know that whenever a group of women are gathered together, the grandmother always makes a phantom appearance, hovering above them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-know-that-whenever-a-group-of-women-are-gathered-together-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer out of the window of her eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/she-herself-is-a-haunted-house-she-does-not-possess-herself-her/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Hollywood... was the place where the United States perpetrated itself as a universal dream and put the dream into mass production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/hollywood-was-the-place-where-the-united-states-perpetrated-itself-as/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Is not this whole world an illusion? And yet it fools everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/is-not-this-whole-world-an-illusion-and-yet-it-fools-everybody/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [My paternal grandmother would not light a fire on the Sabbath and piled all Sunday's washing-up in a bucket, to be dealt with on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/my-paternal-grandmother-would-not-light-a-fire-on-the-sabbath-and/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults gives woman emotional satisfaction,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/mother-goddesses-are-just-as-silly-a-notion-as-father-gods-if-a/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Out of the frying pan into the fire! What is marriage but prostitution to one man instead of many? No different!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire-what-is-marriage-but-prostitution/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [And each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin, all the skins of a life in the world, and left behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/and-each-stroke-of-his-tongue-ripped-off-skin-after-successive-skin/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [In a secular age, an authentic miracle must purport to be a hoax, in order to gain credit in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/in-a-secular-age-an-authentic-miracle-must-purport-to-be-a-hoax-in/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [We do not go to bed in single pairs; even if we choose not to refer to them, we still drag there with us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/we-do-not-go-to-bed-in-single-pairs-even-if-we-choose-not-to-refer-to/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I see her as a series of marvellous shapes formed at random in the kaleidoscope of desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-see-her-as-a-series-of-marvellous-shapes-formed-at-random-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Women do not normally fuck in the active sense. They are fucked in the passive tense and hence automatically fucked-up, done over, undone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/women-do-not-normally-fuck-in-the-active-sense-they-are-fucked-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) [Explore all 263 Angela Carter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## More Fantasy quotes > [“I am awake. I know what you took. I am coming for you. Vengeance is mine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-burks/i-am-awake-i-know-what-you-took-i-am-coming-for-you-vengeance-is-mine/) [Robin Burks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-burks/) > [I avoided nudity unless a film couldn't be told without those scenes. If you look at my films, few of them have that element,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-scacchi/i-avoided-nudity-unless-a-film-couldn-t-be-told-without-those-scenes/) [Greta Scacchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-scacchi/) > [We don't make glamorous movies today. Everything now is very realistic, artistic - and depressing. When is the last time you you saw a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-head/we-don-t-make-glamorous-movies-today-everything-now-is-very-realistic/) [Edith Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-head/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [“Metal makes everything magical. Just ask a unicorn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sybrina-durant/metal-makes-everything-magical-just-ask-a-unicorn/) [Sybrina Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sybrina-durant/) > [“(Evil people) do not believe in forgiveness. Their transgressions are either punished or not punished. That is the only result that matters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mchugh/evil-people-do-not-believe-in-forgiveness-their-transgressions-are/) [Daniel McHugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mchugh/) > [My first three manuscripts were epic fantasy - like high fantasy - and then the fourth one was a historical fantasy about Mozart as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/my-first-three-manuscripts-were-epic-fantasy-like-high-fantasy-and/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [I'm a geek - I read fantasy novels, I play 'World of Warcraft,' I'm a massive gamer, I have 'Star Trek' outfits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kazinsky/i-m-a-geek-i-read-fantasy-novels-i-play-world-of-warcraft-i-m-a/) [Robert Kazinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kazinsky/) > [“When we let go of our battles and open our heart to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/when-we-let-go-of-our-battles-and-open-our-heart-to-things-as-they/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [“Perhaps Nesta will take up the blood-drinking habit, too. I certainly believe her threat to rip out my throat. Maybe she'll enjoy the taste.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/perhaps-nesta-will-take-up-the-blood-drinking-habit-too-i-certainly/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [I like to play people that are real, a real person, and then something that's interesting with that person. I think it's a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-bostick/i-like-to-play-people-that-are-real-a-real-person-and-then-something/) [Devon Bostick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-bostick/) > [It's a hindrance in trying to get a serious acting role. The minute a producer has a script and my name comes up, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbi-benton/it-s-a-hindrance-in-trying-to-get-a-serious-acting-role-the-minute-a/) [Barbi Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbi-benton/) > [No one will ever write a fantasy novel better than The Hobbit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-one-will-ever-write-a-fantasy-novel-better-than-the-hobbit/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've always loved sci-fi and fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olly-alexander/i-ve-always-loved-sci-fi-and-fantasy/) [Olly Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olly-alexander/) > [“I will always be within reach if you need me, little one...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-von/i-will-always-be-within-reach-if-you-need-me-little-one/) [A.R. Von](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-von/) [Browse all 5,469 Fantasy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“People talk about mainstream fiction and sf as though they were two quite different kinds of writing, and fantasy as well, as though it was quite different. 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