---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thrillers, like all genre fiction, remain…"
description: "\"“Thrillers, like all genre fiction, remain for the most part “beneath.” There is a feeling in literature, more than any other art form, that books mean..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/will-lavender-84336_art_thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain_665187.jpg"
---

#  Thrillers, like all genre fiction, remain for the most…

![“Thrillers, like all genre fiction, remain for the most part “beneath.” There is a feeling in literature, more than any other art form, that books meant to simply entertain must be flawed. There is an entire cache of what critics call “beach reads,” books that are disposable, forgettable…” quote by Will Lavender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/will-lavender-84336_art_thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain_665187.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/will-lavender-84336_art_thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain_665187.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/will-lavender-84336_art_thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain_665187.jpg)

> ““Thrillers, like all genre fiction, remain for the most part “beneath.” There is a feeling in literature, more than any other art form, that books meant to simply entertain must be flawed. There is an entire cache of what critics call “beach reads,” books that are disposable, forgettable, anti-literary. And this is where I have changed the most as a reader and also as a writer. As I began to dig in to a lot of thrillers, I came to believe that entertainment and reading for pleasure can be transcendent; that while art might be a hammer it is also a mirror, changeable and subjective. And there is a point where the boundary of the thriller genre rubs hard against a much more vast literary tradition. A lot of great writers exist on this axis.””

[Will Lavender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-lavender/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

He argues that thrillers can be both entertaining and literary, challenging the notion they are merely disposable.

**In simple terms:** Thrillers can be deep and meaningful.

Key Takeaway

Seek depth in genre fiction.

Themes

literature genre art entertainment

Mood

reflective analytical

Type

critical inspirational

When to use this quote

- reading for pleasure
- writing craft
- genre analysis

Key Concepts

aesthetic subjectivity cultural value

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes a thriller transcend entertainment?
- How can readers recognize literary merit in popular fiction?

A Different Perspective

Genre boundaries can be fluid, not rigid.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-form/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Genre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genre/) [Genre Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genre-fiction-412883/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Thriller genre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thriller-genre/) [Thrillers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thrillers/) [Thrillers Came](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thrillers-came-5293060/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/)

## Related quotes

> [I think it was the sense that Turn is a spy thriller, and that's a genre that really fascinates me, in general.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-bell/i-think-it-was-the-sense-that-turn-is-a-spy-thriller-and-that-s-a/)

[Jamie Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-bell/)

> [Yes, to me that's one of the most compelling fears in film noir and the psychological thriller genre - that fear of conspiracy. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-nolan/yes-to-me-that-s-one-of-the-most-compelling-fears-in-film-noir-and/)

[Christopher Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-nolan/)

> [The thriller genre in general, it's total foreign ground for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-aselton/the-thriller-genre-in-general-it-s-total-foreign-ground-for-me/)

[Katie Aselton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-aselton/)

> [I love the horror genre and the thriller genre, so I've got no problem with playing a psycho.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valorie-curry/i-love-the-horror-genre-and-the-thriller-genre-so-i-ve-got-no-problem/)

[Valorie Curry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valorie-curry/)

> [This is not an international thriller so much as a fiercely literate attempt to subvert the thriller genre itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-rice/this-is-not-an-international-thriller-so-much-as-a-fiercely-literate/)

[Christopher Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-rice/)

> [I would love a little bit of a change. I feel so fortunate to have been able to work so much, particularly in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-panabaker/i-would-love-a-little-bit-of-a-change-i-feel-so-fortunate-to-have/)

[Danielle Panabaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-panabaker/)

> [I love outsider stories. And I also like a lot of genre fiction, too. So I wanted to write a literary book that flirted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/porochista-khakpour/i-love-outsider-stories-and-i-also-like-a-lot-of-genre-fiction-too-so/)

[Porochista Khakpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/porochista-khakpour/)

> [I love the thriller genre generally. I like murder mysteries and those kinds of adventure stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/i-love-the-thriller-genre-generally-i-like-murder-mysteries-and-those/)

[Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/)

> [As far as writing and directing, I'm very focused on the thriller genre.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-peele/as-far-as-writing-and-directing-i-m-very-focused-on-the-thriller-genre/)

[Jordan Peele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-peele/)

> [A predilection for genre fiction is symptomatic of a kind of arrested development.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-disch/a-predilection-for-genre-fiction-is-symptomatic-of-a-kind-of-arrested/)

[Thomas M. Disch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-disch/)

> [Genre fiction was looked at as a ghetto, but I wonder now if realist fiction, sealing itself off in the glum suburbs of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/genre-fiction-was-looked-at-as-a-ghetto-but-i-wonder-now-if-realist/)

[Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/)

> [I like to take certain aspects of genre fiction and modify them in my own way. 'Your Republic Is Calling You' follows the form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-young-ha/i-like-to-take-certain-aspects-of-genre-fiction-and-modify-them-in-my/)

[Kim Young-ha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-young-ha/)

> [With 'The Humans,' I've found that because it's related to very familiar forms - the family play and the thriller, almost a genre-collison play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-karam/with-the-humans-i-ve-found-that-because-it-s-related-to-very-familiar/)

[Stephen Karam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-karam/)

> [I made the decision that I didn't want to spend my life in rooms and write about rooms, or else make books that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-osborne/i-made-the-decision-that-i-didn-t-want-to-spend-my-life-in-rooms-and/)

[Lawrence Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-osborne/)

> [With the police thriller genre, people come to it with an expectation. It allows you to get away with a bit of violence, edginess,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-mercurio/with-the-police-thriller-genre-people-come-to-it-with-an-expectation/)

[Jed Mercurio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-mercurio/)

## More by Will Lavender

> [“Literature is a writer's secret life recorded in symbols.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-lavender/literature-is-a-writer-s-secret-life-recorded-in-symbols/)

[Will Lavender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-lavender/)

> [“What if you were always stuck in one place, your mind spinning and unable to go forward like tires clenched in mud, because the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-lavender/what-if-you-were-always-stuck-in-one-place-your-mind-spinning-and/)

[Will Lavender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-lavender/)

[Explore all 3 Will Lavender quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-lavender/)

## More Art quotes

> [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/)

[Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/)

> [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/)

[Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/)

> [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/)

[Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/)

> [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/)

[Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/)

> [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/)

[Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/)

> [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/)

[Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/)

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/)

[Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/)

> [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/)

[G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/)

> [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/)

[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/)

> [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/)

[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/)

> [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/)

[Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/)

[Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Thrillers, like all genre fiction, remain for the most part “beneath.” There is a feeling in literature, more than any other art form, that books meant to simply entertain must be flawed. There is an entire cache of what critics call “beach reads,” books that are disposable, forgettable, anti-literary. And this is where I have changed the most as a reader and also as a writer. As I began to dig in to a lot of thrillers, I came to believe that entertainment and reading for pleasure can be transcendent; that while art might be a hammer it is also a mirror, changeable and subjective. And there is a point where the boundary of the thriller genre rubs hard against a much more vast literary tradition. A lot of great writers exist on this axis.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Will Lavender"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-lavender/thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain-for-the-most-part-beneath/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-lavender/thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain-for-the-most-part-beneath/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/will-lavender-84336_art_thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain_665187.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/will-lavender-84336_art_thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain_665187.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0eb/will-lavender-84336_art_thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain_665187.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Thrillers, like all genre fiction, remain for the most part “beneath.” There is a feeling in literature…” — Will Lavender",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Will Lavender",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-lavender/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Thrillers, like all genre fiction, remain...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-lavender/thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain-for-the-most-part-beneath/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-lavender/thrillers-like-all-genre-fiction-remain-for-the-most-part-beneath/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
