It's the much anticipated day where Bonny, Kym and I tell you what we'll be…
Read With Us: The Ministry of Time Discussion
It’s discussion day for The Ministry of Time, on the blogs and on Zoom tonight! And, this time around, Kym and Bonny and I had a discussion and we’ve sort of . . . coordinated . . . our questions, which we have not really done before. In light of that, we are asking that you read our posts in a particular order.
First read Kym’s post.
Then read this post.
And read Bonny’s post last.
So now that you’ve been over to Kym’s and you’ve thought about whether you liked the book or not and why, let’s talk about the genre of The Ministry of Time. It has been categorized as: science fiction, romance, fantasy, historical fiction, thriller/espionage, and more. And it has been both praised and criticized for trying to be all of those things.
I think this speaks to our tendency to want to put a book in a box. To label it as historical fiction or romance or science fiction so that we know what we’re getting into when we start to read it. To know the genre when we pick it up because we don’t like science fiction or romance or we only read historical fiction. To almost, dare I say, judge it by how it is defined, before we’ve read a single line.
I want to know why you think we tend to do that. And I want to know how that impacts your feelings about The Ministry of Time. Do you like that it can fit into many different genres or does that make your eye twitch? Do you prefer a book that’s more easily categorized or do you think the mash up of genres makes it more widely appealing?
Please tell me in the comments. And then go read Bonny’s blog.
As always, thanks for reading with us and I hope we’ll see you on the Zoom call tonight.
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I think this is a fascinating question, Carole. I know that there are types of books I tend to avoid (looking at you, SciFi), but I don’t mind being surprised now and then. In fact, I often love genre-defying books best of all. I like the unexpected (as long as there are no animals caught in the crossfire. . . ). So, yes. The Ministry of Time fits many boxes — maybe too many for some people’s reading tastes — but I think it was creative, clever, a bit patchwork-y . . . and never boring. I appreciate what Kaliane Bradley was trying to do with The Ministry of Time.
Great question! I think it’s human nature to want to categorize things; it helps us to make sense of the world. But in a universe that tends toward entropy, it’s not always easy to put things into discrete boxes. As a reader, I’m generally open to any genre (though I don’t care for graphic violence and tend to avoid horror), so I don’t necessarily worry about how a book is categorized. Frankly, I find that the books that are hard to categorize are the ones that I find most interesting, and this book is no exception to that. I loved that this book had elements of so many different categories — and any book that is well written and fun to read is a winner in my book, even if it defies categorization.
I am a very open reader… as in, I don’t think there is a genre that I have not read. Now I don’t prefer some genres, but that is a different question! I believe that a story can have many facets… but the facets need to make sense. I don’t think it is great writing because you can say that a book fits in *all the categories*… it only is great writing if all the categories make sense. For me, this was the book that tried too many things… and for me it failed at many of them. But I am eager to listen to others perspectives tonight and see if that changes my thoughts!
I agree with Sarah; we want to categorize things to make them easier to understand. I know I do it with books because there are some genres I don’t enjoy (sci-fi, fantasy, and romance). I like how Ministry of Time was genre-defying, but like Kat, I’m not sure it did justice to many of them. But after our pre-discussion last week, I’ve been trying to branch out in my reading choices and not just dismiss some books. I put Beautyland and Hum on hold and will see if I actually enjoy reading things that are a little outside of my comfort zone.
Great question. I agree with Sarah and Bonny – it’s human nature to categorize things, including books. And it’s helpful to me as I don’t really enjoy sci-fi (like many of us apparently) or fantasy or horror. The Ministry of Time is definitely a mix of genres and, like Kym, I found it clever. Overall I think the author did a very fine job (until the end which was just way too rushed). This is not a book I would have picked up on my own to read, but I’m glad you 3 chose it for our group – I enjoyed it!
I enjoyed how the author used aspects of several genres in this novel; I found it different and creative. I enjoyed it more than I would have enjoyed a purely scifi or romance novel. I read it twice and really had fun with it on the re-read. I am sorry I will miss the discussion tonight!
I believe it is internal bias and/or discomfort that makes us categorize everything. And I also believe you should not decide you do not like a book simply because of its category. It doesn’t have to make sense to me prior to reading if the writer can convince me of its premise. There are categories of books I know I am going to have a better chance of liking that others, but even in that “category” I can find many books that I do not like. So, in essence, I believe we sell ourselves short to say we dislike a category of books. I have read every “category” of books that I am aware of, many of them outside of my initial comfort zone, and I have had fulfilling reading experiences with all of them. LBGTQ fiction? Doesn’t really appeal to me, but have you read The Line of Beauty? One of the best novels I have ever read. I have never read a more convincing novel about desire and its consequences. And that’s just one example. I think being open and willing to entertain other ideas and experiences in fiction is one of the most enriching experiences I have had. If you read my goodreads review of Ministry to Time, you will see that is one reason why I loved this book. It defies being categorized and just tells an original, fantastic mind-bending story.
I thought about this comment after I made it, and I don’t want it to be misinterpreted. When I said that Line of Beauty was about desire and its consequences, I was not particularly referring to contracting AIDS. I was referring more to desire and its consequences in a psychological and life-altering way Whew! Glad I clarified that.
I will read almost anything if the stories pull me in and I’d say I’m character driven rather than plot driven. I would call this novel a romantasy (if I have to categorize it) but instead of witches, vampires, magic, and dragons, the fantasy element is time travel. I don’t think it has strong enough world-building to call it science fiction, especially with a black box they no one understands as the initiating plot point.
The romance seems to be the driving element of the plot, especially once we learn what happens in the future. The historical aspects are strong and help ground the main story in spite of the present-day attempted political thriller aspects and the incompetence of the ministry. The manipulations from the future are especially self-centered and aggravating. Still, I agree with Kym that it is a pretty compelling mash-up. I finished it even though the second half fell apart for me.
Replying to myself to say they I feel the title of the book sets up expectations of a science fiction/political story and hides the romance at the heart. So that makes the romance a consequence of the political and pseudo-scientific framing of the story.
Maybe it’s a political romantasy more than anything else?
As a former advertising professor, I think some of the categorization is about marketing. It’s easier to promote a book if it fits nicely into a category.
Interesting question. I didn’t consider the genre of the book at any point, before, while reading, or after. I just thought it was fiction. I consider most books by their subject rather than the genre.
I usually don’t pay too much attention to the genre if the book sounds like something I’d like to read. I am sure there are genres I avoid just because they are not what I enjoy reading but if a book sounds interesting enough I will try it out.