Thriller/religion...new category?!

[Dalvenja]

Actually, her assumption makes sense. A lot of stores have religious fiction in their religion section.

[dispatch]

I'm just sick of pseudo intellectuals and morons that think if it's in a movie or TV show it's fact, and if they've seen said movie/TV show, they're a historical expert. After Pearl Harbor came out, I wanted to strangle people every time it came up in conversation. Troy, Alexander, Braveheart, I've learned to leave the room when a conversation about history gets interrupted by a brainless movie enthusiast.

[Dreamstalker]

Dimbulb : You haven't got any dan brown have you...

Yes, we've got a few here *shows dimbulb to the thriller section and points out titles*

She spent the rest of the time in the shop wandering about and muttering about how it should be in religion!

That makes about as much sense as shelving Tony Hillerman's novels in Native American Studies...

[wj_737_700]

I'm just sick of pseudo intellectuals and morons that think if it's in a movie or TV show it's fact

So you...so you mean Babe can't REALLY talk ???

[Tria]

Actually, her assumption makes sense. A lot of stores have religious fiction in their religion section.

Yeah, but try finding Pagan books in Religion, they made a new group just for that.

[Lulu]

I get that it has some references to religion in it, but if I started shelving everything with a religious reference in it into the religion section, I'd not have any other sections. Besides which, fiction in my shop is ALWAYS kept seperate from the non-fiction.

Actually, while I'm on my religion section, you can find Pagan and Druid books in it I like to think we've got quite a broad minded shelving system

[LostMyMind]

Yeah, but try finding Pagan books in Religion, they made a new group just for that.

That depends on the bookstore. I've seen Wicca, pagan, druidic, even the mind over matter books in the religion section. I've even found books on greek mythos in there.

Even through I think the new age stuff should be somewhere else, but this place isn't the place for that.

[csdrone]

That depends on the bookstore. I've seen Wicca, pagan, druidic, even the mind over matter books in the religion section. I've even found books on greek mythos in there.

Even through I think the new age stuff should be somewhere else, but this place isn't the place for that.

Most bookstores break the religion section out Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Eastern, Pagan, New Age (the latter 2 get mixed together for some reason). If you want really esoteric stuff, I found that the 'net or a shop specializing in the faith is best.

[Mark Healey]

Most bookstores break the religion section out Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Eastern, Pagan, New Age (the latter 2 get mixed together for some reason). If you want really esoteric stuff, I found that the 'net or a shop specializing in the faith is best.

I don't know about used bookstores but in the used ones we try to group things buy customer base, The Book of Five Rings and The Art of War in the business and finance section. Then there is the minor distinctions that only someone who is steeped in the field would make, wicca and pagan in the new age section. Then there is the problem of true believers who think that their favorite books belong in a different section than where we put them, oriental, herbal and other versions of quack medicine in the new age section. Then there is the problem of books for which we never get enough to build their own section so we put lingistics in the neurosciene section.

Arranging a bookstore is somewhat of a black art. No one has come up with a good way to arrange cookbooks.

[Tigress]

I'm just sick of pseudo intellectuals and morons that think if it's in a movie or TV show it's fact, and if they've seen said movie/TV show, they're a historical expert.

I love it when someone tries to talk to me about a book when they've only read the Cliff's Notes or seen the movie. Dracula is a prime example. I've read the book about 5 times, so I know what happens in it. Yet, I have people try to argue with me about how sexy and erotic it is because they've only seen the Coppola movie that protrays Vlad Tepes as an emo pussy. The only "erotic" episode in the book is when Dracula attacks Mina and makes her drink blood from his chest.

Same thing with The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In the book, Pheobus is a douche, Esmerelda gets hung as a witch, Frollo gets killed by Quasimodo, and Quasimodo dies pining over Esmerelda's rotting corpse. Not quite the kind of subject matter Disney wants to show the kiddies.

Or when some guy was hitting on me and we were talking about the Lord of the Rings trilogy:

"So who's your favorite character?"
"Tom Bombadil." (Or other random, obscure character.)
" Which movie was he in?"
"I thought we were talking about the books!"
"*head asplode*"

[Banrion]

Or when some guy was hitting on me and we were talking about the Lord of the Rings trilogy:

"So who's your favorite character?"
"Tom Bombadil." (Or other random, obscure character.)
" Which movie was he in?"
"I thought we were talking about the books!"
"*head asplode*"

I love playing that game. I have read most of Tolkein's work outside LOTR and Hobbit, some of it can get quite boring, but alas does prove useful for the idiot who hasn't even read the basics. Especially when you start getting into the family trees and other obsure info from the appendecies. (sp?)

[repsac]

There was another book, not published by Brown, that came out which also had the "Davinci Code" in it's name. It's in religion, or at least I think it is. I think, the name is something to the effect of the "Davinci Codec" or something similar. Rather interesting read.

As for the Code, it started out great, read well; but even as my pastor said (he suggested I read it) It seemed like Brown tried to just finish the book up in the last chapters. It...I dunno, felt like it ended weakly.

That said, I'd like to say something my pastor said. (which got him complained at but I thought it was great.)

People in this day and age are looking for something to complain about. It doesn't matter what you say or do, you'e going to tick off someone. What's even worse, is when it comes to the subject of fiction and non-fiction. We learn this in our earliest days in school, and yet, it seems that people still can't tell the difference. Books like the Davinci Code and Harry Potter are FICTION. This means, that they aren't real; and while they may be based on some obscure fact, or a theory, or just pulled out of the writer's mind, they're never going to be real. Non-Fiction is real work. History books, encyclopedias, books on science, those are Non-Fiction. Please people, before you whine, scream or complain. PLEASE learn the difference.

[Jester]

While Davinci Code most definitely should be classified under Thriller, although it is a very "religious" book. The whole plot lined is intertwined with trying to find the Holy Grail(whatever it might be*speculation*). If it were a book that was written about the Holy Grail what it might be, where it is, etc... It should be considered, however, a thriller because it is the fictional account of what happens to a man as he attempts to find the truth behind what is, and where the Holy Grail is.

I'd put it in the Mystery section.

My aunt just read the book and acts as if it's all true. She doesnt seem to believe me that the story was based on a hoax.

For those interested in the idea behind The Davinci Code, I highly recommend the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln. It came out in about 1982 or 1983, and is a somewhat academic approach/search to the same idea behind Davinci. Whether or not you agree with their conclusions, or even their methodology, it is a fascinating read. [Note: I have not read The Davinci Code, so cannot comment on it directly, but with all the hype the book and the movie have received, I am familiar with its basic premise. Watching a TV show on its premise, actually, was how I came across the earlier book, which I then ordered online.]

Yeah, but try finding Pagan books in Religion, they made a new group just for that.

Bookstores I have been in seem to be evenly split: half of them file Pagan and Wiccan books in with religion, half with New Age. Honestly, not sure that there are any bookstores that use the same categorization, even within the same chain....at times it takes a lot of good luck and persistence to find what you are looking for!

[Dalvenja]

Yeah, but try finding Pagan books in Religion, they made a new group just for that.

[sarcasm]
That's because it belongs in Occult...obviously Paganism, Necromancy, Black Magic, Druidism, Shamanism, and "New Age" all belong in the same section, and none of them are actual religions, so why shouldn't they have created a whole new category. [/sarcasm]

[Luna]

Although I could go on a very big soapbox about where books should be shelved - specifically Witchcraft and other pagan religions based on a decade of bookstore experience...lets not so as not to start a sensitive debate thread. Besides, you all know how damn long my posts are and your eyes will hurt reading it. Hehe...

What I found funny with bookstore customers was that they didn't understand that the books are:
*catagorized by the library of congress (maybe mom/pop stores had some leeway to shelving but not B&N or Borders superstores)
*priced by the publisher not the store (as evidenced by the printed price on the book itself)
*and that I didn't care what their opinion was - I put it where it GOES.

Heh. I too, loved playing with customers that never really read the books and tried to make it sound like they were some sort of expert to impress me for some strange reason or another. If they wanted to follow me around the store explaining their views to me, they could help put the 5 pallets of books and magazines away that we got in from shipment. I would get "hmphed" at a lot when I casually mentioned that I had "WORK" to do and made it clear I didn't care.