Do you prefer stories told memoir style or straight up fiction?

Memoirs are allegedly hot right now, whether or not what allegedly happened in them did or not. Do you prefer stories told memoir style (this is my life, this happened to me) or straight up fiction (novels which may draw on real life, but are supposed not to be true, may or may not include spaceships and vampires)?

I LOVE the true life shit, but really...How much of it can we believe as truth when someone is paying you millions to write the dirt? Btw...I think Nic Cage's memoirs will include spaceships and vampires.

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Originally Posted by Ajax Knucklebones

I LOVE the true life shit, but really...How much of it can we believe as truth when someone is paying you millions to write the dirt? Btw...I think Nic Cage's memoirs will include spaceships and vampires.

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I'm good with memoir where someone writes something he believes, even if I have questions about the spaceships and vampires.

Recently finished reading trannie memoir I Am Not Myself These Days and that one was refreshing for including drugs without a lengthy rehab being forced into being the life story.

Then again, much as I love Tucker Max's memoir writing, I'll choose a Jay McInerney fiction piece over it any time.

The memoir format doesn't appeal to me much. It closes a lot of doors on the ending and makes the whole thing feel kind of old, melancholic and irrelevant.

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Originally Posted by Raza

The memoir format doesn't appeal to me much. It closes a lot of doors on the ending and makes the whole thing feel kind of old, melancholic and irrelevant.

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Memoirs seem to be outpacing fiction right now, in terms of how many people read them. I like some memoir or real life stories, so long as they don't make My Trip to Drugs and then AA the story arc. That is def depressing, especially as written by people who have done lots of cool stuff.

But a memoir always seems to me, on some level, like someone which should be written at age 80, not just about one piece of a life. And, if I like what someone wrote about what they did in one piece of their life, that is pretty hard for them to do again. But a fiction writer I enjoy will be able to write a 2nd book I like too.

i guess the difference between a memoir style and a regular fiction style is that memoirs are written in a passive, reflective way (this is what happened, this is how i remember it) while regular fiction is written in a more active way (i did this, i saw that). i suppose it just depends on which way you like a story to be told. i like fiction that is told as if it's a memoir, such as Interview with the Vampire or Great Expectations. it employs that passive story-telling style that i like, but it allows the writer a lot more creativity.

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Originally Posted by bloodyxcandyxcane

i guess the difference between a memoir style and a regular fiction style is that memoirs are written in a passive, reflective way (this is what happened, this is how i remember it) while regular fiction is written in a more active way (i did this, i saw that). i suppose it just depends on which way you like a story to be told. i like fiction that is told as if it's a memoir, such as Interview with the Vampire or Great Expectations. it employs that passive story-telling style that i like, but it allows the writer a lot more creativity.

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I'm totally with you on the memoir sort of voice for fiction. I prefer fiction written in the first person (I), to fiction written in the third person (they, he, she).

Vampire memoirs are a different story. With the introduction of immortality you avoid that faded glory feeling of a story that's over and done before you even start to read it.

'Course, those are implicitly fictional, so they blur the distinction somewhat.

if it's a good story it doesn't really matter the style of telling it

I guess it depends what kind of fiction you like to read.

I tend to categorize.

For instance, if I feel like reading something totally fictional, I tend to prefer something like
a fantasy novel, or some weird HP Lovecraft thing. I don't tend to read fiction books that
are about "normal" life. Rock and Roll, etc. "Fight Club" fit into that category, but I only
read that book once tons of people told me to. I don't tend to read let's say, "Detective
Stories" or books like that. They just seem like they would be "boring" fiction, compared
to horror or fantasy fiction. So if I do read a detective story, I prefer it being about a
true case. Like "The Onion Field".

But I find "reality" books quite interesting, because they are documenting a time or
a culture that perhaps I missed, or was not a part of. Like Hunter S. Thompson's
"Hells Angels" documentary. And of course those various rock and roll documentaries,
about the experiences of certain bands, etc. I like those kind of movies a lot as well.
"Decline of Western Civilization", etc. The fiction movies I like in the same vein,
are also pseudo-documentary. Kids, Gummo, Bully, etc. Based on true stories,
or emulating true stories.

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Originally Posted by Amelia G

I'm totally with you on the memoir sort of voice for fiction. I prefer fiction written in the first person (I), to fiction written in the third person (they, he, she).

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:thumb:

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Originally Posted by TheDeathKnight

But I find "reality" books quite interesting, because they are documenting a time or
a culture that perhaps I missed, or was not a part of. Like Hunter S. Thompson's
"Hells Angels" documentary. And of course those various rock and roll documentaries,
about the experiences of certain bands, etc. I like those kind of movies a lot as well.
"Decline of Western Civilization", etc. The fiction movies I like in the same vein,
are also pseudo-documentary. Kids, Gummo, Bully, etc. Based on true stories,
or emulating true stories.

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This is true for me as well. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Trip is my absolute favourite of this variety.

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Originally Posted by TheDeathKnight

I guess it depends what kind of fiction you like to read.

I tend to categorize.

For instance, if I feel like reading something totally fictional, I tend to prefer something like
a fantasy novel, or some weird HP Lovecraft thing. I don't tend to read fiction books that
are about "normal" life. Rock and Roll, etc. "Fight Club" fit into that category, but I only
read that book once tons of people told me to. I don't tend to read let's say, "Detective
Stories" or books like that. They just seem like they would be "boring" fiction, compared
to horror or fantasy fiction. So if I do read a detective story, I prefer it being about a
true case. Like "The Onion Field".

But I find "reality" books quite interesting, because they are documenting a time or
a culture that perhaps I missed, or was not a part of. Like Hunter S. Thompson's
"Hells Angels" documentary. And of course those various rock and roll documentaries,
about the experiences of certain bands, etc. I like those kind of movies a lot as well.
"Decline of Western Civilization", etc. The fiction movies I like in the same vein,
are also pseudo-documentary. Kids, Gummo, Bully, etc. Based on true stories,
or emulating true stories.

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I like "The Decline of Western Civilization" Part I....Part II, The Heavy Metal years was kind of lame. I've seen much better docs on heavy metal than that.