Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Hello all!
Would like your opinion on something.
Have begun notes, research, and musings on writing a historical fiction piece based on Nazi occupation and a resistance group during WW2.
My concern is this entire premise has been done, in one form and then another, and the entire category is somewhat dated.
In informal discussions an opinion has been expressed that no matter how well it's written, how thrilling, suspenseful, etc., it could still be regarded as being on the treadmill of a well worn subject matter. Also, perhaps, a reading public's interest may well have waned some time ago. That speculation is coupled with an aged-out, and consequently diminished/diminishing population for whom such a novel would be of interest.
Your thoughts?

I've read at least a dozen WWII novels over the past few years, (less than 5) and each one I've read was riveting, thought provoking and full of all sorts of emotions. None of them were very similar with any of the others and I have learned so much more of the reality of that time that was ever brought forth in school. I have several more WWII novels on my 'Want to Read' list and look forward to reading many more true stories about that horrendous time. I love hearing about the resilience of the people and the bravery of those that went above and beyond duty to help their fellow man. When I read about what people suffered through, it puts my own trials into perspective. It leads me to believe that if people survived the horrors of that time, we can surely endure the trials of now and beyond. For this reader the subject can never get too much attention and people's interest in what happened then should never diminish. Every generation's population needs to learn the what and why of that happened so that it is never repeated.

While WW2 has indeed been covered extensively by many authors, I believe that it is still a worthy subject, especially for a fiction book. There are simply too many lessons, human dramas and military and political matters concerning WW2 to dismiss it as an aged-out subject. There will always be parts of it worth describing or studying in books. Nobody can honestly say with authority that it is a 'passé' subject. The same applies to the rest of Human history. We still today make the same mistakes made during WW2 (with modern variations), proving that we haven't learned its lessons yet.

Brenda wrote: "I've read at least a dozen WWII novels over the past few years..."
Brenda, Wow! Thanks for this, so much!
You helped me a little = my concerns have lessened, and no longer feel like time's being wasted working up initial effort on it!
Thanks again!

Michel wrote: "While WW2 has indeed been covered extensively by many authors..."

Hear, hear! Darn good points Michel! Gave special consideration to your 'lessons learned' comment.
OK, This has been just great; was hesitant to make this post, but am now glad I did.
Feel much better about pursuing it.
Thank You, very much!!

Ethan wrote: "Brenda wrote: "I've read at least a dozen WWII novels over the past few years..."
Brenda, Wow! Thanks for this, so much!
You helped me a little = my concerns have lessened, and no longer feel like ..."

You are very welcome. Best of luck to you.

Ethan wrote: "Hello all!
Would like your opinion on something.
Have begun notes, research, and musings on writing a historical fiction piece based on Nazi occupation and a resistance group during WW2.
My concern..."
Apparently, according to many of my historical fiction author friends, right now, Historical Fiction is NOT selling right now, and publishers are encouraging their writers to try something else for a change. Sad, but true.

Plus, as a reader, I'm also getting a bit tired of the WWII novels. I've read some amazing ones, and some that pissed me off as being what my friend called "Holocaust Porn" which is using the horrors of this war to tell a romance story, most of which seem to forget about the millions of Jews and others who were systematically murdered by the Nazis.

Now, being Jewish, it was always an era of interest for me, so my moving away from books set during this era might mean something.

However, if you have a new angle, one that hasn't been beaten to death already, you might find a market.

Davida wrote: "Plus, as a reader, I'm also getting a bit tired of the WWII novels. I've read some amazing ones, and some that pissed me off as being what my friend called "Holocaust Porn" which is using the horrors of this war to tell a romance story, most of which seem to forget about the millions of Jews and others who were systematically murdered by the Nazis. Now, being Jewish, it was always an era of interest for me, so my moving away from books set during this era might mean something...."

Davida, while the Holocaust was truly an immense human tragedy, it was only a small part of what WW2 was. The Soviets also suffered greatly at the hands of the Nazis, while the German people ultimately suffered great misery after their defeat. And we are not even talking yet about the war in the Pacific, where the Japanese committed countless atrocities against the conquered populations and Allied POWs. Because of all this, I firmly believe that WW2 is still a subject well worth studying and reading about, even if only to take in the political and military lessons it taught us. One example of this would be the war in China, which started before WW2 and about which little has been published (in books not written in Chinese). That part of WW2 is in fact still affecting us, with a persistent malaise in relations between China and Japan, which feeds nationalist sentiments.

Michel wrote: "Davida wrote: "Plus, as a reader, I'm also getting a bit tired of the WWII novels. I've read some amazing ones, and some that pissed me off as being what my friend called "Holocaust Porn" which is ..."

Dear Michel,

Thank you very much for this informative post- I've learnt something I didn't know. :)

Jasmine

Davida wrote: "Ethan wrote: "Hello all!
Would like your opinion on something...."

Thank you for this perspective David.
To be sure, you are not alone.

I don’t believe there’s any such thing as a well worn subject matter. I just finished my family saga, River Town Wellsville Ohio where I delved into part of both world wars. I received nothing but positive feedback about that subject matter. Yours sounds interesting. Go for it!

David wrote: "I don’t believe there’s any such thing as a well worn subject..."

Appreciate the encouragement! Thank you, David.

As a reader and author of historical fiction, I believe if your story is strong enough and your characters are believable enough the subject you're interested in is still relevant. For heaven's sake, people still read westerns, fantasy and romance novels. Some subjects never date. Especially anything to do with the 20th Century.

It depends on what you mean by "dated". If you mean its a subject from a long time ago, then yes, its old. If you mean it is a tired subject that people don't want to read any more about, then no.

I think it depends on how your book is framed within the term “WWII”.

Is it a glancing blow as a vehicle for a story that is set in the war but where the war adds colour or context to the story, or is the war pivotal to the story like a fictional account of a real operation (Saving Private Ryan?)

I have just published a dual timeline book that sits in the first category. It seems to be doing ok and, from your remarks, I would hope it might actually interest you, Ethan/Davida despite your reservations.
So, I think there’s still some mileage left in WWII depending on its role in the story.

It could also be said that 'alternate history' novels based on WW2 can be both interesting, educative and captivating for readers of fiction. There are so many 'what if' variations of WW2 which can be written that you would not risk running out of subjects. Just don't write something wildly beyond reality or implausible. Keep it believable but with enough variation from history to make it a worthy reading. Alternate histories of WW2 and of the years and decades after that are in fact one of my favorite writing themes.

Robert wrote: "I think it depends on how your book is framed ..."

Good point, Robert.
Your post is also timely.
Not quite at the framing stage = still making notes, having discussions, and researching, but framing is rapidly becoming the next serious step.
You've offered something to consider.
Your book, indeed, sounds interesting.

Michel wrote: "It could also be said that 'alternate history' novels..."
Good observation, Michel.
Your "... would not risk running out of subjects." comment caused me to chuckle {liked it}.
I also have read outstanding 'alternate history' novels.
However, this definitely won't be that.

Michel wrote: "Davida wrote: "Plus, as a reader, I'm also getting a bit tired of the WWII novels. I've read some amazing ones, and some that pissed me off as being what my friend called "Holocaust Porn" which is ..."

You are spot on. Focusing on one group and ignoring 90% of the other fatalities is bizarre if not worse. There was also the death by wilful neglect when WW2 ceased in Europe. Many ethnic Germans, that is those originally living outside Germany were between '45-9' were murdered simply for speaking that language of around 12 million. Then the US Armed forces let over one million die from neglect being herded as POWs in open air confinement zones during the winter of 45/6. The French were no better, though the British were complicit in another atrocity. Sending Soviet POW's back to Stalin though they knew what fate awaited them. As for the behaviour of the Poles they have a chapter of infamy for themselves beginning with the murder of Silesians in the early '20s aided and abetted by the French. Ethnicity can be lethal.

Lutz, as you well described it, there is still a lot to be said about WW2 and the countless tragedies and crimes committed during that conflict. A good author will have no problems finding something to write about WW2 without repeating a story already told (often in insufficient depth). How many books have been written about, say, the firebombing of Hamburg, or about what happened to the Soviet POWs who were returned to the Soviet Union from German concentration camps, only to be sent by Stalin to Siberian gulags, or about the German soldiers who where held captive in Soviet work camps for years after the end of the war? Even before the war, plenty could be written about, like the intentional starving of millions of Ukrainians by Stalin, or the massacres of Chinese citizens by the Japanese Army. Suffering was universal and was not exclusive to a single group. Those human dramas are still worth writing about.

A friend recently published his novel involving the Belgian Resistance during WWII. Features a naive Roma couple who get captured by Nazis at a funeral in Brussells, escape and fall in with members of the Resistance. It's called "TRAIN Z: A Little-known Chapter of WWII." There's always a new angle, as Michel indicates

Nazis. For historical accuracy were the Soviets who stormed Berlin called Communists? No. Ditto Wehrmacht of whom very few were card carrying members.

Michel wrote: "Lutz, as you well described it, there is still a lot to be said about WW2 and the countless tragedies and crimes committed during that conflict. A good author will have no problems finding somethin..."

I'm intrigued how the too many other wars are bypassed.

Lutz wrote: "I'm intrigued how the too many other wars are bypassed...."

Right on, Lutz! Who have read books about how the French lost Indochina to communist guerrillas, paving the way to the Vietnam War and a US defeat? Or about the Sino-Vietnamese War in Cambodia? Or about the wars between India and Pakistan? I could go on for pages about wars that were little covered in English language books but still caused untold amount of suffering, death and destruction and have shaped our present geo-political landscape. There is no such thing as a monopoly in suffering.

Hello, Sorry to say that, although there are many untold stories to come from that time in history, it’s my belief that the public is saturated with these tales and that you might want to move on. Perhaps to return at some future date when we are not in overload.