Opinions, please...

[OneGrassRoot]

Any thoughts on dating modern novels? What I mean by that is, within the text specific reference to date is mentioned (two years post-Katrina), obviously dating the novel to the summer of 2007.

I personally don't see that as a problem, as there are topical issues at play within the storyline which obviously dates the novel anyway. However, I've also read that many frown upon dating novels so obviously (when factual and realistic, as opposed to a futuristic "1984" type of thing).

Thanks for your thoughts.

I need to make a list of these types of questions to bounce off you brilliant DUers, as they keep popping up and you guys are the first ones I think of to "throw it out there" for opinions.

:hi:

[DavidDvorkin]

1. I'm agin it

Unless it's directly relevant to the plot.

If it's generically modern, it will still read as relevant quite a few years later. But including specific references, such as to Katrina, dates the book quickly.

[HamdenRice]

2. We're in a period of heightened historical significance so dates are important

As the repugs say, "9/11 changed everything." While I don't mean it the way they do, clearly, it was a world historical event. So was Katrina. So was the Iraq War.

If you are writing a contemporary with any topical content at all, it would be important to suggest dates. We don't think about government and society post Katrina the way we did before. This would be an important insight into what your characters are thinking.

Jonathan Safran Foer's last novel for example, was obviously about 9/11. Jonathan Franzen's story in The Corrections is completely dependent on the dot com craze and the collapse of eastern Europe.

During the 90s, not dating the novel may be been en vogue because we were living in a supposedly "post historical" period. But we're back in history with a vengeance.

Writing about dated contemporary reality without dates would be like writing a novel of the 1940s without mentioning World War II.

[OneGrassRoot]

3. Thank you both very, very much...

I've been without Internet access for a few days. My apologies for being so late in thanking you both.