“Do cycles and genres explain everything, in the history of the novel? Of course not. But…” (Moretti). Pointing out these cycles of literature that is Political in nature and how its lifespan in much shorter to most of its non-political counterparts was an eye opener for me. It would make sense that as literature becomes more relevant to the specific time within it was written, it also, for the most part, becomes less timeless. This could pose as a conundrum for many authors, as the decision to be extremely relevant can mean the decision to write many short lived novels whose symbolism and analogy lend themselves only to the current events of the decade.

When I think of the concept of the novel and its different genres, I do not usually tend to think of it as a trend but something that has always just been there. However, this article has enlightened me to the rise and fall of different genres, styles, and geographical areas in the realm of literature. There are trends within each of these realms, but why are they there? The article offers political influence as part of the explanation, but there are also other factors that I think greatly influence the writing of a specific time and place. Geography, natural disasters, religious influence, pop culture, marketing, anything that could possibly hold a degree of public interest is something that I submit would shift and move the trends of literature.

Back to stories being timeless, the article mentions most normal, good literature lasts for about 20 years or so, but then again how does that explain the classics? Why does every high school student then have to read books written before their parents were born? The literature that becomes timeless and important like this focuses less on the fleeting current events and more on universal themes and ideas. These stories of course usually make more sense within their original context, but truly great literature will transcend these boundaries of time and place to make their mark on the world.

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