Anyone who knows me knows I always have a book in my backpack. It’s uncommon for me to be without something to read, and despite it becoming a lost art, I still find reading one of the most interesting parts of my life.
However, as I continue to find more books to read, the level of engagement I feel is going down very quickly. This, in part, is due to what I call the downfall of modern literature. There are a myriad of reasons why this is happening, but the main reason is the indistinguishable plots of most modern novels. So many books today are aimed at young adults who are just now getting into reading, and with that comes people who are just trying to make money off this growing market. Because of this, so many books are just becoming boring and repetitive and just downright predictable.
The biggest genre that this affects is the fantasy genre. In years past, so many beautiful original works have been written. The authors of these books genuinely seemed to put their heart and soul into writing these novels, and that’s the reason why they’re renowned in any literary context.
Take for example the Lord of the Rings series. Tolkien’s work was an example of pure literary genius. He was an innovator in his field and he allowed so many people to see what fantasy could actually be, not just dragons and magic, but language and history and fully realized worlds that actually felt real. There was an intention behind every name, every setting, every choice that he made.
Other older authors, like Oscar Wilde, Jane Austin, and F. Scott. Fitzgerald, also exemplify the particularity and intention behind every word written. When comparing those authors and their novels to a lot of what is read now the differences seem more obvious than not. Lots of modern fantasy novels follow almost the same exact formula throughout. There is almost always an enemies to lovers arc. There is almost always a chosen one. And there is almost always a third act plot twist that everyone can see coming. It’s not even storytelling anymore at this point, it’s just recycling old work over and over and over again. Take for example Colleen Hoover’s writing. She has written a number of novels, yet she is very heavily criticized for her writing being mediocre and just downright repetitive. Her romanticization of abuse is also a big criticism that readers find in her writing. Another author that falls victim to the repetitiveness of writing is Ana Huang, with her dark romance series, Twisted. The books follow many popular tropes and have wildly unrealistic displays of wealth.
Another big issue with the downfall of literature is overconsumption. Because of the huge platforms on social media like TikTok, books are being pushed out and consumed at a rate that isn’t plausible. Tiktok creators like @printedpapertraveler and @paulinasbooks are pushing the narrative that buying more books is not a bad thing, but in fact is just a hobby.
Reading is almost a trend now and not something that people do for enjoyment. So many people are buying books that they will never read, and that will just sit on their shelves and collect dust. Because of these platforms, people seem to be encouraged to read as much as possible and as fast as possible to get the next best book, but they’re not actually sitting and understanding what is being said in these books.
This leads to the surface-level engagement that so many people have nowadays, where dopamine is easily consumed because of social media. However, online reading offers a phenomenal solution to the overconsumption of books, and though it can shorten attention spans and support skimming, the benefits heavily outweigh the losses. For people who don’t need a physical book, don’t like the current overconsumption, or don’t have the room, digital books, offered through libraries or apps like Libby, are an amazing solution to any of these problems.
On top of all of the negatives of literature right now, reading comprehension is very clearly declining. In fact, the reading scores for high school seniors fell to their lowest level since 1992. People everywhere are struggling to understand text and to follow themes or even semi-complex narration. This is affecting what will get published. If everyone is preferring a faster simpler easier story, that’s what publishers are going to produce. It ends up being a cycle where lower comprehension leads to easier to read books and easier to read books prevent readers from improving their comprehension.
This is also bad for the authors who want more than anything to share the stories that they come up with that people refuse to read because they are too complex. A major reason for this decline in comprehension is the rise of AI. Because people are using AI for simple tasks, like summarization or writing itself, the part of your brain that focuses on these concepts doesn’t get nearly as much attention and slowly starts to deteriorate, or become unused.
The rise of AI-generated authorship is also a very clear issue. When stories can be produced at a quick and alarming rate, the originality always seems to be lacking. The writing no longer is about creativity, but it is about how much money a publisher can make based on how many books they published. One of the major issues with AI writing is that almost everything seems the same, as they follow the same template that these repetitive books are following. Because of this, people who genuinely like to read are having a hard time finding books that actually seem meaningful and complex and good enough to read.
This isn’t to say that all modern literature is entirely lost, but it very clearly shows that people now are prioritizing quantity over quality. There are still some incredible books being written, but they are a lot harder to find in this world of repetitive and easy to understand content. Some examples of newer books that don’t fall into the trap of repetitiveness are “Project Hail Mary” and “I’m Glad my Mom Died.”
Part of the reason why older books are becoming more popular in these newer years is because the people who truly enjoy reading, want something with substance and grit and emotion and not meaningless AI-generated slop. Reading books used to feel magical and now it just feels like déjà vu. Everything seems the same. The downfall of modern literature is a phenomenon that many people are seeing happen, and one of the only ways to stop it is with creativity and originality. If everyone today read one book that was written before the age of AI and before the age of formula writing, I truly believe that the comprehension and the reading ability of the world would skyrocket.
