What is dime store novel?

Question

I read this in NYTimes. As a non native speaker, I'm not very sure what that means. Could someone tell me?
I quote the paragraph below:
"Spinning the sort of story once found in dime store novels, the police said in Taipei that a middle-aged man had carried out the shooting on March 19 because he was depressed about difficulties in selling a house.."
Also, is the author trying to imply the whole plot is ridiculous?

joseph

Usenet · Accepted Answer

Jose Chen wrote on 09 Mar 2005:
[nq:1]I read this in NYTimes. As a non native speaker, I'm not very sure what that means. Could someone tell ... middle-aged man had carried out the shooting on March 19 because he was depressed about difficulties in selling a house...."[/nq]Dime-store novels were cheap novels turned out by people who were not very good writers. But they were cheap to buy and heavy on amazing twists of plot, something like the current political situation in Taiwan at the moment who'd ahtought that Lee Deng-*** would repudiate Chen Shuei-Bian for meeting with James Soong to try to ease political conflict? And who'd athought that Chen and Soong would ever shake hands? And what's gonna happen in the DPP now that so many hard-line secessionists (with whom I ultimately sympathize) are *** at Chenfor meeting with Soong? And what's gonna happen with the KMT-PFP merger now that Soong has cozied up to the ruling party? And when with Lien Chan finally give up the idea that he could ever become president of Taiwan? Vincent Chiew bowed out of politics just a week or two ago, and it's time for Lien to do the same.

Well, it's just an unbelievable story, but it'll keep one occupied from Ping-Tung to Kee-Lung, and then one will want to throw the book away and read something more believable.
[nq:1]Also, is the author trying to imply the whole plot is ridiculous?[/nq]
Yep. The China Post story said that the man's wife said that he hated Chen and wanted to kill him. Then there are the three suicide notes that the wife allegedly burned but none of which had contained any comment about the Chen/Lu shooting. And the fact that the guy drowned himself less than two weeks after the shooting. It's all too convenient and seems to be just a story that the police have invented to satisfy the public or the KMT.
Then,too, there is today's story in the Taipei times that says in part:
"Meanwhile, pan-blue camp legislators, including People First Party (PFP) Legislator Diane Lee (§õ¼y¦w) and PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (¼B¤å ¶¯), yesterday said Chen Yi-hsiung might have been murdered.

"They said police had failed to find the most important evidence the gun and bullets used in the shooting and alleged that police were wrapping up the investigation prematurely."

The plot thickens and sickens.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
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'Henry Kissinger once justified U.S. support for the Pinochet coup in Chile by saying "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people."' Time Magazine article

Usenet · Answer

wow, thanks a lot. You seem to know the political situation in Taiwan very well:)
so is there any difference between a pulp fiction and a dime store novel? I read somewhere before that pulp fiction is cheap novel too.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]wow, thanks a lot. You seem to know the political situation in Taiwan very well:) so is there any difference between a pulp fiction and a dime store novel? I read somewhere before that pulp fiction is cheap novel too.[/nq]
Pulp fiction is often very well written. Many classic crime writers such as Raymond Chandler and Dashiell hammett started as pulp fiction writers.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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keke wrote on 09 Mar 2005:
[nq:1]wow, thanks a lot. You seem to know the political situation in Taiwan very well:)[/nq]
I've been here for the past 8.5 years. It's my home. My wife and son are Taiwanese. I liked the politics here much better back in 1996 when I first arrived.
[nq:1]so is there any difference between a pulp fiction and a dime store novel? I read somewhere before that pulp fiction is cheap novel too.[/nq]
Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.
'Henry Kissinger once justified U.S. support for the Pinochet coup in Chile by saying "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people."' Time Magazine article

Usenet · Answer

This is an interesting query. I'm not 100% sure about this interpretation, but I remember hearing something about this back in school.
"Pulp fiction" and "dime store novels" are, more or less, supposed to be the same thing. It had to do with the kind of paper that these things were published on. "Pulp fiction" meant that the book was printed on paper processed from pulp, 100% cheap wood by-products with a high acid content. Paper like that quickly falls to pieces, even under the best of conditions. Better books were published on a rag and wood pulp mix, which had a lower acid content, was softer and far more durable. The techniques necessary for mass-producing this kind of paper did not come into widespread use until just before the Great Depression in the States.
"Pulp fiction" was used, by the makers of rag paper and the printers of higher-quality books, as a term of derision. The cheap-book market expanded so quickly that certain writers began to write exclusively for it, and any book with a lurid, transparent plot that did not bill itself as the product of literary genius was called "pulp fiction." Three major genres: mystery whodunnit novels, adventure romances and teenage adventure stories were essentially created by the advent of these cheap books, despite having their roots in far earlier stories (Poe wrote the first detective story, it is believed; novels really comes from Middle Age romances).
A "dime-store novel" is supposed to be quintessential pulp fiction, as it was sold in what was that era's "99 cent store." At a time when English literary studies was really beginning to take off and the standard university course was being replaced with various electives system, dime store novels were a kind of entertainment that was barely above minstel and vaudeville shows. There was something scandalous about them.
As has been pointed out in this thread, however, some of the writer for the pulp fiction market, who put out dime-store novels like The Maltese Falcon , are now regarded quite differently in contemporary literary studies.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]This is an interesting query. I'm not 100% sure about this interpretation, but I remember hearing something about this back ... who put out dime-store novels like The Maltese Falcon , are now regarded quite differently in contemporary literary studies.[/nq]
For me there is a difference in connotation between the two terms even if they have the same origin. "Dime-store novel" has negative connotations while "pulp fiction" has the connotation that it's much better than you might think.
Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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[nq:1]I read this in NYTimes. As a non native speaker, I'm not very sure what that means. Could someone tell ... depressed about difficulties in selling a house.." Also, is the author trying to imply the whole plot is ridiculous? joseph[/nq]
NY Times is confused. The proper term is 'dime novel' because they sold for a dime/10 cents, not because they were sold at a dime store.
Brit equivalent is 'the penny dreadful'.
A web search for either will get you a ton of information.

What is dime store novel?

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