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I’ve noticed something about Rory and Jess’s taste in literature.

Rory is often shown reading books written during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, mostly circling around women and the middle and upper classes with a traditional plot structure. The people in these novels are generally dissatisfied with the society they are in but attempt to survive within it.

Jess is shown to read modern fiction written mostly from the 1940s-1980s with gritty, colloquial tone. The fiction he reads is predominantly perceived as masculine and about people who have rejected the norms of society and try to abandon it, via transport, drugs or art.

On the face of this it appears that Rory and Jess have very different taste but I would argue that it’s actually very similar. The central characters of the novels they read comment on social structure (Anna Karenina focuses on a woman who cannot survive in her class) and the ‘rules’ of society (Slaughterhouse Five discusses the futility of war).

Rory and Jess both enjoy literature written from authors who try to observe society and, though they don’t always agree on what makes good writing (Ayn Rand and Ernest Hemingway) they understand the importance of literature, try to challenge each other and instantly bond over Howl, a poem by a member of the Beat movement, which comments on censorship and community.

Rory may prefer the traditional novel and Jess the experimental form but they both enjoy plots which challenge characters and thus the reader itself, understanding that its rules are frequently artificial, arbitrary and at times damaging, a theme familiar both in Dead Souls and the works of Tom Wolfe. They themselves come from backgrounds which don’t entirely fit the norm.

Both characters likely read books which fell outside this description but overall I found this interesting.