/lit/ - Literature

It seems to be a common topic of discussion in this board on whether or not light novels should be considered literature. As a manga fan, that question also intrigued me since I've never read one before and was deeply curious to see how it compared to an actual literary classic. So I decided to read the one that's most recommended and considered as one of the best ever written: Zeroth Maria and the Empty Box.

So, to answer everyone's main question before diving into an analysis of the first volume (the only one I read so far) of this series of light novels, is it comparable to the world classics of literature? My answer has to be simply no, it isn't, unfortunately it's very far from it.

I went into Zeroth Maria with high expectations, since I've never read an actual light novel I was hoping this one would be amazing and to be honest I wasn't disappointed with the story, it was truly well thought and I found myself pleasantly surprised during several times. But where does it fail? The writing is simply terrible, it lacks simply everything, style, descriptions, comparisons, deepness, it's amateurish at best, there's more description in one paragraph from Proust than in the entire first volume of Zeroth Maria.

Another lacking aspect was the dialogue and monologue, the narrator, Hoshino, has some of the dumbest thoughts possible and the conversations between characters are honestly too shallow, especially when the main protagonists reach the climax and discover the identity of the one messing with the box, the villain's dialogue just didn't gave the mysterious inhuman vibe that I believe the author was going for.

But in general I enjoyed my time with it, I'd rate it much higher than any YA novel out there, the plot, the characters, the twists and even some of the more philosophical parts were really well done, which is why it's such a shame that the writing had to be so terrible.

So, despite enjoying it, I can't simply say I got the same feelings I had when reading Proust or Tolstoy, very far from it, I can't simply consider it to be on the same level as world literature, although I'll still continue reading it and maybe even try other light novels.

What do you guys think?