The Purpose of Reading Fiction?

Question

What are your reasons for reading fiction? I am a busy adult who have very little time with reading "unnecessary" material, although I can imagine it would be nicer to read a fictional book than go to the movies. You just love to read stories? I never can understand people who read almost entirely fiction. Doesn't the reality orientation get messed up/affected?

I love to read nonfiction because it gives facts and I can utiltize it. I am always wary of fiction that it will mislead, if one doesn't research all that there is to a fictional book say, on genetic advances.

Please share how you feel fiction does/does not disorient you in terms of reality and why you read them. Thanks

Answer 1

Just because fiction doesn't *directly* relate to the real world, doesn't mean it doesn't have any connections or any bearing on the real world.

Speculative fiction or science fiction, for example, can deal with what *could* happen if the powers-that-be in any place go a certain way, or if some mistake could happen, or if society advances in such a certain way.

Take your example of genetic advances--while a non-fiction book would deal with the advances currently taking place, or that have taken place not long ago, a fiction novel could deal with *where* that knowledge could go, and how it could affect us for better or for worse in the future. It can help you fully realize the good and bad aspects of something like cloning, genetic alteration, etc, etc.

Regular realistic fiction, on the other hand, can help you get into the mind of other people, because even though the character(s) may be fictionalized, they probably have some relation to someone you know in real life, or someone you may encounter some day.

It's also pretty easy to separate what's fact/fiction in novels, haha! Only a kid or a really, really dumb person couldn't make out the difference. Of course, once in a while something does stump any reader--in which case, it's really easy to look up online to see if a certain device, event, idea is fact or fiction.

Answer 2

I read fiction for it's entertainment value. This is the same as watching fictional shows on TV or watching movies. Some fictional writing has messages beyond the original story. I enjoy this kind of writing. I also enjoy seeing how the author goes about developing the story. I read a lot of books, both fiction and non fiction, probably 3 to 1 fiction.

Answer 3

i detect that fictional memories are a variety of alleviation from the every day drama. Why else might cleansing soap operas be customary? As for fictional books, I examine maximum of of them. it quite is sturdy to enable your techniques bypass to a distinctive time or place. do no longer look at fictional books the comparable as nonfiction. human beings do no longer examine fiction to get suggestions the way they might from nonfiction. of direction the suggestions on genetic advances does no longer be precise in fiction as a results of fact the author could use the assumption of say, cloning, and write a narrative approximately an entire military of George Bush clones. As for seperating fact and fiction, i think of maximum folk have that under administration. those that don't, have deeper subject concerns that would effect them without analyzing fiction. Watch the action picture 'Mazes and Monsters' with Tom Hanks for an severe occasion of how fiction can bring about disorientation, yet with somebody who has some form of psychological situation. something human beings don't have that undertaking.

Answer 4

Writing is an art form...probably the most influential art form there is. Just like music and painting it allows you to see the world from the point of view of another. Fiction can open your eyes to things you may not understand. 1984 was a great example of eye opening..How many people have been inspired by the likes of Sherlock Holmes..he still gets letters to this day. We can learn great moral lessons from fiction..Animal Farm showed us how ugly human can be...The Pearl shows us the end product of greed..Wuthering Heights is an example of how thin is the line between love and hate, Little Women is an incredible example of family...childrens imaginations are built on Cinderella, The Arabian Nights, Curious George, The Snow Queen and The Wind in the Willows. If you would really like to gain an understanding of how important fiction is than I suggest you read "Reading Lolita in Tehran" it is a non fiction book, that discusses why people are willing to risk death in order to have access to great works of fiction.

Answer 5

The types of fiction books I read (same topics as the short stories I write), aren't easily confused with reality :) I think if you have a good grasp of reality yourself, reading fiction won't have any effect except to entertain, which is what it's for.
I also read stacks of non-fiction, mostly to do with health and well-being, physical, mental and spiritual. What's more important, more real, than that?! :)

Answer 6

Very few people are unable to separate the surreal world of a fictional book from the reality of our world. I've never even heard of someone that fits that description.

Sometimes, you NEED to escape from the world around you. Reading fiction is the original -- and in my opinion, still the best -- version of "virtual reality".

Answer 7

Fiction yields the imaginary entertainment value. we sometimes get inspirations, and that is very satisfying. Fictions do not disorient me, but they do trigger me to think further outside the box. Plus they just give the industry a bit more variety. Picture Hollywood producing only documentary films

Answer 8

You can simply escape from the real world's miserable clutches, it you ask me, I'm only 6th grade.
I only read the fiction that's totally fiction that no one will ever believe in.
I read them to kill time mainly and for entertainment. My parents said it added a lot to my writing talent.

Answer 9

thats a big question. i read fiction simply because i enjoy it. its nice to use literature not necessarily to escape from reality but to become part of another one. also, i have no problems at all differentiating reality from fiction.

Answer 10

there are some very good stories like
CATCHER IN THE RYE
LORD OF THE FLIES
but if you like nonfiction i would recommend reading:
NIGHT written by Elie Wisel who actually won:
the Nobel peace prize for writting this book. It is very good but it is about the Nazi concentration camps