Is it a waste of time to read fiction? Is there intellectually stimulating/educational fiction?

Question

Can you learn from fiction? What do you learn? Is some fiction more intellectually stimulating than others? Can you give examples?

Answer 1

nothing you enjoyed reading was a waste of time. There is a problem however, when you neglect responsibilities like work, kids, house cleaning etc, to read such a book.

Answer 2

Just because you might not be learning stuff from fictional books doesn't mean they aren't intellectualy stimulating. Although you can learn a lot from fictional books. I've learned some of the intesting random facts from fictional books.
All fiction is intellectually stimulating, because you have to use your mind to read the book. Hence all reading (at your own reading level) is stimulating to read.
If you wanted a book or two that was particularly good for this, I'd recommend Ender's Game, and the Ender series, written by Orson Scott Card. You can basically pick this up anywhere.

Answer 3

Reading is not a waste of time. We are are generally engrossed into the happenings of the fiction and tend to sideline the location, description, history, social and psychological aspects etc. of the events.

One of the best fiction is Godfather for intellectual stimulation. Try reading Fredric Forsyeth's Books.

Answer 4

Is it a waste of time to listen to good music or look at great art? Different people have different likes and dislikes. My son never reads fiction although he's got a college degree. I find it highly stimulating intellectually. Recently I read two dystopian novels by Margaret Atwood. "The Handmaid's Tale" lets you think about what a future would be like if a fundamentalist Christian sect took over America; "Oryx and Crake" shows what may happen in the future when people are genetically engineered-in this case as herbivores!

Answer 5

Historical fiction is pretty good. However, make sure the reputation of the author. An excellent HF author will stick to the facts as much as possible.

Below are some authors I recommend and have written:

McKinley Kantor- Andersonville (the Civil War Confederate prison). Excellent and very informative and factual.

Charles Dickens-excellent depictions of early London

Alexander Dumas-Count of Monte Cristo

Durham-modern author

Howard Fast-leans a little left, was said to be a Socialist. Author of Spartacus.

Susanna Gregory-comes highly recommended, but never read------yet

McCullough-author of Thorn Birds-a little bit of a hack but enjoyable reads

Nordoff and Hall- authors of Mutiny on the Bounty, et al-excellent naval stories

Pressfield-popular but haven't had a chance to read yet, but comes with good credentials

George Fenimore Cooper-author of Last of the Mohicans

Shaara-father and son-authors of great Civil War series

There are others, but I haven't read them yet either. I don't like to recommend an author I haven't read regardless of their reputation. If you wish to try any of the above authors check the Fantastic Fiction web site for other titles.

If the book isn't exactly as good as it should be on specific factual matters, it at least gives you an idea of what life was like in that particular period.

There are also a lot of books out there about authors who have retraced historical paths and locations.

Answer 6

The only fiction that is a waste of time is poorly written fiction. In the right hands, fiction can change people's opinions and shape history. Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" did precisely that.

Fiction can inspire and move, whether to laughter or tears. If fiction touches the heart as well as the mind, it is time well spent.

But there's nothing wrong with fiction that simply entertains. The art of storytelling is a valuable one. Fiction that keeps us turning the page and asking "And then what?" has its place.

Fiction can, as Shakespeare put it, "hold the mirror up to nature". If the author has a sound grasp of human nature, fiction can show us who we are, and what we share in common as human beings.

Fiction can teach, not only in the sense of conveying factual information, but in the sense of building our moral fiber.

Have you perhaps guess that I am a writer of fiction myself? I wouldn't write fiction if I didn't believe it had value, meaning, and purpose. If I was writing just to make a buck ... well, that WOULD be a waste of time!

Answer 7

I hope you'll forgive me if I copy and paste my answer for a similar question, with slight modifications to fit this question. Sorry for the length, I get carried away on subjects like this:

Sure, the details and specific points of a fictional story are not real, but the ideas and people that they represent are. The point of non-fiction is generally to communicate facts, while good fiction will emphasize ideas. It is important to understand both. Fiction exists to say things that you can't just say, that people won't listen to if you state outright.

For instance, Joseph Heller could have released a statement saying, "Hey, war is bad." Uh, ok. No kidding. But instead he wrote Catch-22, which showed (in its own measly fictional way) WHY war is bad, HOW it affects people, etc.

Of course, you could get a book documenting the facts of specific wars, and that's important too, but Catch-22, by using immense exaggeration for comedic and functional purposes, communicated something that a non-fiction book never could. If you're basing your opinion of fiction as a whole on books like Harry Potter (not that I'm undermining the importance of escapist literature; I love Harry Potter), then I can understand your confusion as to fiction's value. But look more closely at the books that have REALLY changed things in the world, and you'll realize that it was Animal Farm, not A Complete Guide to Modern Communism, that convinced people that a communist government is easily corrupted, therefore making communism a second choice to other socialist options. It's Oliver Twist and Hard Times that we look at now for reference and understanding, not A Dull and Complete Documentation of the Life of the Poor in Victorian East London. The facts of non-fiction build the reality of fiction, making it just as valid a learning tool as non-fiction.

In another example, the Rape of Nanjing, a non-fiction account of the mass genocide of an entire population, was hard-hitting, and I was blown away by it. However, it was a different sort of gut-twisting than you would get if you read a fictionalization of the same event.

Fact: Genocide is a terrible thing. You can be told this either through a non-fictional medium (like The Rape of Nanjing) or a fictional one. Someone could write a science fiction story about mass genocide in a made-up society that would also move people to hate violence and brutality. Each medium can be compelling in its own way, if done well. In fact, I think when examining an issue, a healthy balance of informative fiction and non-fiction is probably best (for me, at least).

Of course, sspence966, if you don't enjoy fiction, there's no reason to force yourself to read it. But I think you're really missing out.

Answer 8

Life is intellectually stimulating and educational. Pure fiction is a playground for the mind. It stimulates your own imagination and creativity. Well-written fiction has the power to challenge the way you think and cause you to alter your own behavior by what you "inadvertantly" learned while reading.

Answer 9

Think of fiction as TV for intellectuals. While TV is generally stupefying, works of fiction often can be (mildly) educational while also being entertaining. You not only improve your reading skills, but also your vocabulary and spelling. If you take the time to look up words with uncertain definitions (I do), you will definitely learn something from all but the most child-oriented of books. Some books (like Journey to the Center of the Earth) can also be educational in historic and scientific areas. In fact, *any* "classic" fiction set in a real location provides historic knowledge, and often you get a snapshot of life and technology in that era.

Some hard-to-put-down non-fiction -

Especially for younger women: Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I read one of these when younger (at my sister's insistence). Excellent, detailed and true descriptions of how American pioneer families lived in the late 1800s - all from the point of view of the girl who lived through it. (I was more interested in scifi and fantasy at the time).

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - although dryer than the Wilder books, it is a true account of American expansion from the point of view of the Native Americans who lived through it. It's a much better read than any dry history text book, but entirely factual (and documented) at the same time. Necessary reading for all Americans.

Jim, www life-after-harry-potter com

Answer 10

Good fiction teaches you about all kinds of people and places. You can travel to the past or the future. You can walk with kings or paupers. You can find out what it feels like to be a murderer in a Ruth Rendel mystery. Let F. Scott Fitzgerald take you back to the roaring 20's in The Great Gatsby. Edith Wharton can transport you to the barren life of a poor farmer who falls in love with his wife's cousin at the turn of the century in Ethan Frome. To Kill a Mockingbird will make you understand the cruelty of segregation in the 1930's.
Educate yourself. Read fiction but make sure it is good fiction.

Answer 11

no count if it incredibly is I even have wasted my total existence which has been based around fiction. memories saved my existence as a new child - gave me wish of a extra suitable time - so no longer a waste of time for me i think of this is been shown how little eye-witnesses certainly bear in mind; our memories - embroider and subtract journey so i think of there is under no circumstances a real photograph. earlier we've been given complicated telescopic kit no person ought to tell with any actuality the place a megastar became interior the sky as a mild interior the ineffective of nighttime looks to our eyes to go - (it incredibly is why there have been 3 sensible adult adult males following the megastar). as quickly as I reread books or re-watch previous movies i'm continually entertained as lots via what I forgot and what i falsely remembered. So sure I consider you i think of its memories all the way down. I even have confidence that any tale that should be made up approximately humanity can and does ensue someplace.