Reading Fiction Is A Waste Of Time
How many times have you heard somebody say “What’s the point in reading fiction anyway? It’s just entertainment.”
Not going to lie, but back when I was reading a lot of fiction I used to ask myself how much value reading fiction adds to my life as compared to reading non-fiction?
Luckily I was brought up in a family surrounding where nobody asked me not to read fiction. In fact, I might have been advised and let upon to read more fiction during my childhood days, once again thanks to my parents. It’s always been a ritual in my family to not bother about spending on books and visiting the local yearly book fair. I have seen my other school and college friends’ parents wanting their wards to read more non-fiction and get going with life rather than spending on books that you’re going to discard tomorrow after reading. But little did I know reading fiction would improve my life in contrast to how others think it adds zero value.
What reading fiction brings to the table?
It is indeed true that you can read a non-fiction on politics, culture, economics etc. and learn more about how things were. Non-fictions are ideally descriptive and they explain things the way they are but also lack suggestion and has almost no creative element to actually grasp and remember the content you read. It is super wrong to say fiction cannot teach you anything. For example, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is indeed a fiction but it’s depiction of racism is very close to how it actually was. And most importantly, I am still able to recollect this for a fact because of how well the book was written and how engaging the story was in contrast to reading a non fiction that would ultimately throw facts which I may or may not be able to keep in memory for a long time. There are numerous examples of fictions that brings added value and exposure to different topics than merely engaging with the audience and waving a goodbye post the read.
Fiction can connect and resonate with the reader on a more emotional level unlike a non-fiction. Tolstoy’s War and Peace surely can offer more depth in terms of emotional connect to the Russian war in early 1800s than compared to reading any arbitrary non fiction that talks about the same war. By reading a non-fiction you can remember and feel for the many people who lost their life in the war, but this fiction will make you become a part of the war and let you experience things from within.
The more you connect to things on an emotional level, the better you’ll remember and the values you grasped will stick for lifetime.
A good fiction can also teach you life lessons as much as non-fiction can. The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien is a very well written fantasy book that takes us through different characters journeys and lets us dive into the world of magic, darkness and much more. One thing I could easily understand in reading the LOTR series was that how anybody who saw the ring was subject to taking and keeping the ring to themselves by greed. And all those who were greedy like Sauron, Gollum etc. had to face consequences. This series beautifully portrays how being greedy and egoistic can eat you up over time. There are lots of books that have life lessons here and there and it’s up to the reader to observe them as story progresses and keep them close to heart.
What is a “waste of time” anyway?
If you truly enjoy what you’re doing, are you wasting time? Maybe this can be a separate discussion topic that touches on the ethics and morale in the way you choose to have fun but coming to reading fiction, if what you are reading puts you in a comfortable place and takes you to another world where you can casually relax for a while, then why not do it? Afterall, everything you do need not make sense and if what you do doesn’t directly hurt anybody else then it’s totally fine in my opinion. We all need to take some time off and explore the creative and emotional self by diving deep into worlds which you cannot experience if not for reading.
Now that being said, I should also mention that if you’re seriously worried about wasting time in reading a lot of fiction then my two cents are that you have also been probably reading the wrong fiction. Just like how there’s good and bad non-fiction there are good and bad fiction in terms of the values it can pass on to you. Dan Brown and Stephen King are without a doubt authors who can keep us entertained and engaging for a huge amount of time but they cannot be compared to George Orwell, Tolstoy and the other greats. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read Dan or King but if you really wish to explore fiction that can also add some value to your life then I consider you explore other genres such as historical and science fiction.