...is a condition I seem to have. Reading it, writing it, listening to it, watching it...you name it, I do it. If I tot up the hours in the day that I spend on some kind of fiction, it's quite alarming. Does it mean that I spend my time escaping reality? And what is it about fiction that is so wonderful? I have a good life, so I'm not trying to escape from anything. But when I look at (for example) John's bedside reading (history, biography, theology, politics) and mine (pretty well all fiction) I do wonder whether my life lacks...well, balance. Maybe I need help...?
Oh dear.
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I think you should read what you enjoy, and to hell with the rest!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Frances. I just might do that!
DeleteNooo you don't need help, Frances! You're perfectly normal! Keep reading :-) x
ReplyDeleteMy husband reads magazines — news magazines, consumer magazines, sports magazines — and about two books a year, usually autobiographies or biographies of sports figures, living or dead. And he thinks he is perfectly normal.
ReplyDeleteI love fiction, too. My best friend sends me non-fiction books which she knows I will enjoy (and I do) but let me go to the library and I'll come back with half a dozen mystery novels.
Fret not, Frances, you're fine.
K
John is addicted to news; papers, periodicals, Internet, whatever. I'm....not!
DeleteI never read non-fiction!
ReplyDeleteI do sometimes read non fiction, Wendy, but so much prefer fiction.
DeleteSome read both non-fiction and fiction, some read only fiction, others read only non-fiction - I can't see any problem with that. It's a bit like eating, isn't it; some people never eat meat and do enjoy a healthy diet (maybe even healthier than those who do).
ReplyDeleteIf you feel you're lacking some non-fictional input but don't feel like reading non-fiction, there's always documentaries you can watch on TV or listen to on the radio.
Oh, I do watch documentaries. Now I feel much better!
DeleteI prefer fiction to reality, which is just as well. All I do every day is read it and write it.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is a non-fiction reader mostly, so he tries to keep me up-to-date with the world.
If we are out shopping, I'm in such a daydream, apparently I'm always staring into the middle distance. So he has learnt not to rely on me for anything.
I've never met anyone so patient. Even when I take a business call for him, I've forgotten who's on the line before I pass him the phone. I've been known to make up the name, just to appear business-like. But it never fools him. x
Joanna, I even write stories while I'm reading them (in my head), and then forget what I've read...
DeleteOur need of storytelling seems to go back almost to the dawn of time... I think fiction is (or can be) as much a way of dealing with reality as escaping from it. And while books of 'facts' may try/seem to be more accurate and serious about details, still every writer uses some sort of filter when interpreting the facts.
ReplyDeleteOur fascination with fiction has always intrigued me. From early childhood, we act out books we enjoy, have imaginary friends etc. I'm sure someone somewhere has a PhD in this!
DeleteMore and more I find I'm enjoying reading fiction based around historical facts. My favourite period is around the wars, or the upstairs/downstairs age of the Victorians. I slot in a biography every now and then so I feel I'm learning something.
ReplyDeleteI like some historical fiction, but wouldn't necessarily choose it. And biography, too. And some non-fiction...
DeleteBut I always end up with a good, old-fashioned story!
Do pop over to my blog and read a bit of fiction camouflaged as verse. I feel it could be expanded nicely if I just put my mind to it.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Meike on this one.
ReplyDeleteHowever I will say that in my belief large parts of many works that are presented as fact are no more than fiction. Large tracts of historical and political tomes and even the Bible are allegorical and therefore a sort of fiction.