Why Read Fiction?

Iman Kurdi has raised an important topic with reference to the French writer Charles Dantzig’s book entitled: “Why Read?” (“Why do we love and need to read fiction? Here is why!”, KT, 12th Oct 2010). People often carry guilt of having wasted valuable time on reading fictional stories. Many consider reading a book of fiction as escaping from real life. If the work of fiction is cheap and intended to arouse only base feelings, then I agree with such observations. However, classic works of fiction are entirely different ball-game.

Life is nothing but a stream of experiences. Birth, death and everything in between, whether success or failure, are just experiences. Each experience shapes our personality, thoughts, habits, character and destiny. A life is rich and fulfilling if it is filled with a variety of valuable experiences. However, it is not possible for anyone to gather the entire gamut of experiences from different walks and eras in one life-time. A work of fiction fills this gap.

But for Shakespeare’s works of fiction, I wouldn’t have been able to experience the Victorian era and intense human emotions. But for authors like Robert Ludlum, Fredrick Forsyth, Alistair MacLean, Jack Higgins, Ken Follett and Ian Fleming, I wouldn’t have got the thrilling and chilling experiences of cold-war espionage. But for the engrossing works of Arthur Hailey, I would have remained ignorant of the intricate worlds of Aviation, Healthcare and Hotels. But for authors like Premchand and Sarat Chandra, I wouldn’t have experienced the value-based rustic rural life of Indian villages. Authors of fictional work create stories out of their own life experiences, beliefs and acute observations of the world around them. Thus, they are able to transport their readers into different make-believe worlds where readers can enjoy the experience of living those worlds. We unconsciously pick-up our role models from these stories and start emulating their character and ideals in our own specific walks of life. Ayn Rand’s book entitled, “Atlus Shrugged” continues to have a major impact on American society fifty years after its publication. Based on the principles of morality in public and corporate dealings, this work of fiction is being referred to by Americans as prescription to cure the current economic crises. It was rightly said by someone, “There is nothing true in History except name and date, while there is nothing false in a fiction except name and date.”