In Defense of Fiction

Every once in a while I have the distressing experience of running into a literary snob. You know the kind - they only read one or two genres of books because everything else is so patently inferior. When books of fiction of any variety (historical, science-fiction, fantasy, mystery etc.) are mentioned their eyebrows raise just enough to allow themselves to look archly down their noses and make some condescending comment like "Oh, well I'm sure it has it's place, it just feels like such a waste."

As an ardent reader of fiction in all its glorious forms I feel the need to take a stand. Now I'm not targeting people who only read theology or biographies because that is what they think they "should" read. I ache for them, but they are more misguided than snobbish. And for others, fiction just doesn't fill their bucket. I get that. And as far as I am concerned they are completely absolved of the taint of snobbery. Life is short - read what you love. But to those who shun fiction because it is beneath them, we need to chat.

Fiction is the great foil for all the variegated shades of human character. As Lloyd Alexander once said "The nature of fantasy allows happenings which reveal most clearly our own realities and our own strengths."

I have never faced a dragon, but I have faced mountains of laundry that feel more like dragons than inanimate lumps of textiles. I have never journeyed to Mordor, but I have faced every day of my journeys through chronic fatigue and medication induced depression (don't you hate being in the 1-3% of people who end up with a side-effect?) The courage and valor necessary for those conflicts are found in accounts of epic battles, overland journeys and grand adventures. It is not found in descriptions of stain removal or of being tired.

When I read about a fictional character I adopt a part of them for myself. My desires, strengths and weaknesses are cast in stark relief against these foils. I claim pieces of Portia, Hamlet, Katherine and Petruchio. I am molded by Psmith, Charlotte Doyle and Kit. I am pieces of Eugenides the thief, Halt the Ranger, Eilonwy and Cimorene and Meg Murry. As my adopted characters experience new lands and new people, my mind opens with theirs. I am better for their strengths AND their weaknesses.

I do feel benefited from reading accounts of real people, but the connection is less intimate. They existed out of my own head and are being re-hashed for me through someone else's eyes - even if it is an auto-biography and the eyes in question their own. Somehow, the fact of their reality prevents me from bonding in the same way.

No, I am not a fantasy snob. I also read history, biography, auto-biography, science, math and psychology. I do not do horror or "adult" books. They do not fill my bucket. And by the way, why call something "adult" when it is nothing more than juvenile filth written from the emotional perspective of a junior high locker room. Just saying.

So, I would challenge all literary snobs who may stumble across this post to try some fiction. Pick a few books, a few genres, a few authors and give it a try. You may surprise yourself. Amidst the yummy bits of fictional fluff you will find gems of rare depth and insight. I will even go so far as to point out that the Master Teacher himself used fiction (aka parables) to enlighten his followers.

Well, I am off to a much needed happily ever after.

Happy reading.