Why we read imaginative fiction
Carol Berg December 22nd, 2006
I found Ursula Leguin’s article http://www.newstatesman.com/200612180040
entitled Imaginary Friends well worth reading. I think this is what many of us try to articulate when we hear, “Oh, my kids read fantasy. I prefer real stories.”
Carol
Exactly. Thank you for posting this link.
I think the ones that annoy me the most are the ones on airplanes, trains, and such who sneer, “I never read fiction. Made up stories don’t interest me. I only read things that are true.”
[Of course this begs the question of things such as how much media news reporting is "true," or how many tellings of incidents in a celebrity biography have been "adapted" to make them seem more flattering, amusing, or dramatic.]
I believe people often link fantasy or speculative fiction in general as “escapist.” Just a way to avoid responsibility, bills, real relationships, etc. However, I believe some of the most stark, true and real emotions, philosophy, social awareness and the like come through the huge shift in perspective that a reader gets when they are brought into a fantasy world and are able to break away from the concrete reality they have built around themselves.
“I never read fiction. Made up stories don’t interest me. I only read things that are true.�
All this tells me is the speaker has no idea what Truth is. As with most folks we encounter, they have some notion that Fact and Truth are the same thing.
I occasionally wonder how they manage to get through religious services with this prejudice intact…
Just another reason why LeGuin is one of my favorite authors.
And fantasy is just plain fun . Thanks for the link.
My favorite line!
Ofttimes people ask me why I stick with fantasy, as it is “such a small part of the market.” My simplest answer to the question is, “I can tell any human story and incorporate the matter of every genre–mystery, romance, history, etc.–in a world of my own devising. I love what I do.”
Carol