Why is fiction important
Why is fiction important? ... Why am I perplexed to the point of cardiac arrest? ... But why would I do this to myself? Why the added stress and nervousness? In fact, why read any fiction at all? ... Reading fiction is a great way to forget about my stress. ... ” (1) I am not saying that those who read fiction are outcasts. ... Reading fiction, even though the characters are not real, is a good way to find it. ... In short, fiction gives us a place to connect with other people, to experience feelings of closeness and intimacy. Okay, so we read fiction for escape and to experience intimacy, but what about the third reason? ... In Perrine’s Story and Structure Thomas Arp and Greg Johnson explain, “Literary fiction plunges us, through the author’s imaginative vision and artistic ability, more deeply into the real world, enabling us to understand life’s difficulties and to empathize with others…literary fiction hopes to provide a complex, lasting aesthetic and intellectual pleasure rather than a simple, escapist diversion; its object is to offer pleasure plus understanding.