Advantages of reading fiction

Fiction reading, often regarded as a mere leisure activity, has remarkable impacts on readers.

Walt Hickey, You Are What You Watch

There are those who seem to regard reading fiction as a kind of moral failure. Serious people read history, biography, science, politics or whatever might be found on the nonfiction shelves. If one must read fiction, it should be highbrow fiction, one of the classics, not mysteries, thrillers, romance novels, westerns or science fiction.

Walt Hickey

I have never believed this, and it was reassuring to read Walt Hickey defend reading fiction of all kinds, especially as his defense comes in a book mostly about watching movies and TV shows, You Are What You Watch.

Here are some of his arguments, rephrased in my own words:

• People often say that a particular book changed their life. Often these life-changing books are works of fiction.

• Studies find that reading fiction helps prevent cognitive decline as we age.

• Those who read fiction often make more money. (Of course it may be that intelligent people make more money, and intelligent people are more likely to read a novel once in awhile.)

• Reading fiction, perhaps even more than watching a movie or a television program, encourages a person to identify with other people, even with people completely unlike the reader. Ideally this will carry over into real life.

• Fiction helps clarify one's moral code. When we read a story, we want the good guys to win and the bad guys to lose.  We want couples to find true love. We want happily ever after.