Comments on: Truth in Fiction

By: Jana

Jana — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:55:01 +0000

I am compulsive about reading novels or short stories. I have to be immersed in one at all times. There’s something about escaping into a story that is a kind of relief over the everyday stresses we face. I also think that your conversation with your husband is typical of men and women. I think men turn to nonfiction for truths (since throughout history, so much time has been devoted to their dramas) and women turn to fiction (because the capacity to imagine lets us in). I have to say, though, each week, the New Yorker gives me a great dose of nonfiction to get me by.

By: Gibby

Gibby — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:50:59 +0000

What a great post!!! I read mostly fiction (I have to ignore reality somehow!), but I do love certain non-fiction as well. My 8YO daughter is an avid reader, and every time she reads a story, the following conversation takes place:

“Mom, could this story really happen?”
“Well, maybe, but probably not.”
“But it could?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“So it’s non-fiction.”
“No, it’s fiction.”
“OK, so could it be realistic fiction?”
(me, sighing) “Sure.”

Every. Time.
(Found you through the neighbor posts!)

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:38:30 +0000

yes, much prefer fiction to nonfiction. I like the fact that fiction is constructed from the creativity and imagination of the author. Storytelling on the written page is an admirable art. And if the author can capture my imagination too, compelling me to turn page after page in pursuit of the next tearful hello, next love note, next moment of rejoicing, then all the more wonderful!

By: Gale

Gale — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:01:46 +0000

What I love about fiction is that it brings to life truth thay may not have otherwise been uncovered. Before you can read the truth in nonfiction it must happen, be remembered, be written (this is where most truth slips away – no one writes about it), and be published. Whereas with fiction a talented writer can choose to bring truth to the page without such nitpicky prerequisites.

Not to mention, the truths in a novel sink into me more when they are delivered through the richness of fiction.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:36:03 +0000

Even though I myself am married to a non-novel reader, I am still shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, when I encounter people that just don’t read novels. I understand if non-fiction is more your thing as long you are also open to fiction. I mostly read fiction and memoir but I am open to all books and have read, and will continue to read, all kinds of books.

I was once in a book club – that was all men except for me – and as we sat around at our first meeting coming up with a reading list I was unceremoniously shut down when i suggested a novel. Their reasoning? “If I’m going to read a book I want to learn something and you don’t learn anything from novels.”

Needless to say, I was flabbergasted.

By: Judy

Judy — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:31:00 +0000

I have to quietly admit that I’m with your husband on this one. I read 90% non-fiction because I love learning about real people. Right now I’m reading the book by the woman who is the medical adviser for the TV show “House”, a collection of strange medical cases and how they solved them. I also love the Malcolm Gladwell books because they make me think about the world in a new way. Of course I LOVE a good memoir because each one shows me how we all adapt to our specific life circumstances and survive/thrive anyway. I can appreciate a good long novel sometimes but it has to be really really good to keep my attention. Can’t beat the real life stories!

Judy
justonefoot.blogspot.com

By: Aidan Donnelley Rowley @ Ivy League Insecurities

Aidan Donnelley Rowley @ Ivy League Insecurities — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:45:50 +0000

Wonderful post. I do not read as much as I would like to or as much as I should given that I am trying very hard to carve a career as a novelist. That said, I love the novel. I lose myself in characters, in the arc of a well-conceived story. And I agree wholeheartedly that there are grains of truth in fiction, grains that honestly don’t manifest sometimes in non-fiction.

This post is particularly timely for me because for the past ten or so months, I have been blogging, writing true things about myself. I have not been able to find much time for my true love – fiction. But the other day, I holed myself up for a few hours without internet and wrote a couple chapters of my next book. I got utterly lost. I met a new character I didn’t know I had in me. I was so happy after writing fiction. It was a different type of happiness than what blogging gives me. So, indeed, fiction – I am realizing – is my passion. I will always prefer to read it and to write it, I think.

Enough about me! I really enjoyed this post and thank you for making me think.

By: terry

terry — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:18:54 +0000

Non-fiction scares me. I loved reading The Letters of Abraham Lincoln but kind of felt like I needed to write a paper on it when I was done. A presume a good non-fiction writer could take you away to new places and introduce you to new people.

But fiction–is so much fun!

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:08:17 +0000

Jennifer, I just finished Olive Kitteridge and am moving onto Committed next week! Great minds think alike I am equal reader of fiction and nonfiction — I’d guess about a 50/50 split. I am a HUGE believer that we relate to the world through stories and learn through stories — whether those stories are true or false doesn’t matter. I think both fiction and nonfiction have something to teach us about ourselves and the world. In fact, sometimes a well-drawn fiction character is far more intriguing than a real-life person (although you HAVE to read Jeannette Wall’s “Half Broke Horses,” a “true-life novel,” because her grandmother is such a character!).

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:03:24 +0000

I’ve heard it said that as one gets older, non-fiction becomes more appealing. That has been true in my case. Although right now I’m reading one of each: Commitment, and Olive Kittridge. Both have completely grabbed me. I don’t think I could ever deny one genre in favor of the other.