I read a lot of books. Not as many as some, mind you, but more than the average person. (Side note: In going down a short rabbit trail of how many books the average American reads in a year, the linked article notes that less than half of the respondents actually read a book in the previous 12 months… that is probably worthy of another post on its own)
In the amount of reading, I strive for a decent balance of both fiction and non-fiction. This is slightly weighted more towards non-fiction with a balance between Spiritual/Bible study, self-improvement/leadership, and other general categories of nerdy pursuit. The last few years have been weighted even more so in that direction with my Graduate studies leading into my current doctoral program.
Even still, I find myself needing that change of pace offered by a good fiction book. Breaks between semesters like those around summer and Christmas allow that time to get lost in these books. This is in opposition to a remark I’ve heard occasionally over the years– even as recently as last month from a college professor– that is that reading fiction should be done sparingly if at all.
This got me thinking: “Why do I read fiction.”
So, naturally, I sat down and wrote out a *few* of the reasons I read fiction. This was by no means an exhaustive list, but it is the ones that have stuck out to me most over the years. As I read through my list I noticed that they all boiled down to the following two ideas.
- Reading fiction gives your mind a break without turning it to mush.
This is a major problem with other forms of entertainment and diversion. Entertainment that is screen-based has progressed further down the path of extremes. TV shows go to extreme measures to hold viewers’ attention, Netflix auto-plays the next episode in the series in order to promote “binge-watching,” and social media platforms from Facebook to Youtube to TikTok use highly refined algorithms to curate individualized streams of the most addicting content leading to the dreaded “doom-scrolling.” These culturally normative forms of diversion have only eroded our attention span to the point that concentrating on cognitively demanding topics is seen as a superpower in the modern workplace.
The answer, then, is to replace attention-sapping recreation with higher forms of entertainment. When your brain needs a break, turning to addictive, screen-based diversion is the mental equivalent of eating junk food because you are hungry. Instead, consuming high-quality entertainment satisfies the mental hunger for diversion while avoiding the inevitable crash after consuming too much addictive material.
Good fiction books solve this problem. They divert the attention and allow the mind to rest while also feeding it quality content. And understandably, this is not the only form of high-quality entertainment. There are a plethora of forms of fine art that would satisfy this need. From actual art to music, when humans consume fine art, they are enjoying one of the chief differentiators between humanity and the rest of creation. We are created in the image of God and therefore create like our Creator. We are reflecting Him to the world around us. So, in enjoying the creations of others we are enjoying one of God’s good gifts to humanity. And, as we’ll see in a second, weaving a creative story is one creative act that God has been doing throughout history.
- Reading fiction captures the imagination.
The second major reason I read fiction and encourage others to do the same is that it captures the imagination. Children are highly skilled at imaginative play. They see things that are not there and act as if they were. They can turn an entire living room into a vacation village, complete with cabins, restaurants, and a town square, and then spend hours interacting with this imagined reality.
Adults, on the other hand, struggle with imagination. Our thoughts are on the concrete reality around us. We struggle even to see things as they could be and not simply as they are. Fiction takes us out of the world we are in and transports us to other realities we would not otherwise be able to imagine. The words on the page paint an image in our minds of places and people, and plant in our hearts desires and values we can later realize in the “real world.”
This is exactly the kind of thing that James K.A. Smith talks about in his books Desiring the Kingdom and You Are What You Love. Too often, we are more concerned with the cold reality of life, that we miss the fact that our worldview is shaped by forces that skip the rational portion of our being and pull directly at our hearts. Fiction books do that like no other medium. The act of reading seems like an exercise of the mind, but in reality, it is an exercise of the heart. The stories in books capture our imagination in ways that rational arguments never can.
Many other authors have echoed this sentiment. C.S. Lewis, author of the famed Chronicles of Narnia and less well-known but just as excellent Space Trilogy, wrote “Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise, you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.”1 G. K. Chesterton similarly remarked “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” More recently, Andrew Peterson, author of the Wingfeather Saga (a highly recommended trilogy! I’d place it up there with the Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings), put this all together by saying “if you want someone to know the truth, tell them the truth. If you want someone to love the truth tell them a story.”
Stories capture the imagination and direct our hearts toward the noble character traits we should desire to exhibit. They also call us to live into the true story that God is weaving throughout history. In fact, the Bible itself tells one big story made up of smaller, interrelated stories. It begins at creation with God ordaining humanity to rule as his regents over the earth. Our sin broke the perfect fellowship we shared with Him and cursed His good creation. Everything since then has been God’s progressive work of redeeming His fallen creation, accomplished at the cross and ultimately completed in the restoration of the new Heavens and new earth. When we see fictional characters fighting back against evil and eventually seeing good triumph, it is a reflection of the true story of the greatest hero triumphing over evil at the empty tomb.
So, my recommendation is to allow these fictional tales to draw you in. Notice those themes and celebrate the wonderful works of art that capture your imagination and ultimately lift the eyes of your heart to see the reflections of our Savior, longing for the day of our future restoration. That will be the happiest “happily ever after.”
Nate Deck 