Why I read Fiction by Tom Bensley

Welcome all readers. Thanks for the patience as I write another novel. But, as I promised, I wanted to dive into the subject of why one should read fiction. As a writer, I continuously hear things like: why write fiction? Or I don't read, no time for that. Or that it is a dead form of the narrative. To tackle this, I invited everyone to put in their two cents about what it is that makes reading fiction worthwhile. To be fair, I meant something other than just reading it for entertainment, though perhaps that's a matter of my own prejudices. 
But I've decided to invite a person who can answer this question with much more insight than I could ever provide it. So without further ado, I present to you Tom Bensley on why he reads fiction (also to read more of the fascinating pieces check his mag out: http://www.blairemagazine.com/_:
I wouldn’t say that the sole purpose of reading fiction is to learn, but literature is a unique teaching tool. When an author tells a story, the reader is given an opportunity to learn about an experience. For instance, in learning about a hospital, we could educate ourselves on its purpose, the way it is structured, who works in it, what the history is etc. This is all valuable, applicable information which makes us more knowledgeable about a place or a subject, but a fictional story that takes place in a hospital will give us something else. If we follow the story of a nurse, we might be given insight into the way she feels about the tasks she performs, how these tasks relate to her personal relationships, and why she is in this line of work in the first place.  Also, metaphor strengthens the author’s message and allows us as readers to interpret a familiar setting in a new way. Poetic and evocative language about how it feels to be in a hospital, not as yourself but as a character who works there, is allowing you to understand an experience you might never have. Conflict and drama draw us into that world and as a result we care about what goes on there. No matter how much knowledge we accumulate about an institution, a historical event or the tasks performed by a nurse (or any other worker), I feel that there is no more effective way to learn about experience and feeling unless you read fiction that the author has taken seriously and attempted to effectively communicate an experience to the reader. Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath gives an account of the Dustbowl, but that account is rich with unforgettable material because we follow the Joad family’s trek across the country. Flannery O’Connor’s various accounts of the race and religion in the Deep South can force us to think about a place we might never go or a time we can only read about. We learn to think about more than we would ever have the chance to if we read good fiction, I think.

I guess the “purpose” of reading literature is really for the individual to decide, but thinking about it almost like a teaching tool for human experience felt right to me. Like, it’s one thing to learn about something, but learning about it in a way that allows you to feel the experience being communicated? There’s just no other way of achieving that. And I think it becomes very addicting, once you have that first epiphany with literature. To go back to Frankenstein, when the Creature first tells Frankenstein about what he’s had to go through ever since being forced into the world by unnatural means, he uses story to make his creator understand the torment he has been through, which in turn forces Frankenstein to reconsider his actions and his place in the world. I think good fiction, to any reader who takes it seriously, can create a similar effect. It allows us to take on board another experience and to use that to enrich our own experience in the world. What’s more rewarding than that? Nelson: Thank you, Tom, for the truly insightful post. Enjoyed some of the other writings on this blog? Want to get my stories not available elsewhere? Then Subscribe to my mailing list* indicates requiredEmail Address * First Name Last Name Email Format
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