I have made sacrifice to the mighty hamsters. I wrote a brilliant reply to this thread that was promptly eaten by said hamsters… I will post the “Reader’s Digest” version… which means all attempts at brilliance will be discarded.
All due respect to the contributors to this thread, I think we are losing sight of something… when we, the members of the 'Dope (Or our assigns, progeny, friends, family, etc), say “I don’t read fiction” it is different from when the average joe six-pack man-on-the-street says the same thing (we, as a whole {heh heh, he said hole} are significantly above average in all regard to all matters intellectual and/or educational… my my, I am quite the snob today! ). Average joe six-pack man-on-the-street may have even fooled his/herself into believing it, but when he/she says I don’t read fiction, in my experience, it means “I don’t read” or “I don’t read for pleasure”… in fact when referring to the “man on the street”, “Mr. Averageguy” it is likely that the actual extent of that person’s reading is most likely “looking at” the USA Today McNewspaper… and that only for the comics and TV listings…
It seems every time I start a fiction book someone says I’ll “just love,” even though I’ve said I don’t read fiction, by the time I’m five or ten minutes in it’s totally obvious (to me) that this is something someone has written just for the purpose of fooling with our minds, being manipulative of our thoughts in a concocted way, and making them rich. I keep trying, but haven’t finished any fiction since a fairly early one of Herman Wouk’s, that seemed like non-fiction. And the library is much more my friend than the bookstore.
My flip answer has been that I don’t read novels that aren’t at least 75 years old. I’ve found that life is too short to spend time reading yet another novel about a whiny loser whose marriage is a mess and who can’t relate to his kids and he hates his job and he can’t communicate with anyone and he’s looking for a way to break out of his dull, stultifying life so he does something totally uncharacteristic but it turns out all wrong and he’s left with even less than he started with.
I think one of the worst pieces of advice given to new writers is “Write what you know.” Most people should learn something new first and then write about that.
I don’t read standard fiction… whatever that means. But I do read a ton of science fiction. However, if someone recommended a book to me, fiction, non fiction or other, if it sounded interesting, I’d try it out.
I know a lot of people - none of them members of this board - who don’t read fiction. They do read
Professional journals
Magazines about topics they’re interested in
Biographies, particularly about people currently in the news
Far Side collections
Newspapers (not just USA Today, but “real” newspapers)
Readers Digest-type condensations
I “don’t read fiction” for two reasons. One, like others in this thread, I find well-written non-fiction to be more satisfying than most novels. Two, my schedule is such that I might start a book and not get back to it for a month. That spoils my enjoyment of novels.
“I don’t read fiction” is also polite shorthand for “I think that genre is crap. Please don’t try to convince me that if I loved X I’ll also love Y.”
I don’t read fiction. I think the last time i seriously read a fiction book was two years ago. I do read tons of non fiction via books, magazines, and websites though.
The reason i don’t read fiction is because movies are quicker, more entertaining and easier to remember. Since most humans are visual learners a visual fiction story will be learned and retained faster & better. So i don’t bother with books on fiction its like biking instead of driving.
Damn, this is one depressing thread. I read quite a bit, fiction and non-fiction, and I just find it hard to handle the idea that people don’t like to read novels. I’m OK with people being picky, disdaining stuff created by the GriShAmBot-3000, or who just can’t get into Charles Dickens, but the idea that people just don’t find novels entertaining? Damn.
Yeah, I’m kind of in the same boat with you. I mean, I don’t love the formulaic novels, but sometimes I need a good story as a brain break. It’s not that I stop thinking after five, but I write for a living, and nine times out of 10 it’s not fiction - it’s either science, how-to, financial or business. While reading non-fiction can be interesting and fun, my head could usually use a rest at the end of the day. And reading Nietzsche isn’t going to give me the breather I need. But, to each his own.
I’ll third this. What’s upsetting isn’t that there are folks like this, but that there are a lot of 'em. What do all those high school and college literature teachers have to say about this? Who’s going to buy my fiction when I finally persuade somebody to publish it?
I think sometimes they have to take part of the blame. Some of the choices in lit courses…
They take “a classic” or “significant” or “symbolic” books and represent them as the best of literature.
Then if 3/4 of the class hates it, they figure - this is the GOOD stuff? Man, why read?
I’d suggest they poll the classes more often. If they have 5 books, and 4 are hated by 3/4 of the class, maybe change 2 or 3? I’m not saying trade Shakespeare for Jackie Collins, but maybe,say, a Jane Austen leaves, and we try a Hemingway. I never read a Jane Austen unassigned - after i was assigned Hemingway, I read a couple more.
FWIW, I have a friend who doesn’t watch fiction. She doesn’t like fictional movies or TV shows: she finds them too contrived and predictable. She’d rather watch reality shows, news shows, etc.
This is a vast overgeneralization, but I’ll thow it in anyway: reading fiction and reading nonfiction are two different experiences. Reading nonfiction is done critically, rationally, in an attempt to learn, to consider, to evaluate. Reading fiction is done imaginatively, in an attempt to enter the world of the story and be “lost” or “swept away” in the book. I suspect that many of the people who “don’t read fiction” either don’t enjoy this experience or have trouble attaining it (due to limitations in their ability to translate words on the page to images and experiences in their minds).
Maybe it’s just me, but I kind of agree with elfkin and verbenabeast on this one…Yes, I’m sure there are people who don’t read fiction who consume piles and stacks and shelves full of non-fiction and other materials. However, I’m equally sure there are people who don’t read fiction who don’t read…anything… ::mind boggles:: …and to avoid admitting that, just say they don’t read fiction. And there’s still a third group, who don’t read anything and are almost belligerently proud of it.
My next question of someone who says they don’t read fiction would be to ask what they do like to read. Since I’m probably not alone in that, anyone who uses that phrase to disguise their non-reading is likely to be forced to elaborate on their choice.
I’m another one who reads little or no fiction outside of mysteries. I like the problem-solving in mysteries. I also like espionage fiction for the same reason.
I also don’t go to movies very often. I can’t tell you the last film I saw but it was before 1995. On the other hand, I do enjoy live theater. Go figure.
I read lots of non-fiction generally work or hobby related - sometimes biographies and current events. And I do like humorous fiction when I run across it. I’ve read a couple of Steve Martin’s books, and I’ve just discovered Jasper Fford.
I majored in Ethnic Literature in college and read stacks and stacks of novels. I loved fiction and it accounted for probably 80% of my reading. Over time, however, I began to have that feeling about “there are only 26 real stories in the world and they are just told in different ways.” Fiction began to get somewhat predictable for me.
I’ve now shifted to reading non-fiction almost exclusively. I still like fiction, but it just seems to lose out to the next fascinating non-fiction book. I have terminal curiosity and learning new facts is addicting to me. I mostly read history, sociology, current events/political science and general science. I’ve found that memoirs have kind of taken the place of fiction in my reading. They are easier to read and tell a story, but if you pick interesting people, you still learn a great deal.
I’m also a political radical and I’ve learned that if you’re going to hold non-standard beliefs, you have to back them up with tidal waves of facts if you have any hope in changing people’s minds.
). Average joe six-pack man-on-the-street may have even fooled his/herself into believing it, but when he/she says I don’t read fiction, in my experience, it means “I don’t read” or “I don’t read for pleasure”… in fact when referring to the “man on the street”, “Mr. Averageguy” it is likely that the actual extent of that person’s reading is most likely “looking at” the USA Today McNewspaper… and that only for the comics and TV listings…
