Fiction

This post on a blog I follow from time to time inspired me to write a little about fiction and book-reading. I read very often, but not in the sense that most people do. I devour thousands upon thousands of words daily from (mostly) internet sources, the bulk of which coming from Wikipedia, SomethingAwful, blogs, and news aggregators.

I am devoid completely of one thing, though, in my reading. I don't touch fiction often. The last time I read a fiction book was re-reading Slaughterhouse-Five a couple months ago just because it was sitting around and I had nothing better to do. This is strange, too, because it's not as if I avoid fiction in other areas; I enjoy television dramas like House, I like non-documentary movies immensely, and I play (obviously) fictional video games. So what gives?

I have a theory over why I'm not drawn as much to literary fiction as I used to be. I am not any less interested in fiction than I used to be, but rather I am far more interested in non-fiction. In following politics, in doing research on fantastic inventions, eerie disappearances, and tales of human triumph over adversity, the plights of vampires, elves and Fabio-esque he-men seem to become a lot less entertaining.

Another contributing factor may be my lean toward wishing to understand and learn "everything," which clearly is impossible, but movement toward infinity is still away from zero, even if infinity doesn't get any closer. I am content to know that I am aware of the world around me enough to form a coherent worldview with reasons behind what I believe, rather than resorting to blind faith. Absorbing non-fiction sources of information certainly adds to this ability; putting political beliefs in historical context is certainly important to most when it comes to having justifications.

Food for thought, I suppose. When I enjoy fiction, I thoroughly love the material, though when it begins to get boring or feels like a rehash, I'd rather be reading an essay on the causes of the current financial downturn.