Fiction vs Non Fiction

First, I am sorry for the long delay in posting.  I have only four dreaded words to explain my absence: nursery school auction database. Let's just say that I made a very, very bad decision a few months ago when I signed up to do the database, figuring I could do it at night while watching TV. Needless to say, I won't be signing up to do it again next year.

My topic today is fiction vs. non-fiction.  Bottom line is that I simply can't get into non-fiction the way I can with fiction. I have tried on multiple occasions over the last several months to get hooked on one non-fiction book or another, only to find each time that they just didn't grab me the way fiction, even average fiction, does.  Now, these are not "good for you" books that I thought I *should* read, like Obama's book or one on current events or politics. No, these are books on topics that really interest me, such as Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live and One Train Later, Andy Summers' memoir.  (To be fair, I haven't allowed myself to skip ahead to the part where Andy joins The Police; that would surely raise my enjoyment level of the book).  I even started a book I blogged about here called Money Changes Everything. It's a good book about a topic that interests me - yet, it sits unfinished, on my nightstand, next to the SNL and Andy Summers books.

What's the deal? Why can't I get into non-fiction? What is it about fiction that sucks me in? Perhaps it's the fiction writer's ability to create perfect pacing, suspense and satisfying endings.  Perhaps I just love the escape of reading fiction, knowing that the characters don't really exist.  Perhaps my mind is simplistic and plot-driven and prefers to follow stories rather than facts.  Whatever the reason, I know myself - and I know that I am just not satisfied when I am not in the middle of some novel.

Does anyone else feel this way? Is it, as I have heard, a male-female thing?

Comments

[Nancy West]

Hi Gayle and everyone --
Your comments about the difference between reading fiction and nonfiction reminded me of an essay that Gail Caldwell, chief book critic for the Boston Globe, wrote a couple of years ago about how the best self-help comes from novels rather than self-help books. She talked about she once tried to heal from a broken heart by reading books like "Women Who Love Too Much" but how she found far more solace AND more instruction in novels like "House of Mirth." (I don't think these were her examples, but they are similar.) As a writer, I am always struck by how much more I learn reading well-written fiction and essays rather than reading instructive books about writing. Every now and then I force myself to read some new nonfiction book about writing, and it always leaves me cold -- then I read an essay by Anne Lamott or a short story by Annie Dillard and I think "Okay, THIS can teach me something!"

[Len]

Hi Everyone,

Another interesting topic Gayle--thanks! Nancy makes a great point about well-written fiction vs books on writing. I think she's right on target.

Despite being someone who reads a fair amount of non-fiction and enjoys it, I can see why non-fiction is so annoying. Once you take out the self-promotion and the self-righteousness of many popular non-fiction writers, what you are left with is...well...work--another task to add to the to-do list. Because we've taken the time to read about how to do something better or look at it in a unique way, most of us feel compelled to take it on, even if we don't want to.

Somehow it seems far less daunting to learn (and apply) lessons from a good work of fiction. Reading novels is fun after all. How could THAT be like work? And we don't have to add those lessons to the to-do list. We can just let them percolate in our brains until we need to access them. Plus we've had the enjoyment of reading a NOVEL. Can't complain about that...

Thanks for making us think about reading Gayle!

[rissa winkelman]

Gayle,
I have really been enjoying your blog and have read many of your book suggestions.
Since retiring I have been doing a major amount of reading and no longer remember which books came from you or elsewhere.
Was Summer Guest yours? Loved it and then read Mary and O'Neil, his earlier book which I enjoyed but not as much as Summer Guest.
Read Mrs. Kimble (good, not great), Saturday by Ian McEwan (not sure if it was yours...loved it).
As to non-fiction---I often enjoy it as much as fiction. The Glass Castle was very interesting, and now I am reading Outwitting History which is adorable.
Thanks for your blog. It is enriching my reading life.

Rissa Winkelman