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Position:Home>Books & Authors> Whats the point of reading a book if its not a true story?Question: Whats the point of reading a book if its not a true story!? i dont get it,my wife reads martina cole novels and a lot of others,but i wont read anything unless its actually happened in real life,i just cant see how you can get fully involved in a book if you know that someones just made the whole lot up!.does anyone agree!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I can get just as engrossed in a story if it is about fictional characters as if it is about real people!. I don't know why!. Your position seems mroe logical really, but I just don't feel that way about it!. It doesn't really make sense to become so involve din the lives of fictional characters, but nevertheless I do!. I know of other people who feel the way you do though!. The late Helene Hanff, author of '84 Charing Cross Road' disliked fiction, she only liked reading about real people!. I enjoy non-fiction as well, there are some superb biographies, history books, etc which I can read again and again!. But I don't find fiction any less engrossing for all that!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I don't know but I have to say what's the point of reading a book when you know what's happened already (and I know books go into greater detail and everything like that)!. I much prefer fiction; what people come up with is amazing sometimes but then there are the really strange ones which freak you out a little!. Fiction is just so much more interesting, going into the world of the character, but what happens when fiction becomes non-fiction!? e!.g!. George Orwell's books; would you read them!? Some books use fiction to actually describe what was happening in the world then like Tolstoy so it's interesting to see what the world was like!. Www@QuestionHome@Com You seem to think that true stories are real!. Not neccessarily true!. History is written by the victors!. And what are recorded as factual accounts are often one persons view of an event!. Human beings are not by nature reliable witnessess!. They are somewhat prone to exageration!. especially if they have an audience!. The point of reading a book, is purely entertainment!. If you wish to take the information you have absorbed as gospel, that is purely your prerogative!.Www@QuestionHome@Com entertainment- when movies are rubbish you can read a book and enjoy the life or a fictional person!. real life might be biased and boring, its okay for fiction to exxagerate anything can happen but in real life not much does!. escapism- you can read fiction go into a different world and escape from your problems for the moment but in real stories they might not be as intersting or will just remnid you of stuff going on in your life Www@QuestionHome@Com The question is more about whether you want to get the point of reading fiction, it isn't for everyone!. I love reading fiction and find autobiographies really boring bar 1-2 exceptions, and let's face it, unless you're reading a technical manual, even history/factual stories will have elements of exaggeration in them!. My only worry with people who don't like reading is that they show some tolerance to those that do!. Rather than worry about why you don't "get it," you're better off just accepting and acknowledging that your wife does!. That means she's not "wasting time" when she's reading but is actively enjoying an interest/hobby!. The best thing is that getting presents is incredibly easy for people who read, "Book Tokens" or getting latest copies of favourite authors latest tome will always go down well with a reader, it's also a comparatively cheap hobby when you compare it to say horse-riding/golf or shopping! Www@QuestionHome@Com Haha I'm the opposite, I can't STAND non-fiction, like I just dont care!. Some people like escaping into different worlds since sometimes they are just better than this one!. You can't hate on classics like Catcher in the Rye, Great Gatsby, Shakespeare!. A lot of times the characters are so complex and real, and its usually a depiction of how the author is, for example Pride Prejudice, its just interesting to see a woman's struggle with love during those times, and its so beautifully done!. The true story of Jane Austen is nice but she doesnt even get married or end up with anyone! What romance lover would want to read that!?Www@QuestionHome@Com OH, I DO NOT AGREE! How about reading just for the enjoyment of the language!. I bet you have never read a Faulkner novel!? He was an author who could create scenes that were so real all you had to do was close your eyes and you could see the place!. also, why does it have be true!? There are millions (maybe billions or trillions) of books in the world, what is wrong with just a little enjoyment!?!?!? Don't be so narrow minded!? Do you read the newspaper!? Well, that is not all true! Did you know that!? Did you know that not all TV news is real either!? Maybe even the truth is not what you think it is either!. I would venture a guess that there are more than 10,000 books about WWII!. Some were written by Americans, English, Germans, Japanese, maybe even some Greeks or Italians, but in those books, you will find different points of view!. One person's truth is not necessarily anothers!. Have you never seen the movie TORA! TORA! TORA!!? It is told from several points of view, yet each thinks his is right!. Or Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima, or the other one I have forgotten the name, anyway, two different points of view of the same events!. So please go and read something that might just be entertaining!. Dr!. Seuss is wonderful, and he makes up words that make no sense at all, they are just fun! Give your wife a break!Www@QuestionHome@Com well this is my opion ill use twilight as an example:P well because most girls/women out there dream of having a perfect life, perfect boyfriend etc: if they read a book like twilight then they can get lost in there own world and pretend to be a character like bella and have a perfect boyfriend and gets everything she could of ever wanted and in reality lets face it that dosnt normally happen to every person in the world so to sum it up lets say 'a girl can dream' hope this helped xWww@QuestionHome@Com Talentless hacks write those kinds of books--like Bill Clinton or Paris Hilton, for example!. It doesn't take much to write an autobiography or something based off a true story!. It takes everything to write a fiction novel!. Fiction is the hardest thing to write because you have to logically connect your thoughts with the stuff you make up!. Www@QuestionHome@Com Ask yourself this: Have you ever told a lie (white or other wise)!? Have you seen through another person's lie and said nothing, just to be civil!? Have you ever thought it would be nice listening to a good joke!? Have you ever dreamed of something, anything!? While at school, was there a book you were "forced to read" that did it for you!? If you have answered "YES" to any three of the above questions, you will find that as human beings, we all need to escape from our troubles in life!. That's why we read fiction!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Some people like to read things that are out of anothers imagination!. Some people, like yourself, like to keep to a reality-based mindset!. I happen to enjoy suspending my disbelief and simply imagining things for the sake of imagining and going along with a story!. I dont let it affect my day to day perceptions of truth v!. fiction--but I do like it!. Www@QuestionHome@Com Escapism!. To get caught up in a fantasy!. Even if you live a perfectly happy life, it's wonderful to see a fantasy cobbled together from ideas and words that we hardly ever think about!. The imagination is a wonderful thing!. If you don't enjoy, sobeit, but the simple pleasures of fiction are a birthright to anyone who's equipped to enjoy them!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Because many things happened in our imagination and not always in true life!. And always these happenings in our imagination like creating a fiction (not true) book is for the sake of the people for them to learn new values and lessons!. also, fiction books are sometimes for our entertainment!.Www@QuestionHome@Com The point of reading books that aren't true is because life is real enough already!. Sometimes it's nice to slip away to The Shire and hear about the little hobbits beating the bad guys!. Your wife likes what she likes!. You like what you like!. People read for different reasons!. Www@QuestionHome@Com By reading fiction you can escape into the book for just a while, it's how we switch off from the outside world!. Pick a news paper up, aren't you fed up of reading reality!? it's nothing but murder, rape and terror!. Www@QuestionHome@Com It's the possibilities opened by a fictional story, a place to escape from who you are and the world you live in, to go somewhere else and do something else as well as the enjoyment it bringsWww@QuestionHome@Com Fiction lets you experience impossible things!. I will never be a wizard, love a vampire, see the world from the point of a bird, alien, or man, but I can see what it'd be like :)Www@QuestionHome@Com What good does it being true do!? I mean, just because you read about somebody who, say, had a traumatic childhood, doesn't mean you will have, right!?Www@QuestionHome@Com people read fictional books for there own enjoyment and to escape from real life!. anyway in almost every fictional book there is some degree of truth!. Www@QuestionHome@Com reading fictional books gives the readers freedom that is not expressed in nonfiction novels!. its a way to expand our imaginations and dream of things that could happenWww@QuestionHome@Com That's strange!. Most people who read enjoy all types of fiction- science, romance, mystery, drama, etc!. It's called fantasy!.!.!. I think you may be a stick in the mud, lol!Www@QuestionHome@Com I agree with you entirely as I can only read fact, cant see the point of fiction and the same with movies much better if its true Great minds must think alike lolWww@QuestionHome@Com Why do people watch television if it's not a documentary!. It's just another form of entertainment!. Www@QuestionHome@Com There is no point!. It is purely for your own entertainment!.Www@QuestionHome@Com It's called personal preference!.Www@QuestionHome@Com What is the point in watching porn movies when they are not true either!? lolWww@QuestionHome@Com This question just cannot be serious!Www@QuestionHome@Com its called escapism :0)Www@QuestionHome@Com its just about your interst!. Nothing else!Www@QuestionHome@Com no, it's for your own enjoymentWww@QuestionHome@Com Do you not watch films or TV!?Www@QuestionHome@Com |