Why Should People Read Fiction?

This World Book Day, I’ve been thinking about something very fundamental. Why should people read fiction?

We all know that reading for pleasure was seen as decadent in days gone by. Everyone’s heard (or read) the stories of parents complaining in the nineteenth century that their children were spending more time immersed in novels – or later, horror of horror, novelettes – than out in the real world. People laugh at this attitude and then complain that kids today spend too much time on the internet and not enough time reading books. Or, indeed, as I heard some people very earnestly discussing on Radio 4 over Christmas, not enough time watching television!

British culture at the moment is one that positions reading for pleasure as a luxury. Sort of. I’d say it actually positions reading for pleasure as a vice. And there are (very mainstream) counter-cultures that position it as the most high and worthy thing you can do. I work across STEM and the humanities, so I see both behaviours modelled daily.

Sometimes, I’m surrounded by people who are proud of not reading – it shows that they are busy, important and engaged with the world. ‘Be a DOER, not a THINKER!’ as somebody frightfully important in the world of management once told me. That person is proud of having ‘written more books than [they’ve] read.’ There is psychometric testing in workplaces that positions people as ‘leaders’ (aka talkers) versus ‘followers’ (aka listeners).

And sometimes I’m surrounded by people who are very proud indeed of reading. ‘I’ve read 50 books so far this year’ – that kind of thing. These are people I more readily align with, of course – the Lisa Simpson-identifiers, who need to be seen doing things right or well. And of course I identify: I went on a school trip to Alton Towers at nine and spent the whole experience riding the teacups with a copy of The Murder on the Links. But when it becomes more about telling the world you read than actually reading, it opens avenues to furniture made of books or buying a 1920s dictionary of fungal infections because it’s a nice shade of purple with antique gilt that will add a touch to distinction to your bookshelf.

Both attitudes are dispiriting. For a lot of people, I reckon, the look-how-much-I-read-I’m-better-than-you attitude reinforces the reading-is-woke-narcissistic-time-wasting attitude.

So, why should you read fiction? Very simply, you should read fiction because you want to. Don’t make yourself want to read fiction. It isn’t any worthier than watching a film you like or listening to a podcast. It’s a form of entertainment and engagement.

People often say they’re too busy to read and they either act sheepish or defiant. For God’s sake, it’s not a chore. It can be an escape, it can be a challenge, and it can be a tonic. You might find yourself in a completely different world and equally you might find someone somewhere on a page finally pointing out what’s wrong with this world – something you thought only you were thinking. Reading is an activity that for many people is available. And of course audiobooks count.

Yes, reading opens up other perspectives, builds other worlds etc etc and yes it’s important – even defiant – in a culture that deliberately devalues the arts and does everything it can to make a virtue of insularity. But the secret is: it’s not that special. Other things do this too and are equally — in some cases more — worth your time.

But reading will not give you other perspectives if it’s like being at school. If it’s something you think you have to do, or something you’re glad you can do because it makes you feel clever. If you’re treating this as any form of mystical medium with higher or lower intrinsic value than a documentary. Reading for pleasure isn’t about the act of reading. It’s about the experience of reading.

So, if you’ve made it this far – you’re a reader and it frankly doesn’t matter if you read the right thing in the right medium. Just try out a novel like you’d try out something on Netflix. If you don’t like it, don’t bother with it. Just please don’t close off the huge benefits and pleasures of fiction simply because people have made it A Thing.