Fiction

When I was a student a classmate once said to me something to the effect that he wasn't going to read any more fiction of any kind, because he wasn't interested in knowing about things which weren't true, and furthermore he didn't see the point of other people doing so either. I can't give you a direct quotation, because it was a few years ago and my memory of his exact words is gone. Still, I think that's a pretty fair account of what my classmate said.

The man who made this statement was (and still is, I imagine) fairly stupid. I don't mean this in the sense of "I have a low IQ but I'm trying" stupid, but rather in the sense of "I'm very ignorant and happy about it" stupid.

After he said the thing about not reading any more fiction, I think I just nodded and smiled, without giving any sort of real response. I had learned by that point that with this individual there was really no point in having a discussion, because once he'd decided something he really wasn't interested in listening to what other people had to say.

I'm sure you know the type.

I only mention this event because I think it raises some interesting questions.

The first question is very involved and I won't really be able to address it here. I'll mention it, though, because I may come back to it on another occasion. Briefly: what do we mean when we say that something is "true?" Answering this question involves delving into very deep philosophical questions, however simple the question may seem at first. In this case, however, I think my classmate made a mistake which even very intelligent people can make. He equated "truth" and "fact," things which are similar in many ways and which overlap in many ways as well, but which are not really the same thing. They are not completely synonymous with each other.

In other words, in the mind of my classmate all fictional accounts are by definition non-factual, and are therefore not true. I suppose one could extend the definition of "fictional accounts" to novels, short stories, very many motion pictures, many television programs, stories written for children, and probably some other things which I can't think of right now. As I already said, the distinction between fact and truth is very interesting, but I won't address it here at this time.

Here's a different question raised by my classmate's position, which I think is also interesting and which I will address.

What, if any, is the point of reading (watching, listening to, etc.) fictional accounts?

Here's a simple and somewhat deceptive answer to that question. We read (etc.) such things because we enjoy them. I say that this is deceptive because it involves circular reasoning. At the very best it might mean we do a certain thing because we like it. That's no explanation at all, really. At worst it's equivalent to saying that we like something because we like it, which is even less of an explanation.

Now I'll give an example or analogy or two, and try to work my way around to some sort of answer.

Occasionally people ask me why I read certain novels more than once even though I already know the ending. One answer I could give is the following. "I read certain novels more than once for the same reason that you listen to your favorite songs more than once, even though you know the ending." A similar answer which I could give is "I read certain novels more than once for the same reason that you keep listening to that same damn song over and over again, now either turn down your iPod so that I can't hear it even though you have the earbuds jammed right in your ears, or I'll grab it out of your greasy little hands and smash it with a sledgehammer."

Certainly some stories become uninteresting once you know the ending, but there are very many which remain interesting even after. I think this is because there is something buried deep within the human psyche* which resonates quite strongly with something I can only call narrative. Most people like jokes, particularly very funny ones. Most jokes lose their value as humor once you know the punch line, but there are also quite a few which remain interesting or even funny after you've already heard them. Other sorts of stories are entertaining, interesting, inspiring, and so on.

What this thing is in the human psyche which resonates with narrative, I don't really know. Nevertheless, I've observed it directly in myself, and indirectly in other people. Many of you reading this are familiar with the phenomenon of a child who wants to watch the same movie multiple times, day after day until his or her parents are ready to throw the DVD or videotape out the window. The child in question (though not his or her parents, at least not then) is experiencing this resonance.

Something similar and perhaps even more fundamental happens when people listen to music. Many people have a favorite song, a favorite singer or composer, a favorite type of music, and so on. Musicians produce something else which resonates within us, in a way which we can't really put into words but which we know is there. A particular song or piece makes us feel in some way better, larger than we felt before, at the same time outside ourselves and also more deeply in touch with ourselves than we otherwise feel.

There are certain novels and short stories which I never fail to enjoy. Some time might pass between readings, but I can pick up a book years after I read it the last time and enjoy it once again. I can also read a book for the very first time and know almost from the beginning that it's something worthwhile, at least to me.

If you've had this experience (whether with a joke, a novel, a short story, a movie, or some other narrative), you know what I mean. If you haven't, well ... I don't think that there's anything wrong with you, but I think you are missing something.

Hans Bricker

*Right now I'm using the term "psyche" in the ordinary dictionary sense of the word, i.e. the mind, the spirit, the soul, whatever those things are, which is another very interesting subject.