readings

Someone once asked me if I have read this particular book of fiction, whose title I cannot remember now. My reply was, "I do not have time for fiction." She was a little perplexed by that. A friend once said that reading fiction is a way for people to relax and unwind, akin to watching a mindless television show after a difficult day at work, similar to indulging oneself to a candy bar for a quick sugar fix after eating heathy for the rest of the day. It is the guilty pleasure. Mortimer J. Adler, in his book "How to Read a Book":http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671212095/, argues that one should aspire to read not to be merely informed, but to be enlightened, that is to lift oneself from a state of understanding less to one of understanding more. He proposed that one should not just amass information in the chest of one's mind, but seek in one's reading the state of "why". Can fiction do that? Of course. Not all, but many well written stories are more than just empty calories for the mind. I remember reading an article many years ago explaining the reading habit of an aspiring writer. That writer read simply to see how the story was written. How was the story delivered? What beautiful strings of words did the author choose to unfold the plot, its twists and turns? To be drowned in the prose was what she desired when reading fiction. An acquaintance once told me why he reads only fiction. He believes that truth in its diversity and variety can be found in the midst of the building blocks of a made up story. That is an interesting irony. Maybe my answer to the initial questioner should be: I read fiction that can lend me something, teach me something, open my eyes to something. I read carefully chosen gems typically not on display in the bestseller's list. Does this sound like a literary elitist. Maybe. But what is wrong with demanding more depth in this epoch of fast and instant gratification?