Should we even bother reading fiction?
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- Опубліковано 29 жов 2023
- Of all the things we can give our time and attention to, is fiction a worthy recipient?
In this video, I argue that it is.
Over the course of this video I lay out three arguments for why reading fiction is a worthwhile endeavor, not just as humans, but as Christians specifically. The arguments are:
1. Reading fiction is a de-centering act that helps us become more just
2. Reading fiction gives us practice seeing from more perspectives
3. Reading fiction is a celebration of the goodness of human talent
Books mentioned:
Laurus - amzn.to/3MpzuxY
Independent People - amzn.to/3Mn2DtI
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Gospel Simplicity began as a UA-cam channel in a Moody Bible Institute dorm. It was born out of the central conviction that the gospel is really good news, and I wanted to share that with as many people as possible. The channel has grown and changed over time, but that central conviction has never changed. Today, we make content around biblical and theological topics, often interacting with people from across the Christian tradition with the hope of seeking greater unity and introducing people to the beautiful simplicity and transformative power of the gospel, the good news about Jesus.
About the host:
Hey! My name is Austin, and I'm a 24 year old guy who’s passionate about the beautiful simplicity and transformative power of the gospel. I believe that the gospel, the good news about Jesus, is really good news, and I’m out to explore, unpack, and share that good news with as many people as possible. I'm a full blown Bible and Church History nerd that loves getting to dialogue with others about this, learning as much as I can, and then teaching whatever I can. I grew up around Frederick, MD where I eventually ended up working my first job at a church. They made the mistake of letting me try my hand at teaching, and instantly I fell in love. That set me on a path for further education, and I'm currently a student at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL, studying theology. On any given day you can find me with my nose in a book or a guitar in my hands. Want to get to know me more? Follow me and say hi on Instagram at: @austin.suggs
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While his books are anything but easy to read, Dostoevsky tops my personal list of Christian authors. His characters personify human ideas, attitudes, and philosophies. Through the characters' interactions, he demonstrates man's need for God better than any theologian could.
His stuff is great! I'll have to do a "my top 10 fiction books" video some day
Crime and Punishment is my response to myself when I ask if fiction is worth it at times. Haha I don’t really get into a lot of modern fiction… I recently tried Cornac Macarthy’s “All The Pretty Horses” and I couldn’t finish it.
@@garethdavies6912You gentlemen stole my thought. You could spend a lifetime unwrapping the theology behind any one of his novels.
@@JoshN91 Im a huge Cormac McCarthy fan and love ATPH, but if anyone is looking for transcendent, spiritual motifs in his catalogue, they must start with Blood Meridian. The Passenger and Stella Maris are a distant second (I treat them as one work).
@@cassidyanderson3722 Thank you got the suggestion! I did enjoy No Country for Old Men. There was something stylistically about his writing in ATPH that just didn’t grab me. I tend to gravitate to older authors but I will give try Blood Meridian a go!
It can be easy to feel guilty for reading nonfiction, thinking something along the lines of “I could be so much more productive by reading something else.” This is especially true as our reading list ever grows longer. Thanks for this helpful reminder!
I recommend that you read Tolkien’s essay, ‘On Faerie Stories’. It speaks to the merits of reading fiction.
I have read it! Though I didn't think to mention his points in this video. He definitely makes some good ones though
Great topic! My friend and I actually facilitate retreats on finding the transcendent in literature. We’ve been doing these retreats for three years to answer the call of Bishop Barron to evangelize with beauty! One of my favorite works is Brideshead Revisited, which is, of course, about the church! Also Anna Karenina and Brothers Karamazov.
That sounds amazing! I read Brideshead Revisited in High School, but I daresay I need to - pardon the pun - revisit it.
Then there's the "do I have the time and energy for this"?
That is a fair point. I'm sure my reading diet will change after (Lord willing) Eliza and I have kids
A World without the Chronicles of Narnia, Paralandria or The Great Divorce would have made my life pretty dull.
Dostoyevsky…The Brothers Karamozov….
George MacDonald… The Princess and the Goblin.
Sadly I lost the ability to read 15 years ago but I remember the joy in being an avid reader! Fiction can be beautiful !
“Beauty will save the world” - Dostoevsky.
This is going to sound funny, but I recently re-read some of the Harry Potter books, and found myself so deeply enjoying the times when they discussed having meals together in the great hall at Hogwarts and at the Weasley’s home. It reminded me of the simplicity of a good home-cooked meal and time with family, and made me feel grateful to have parents who love me still and provided for me growing up. Beauty and goodness of God indeed!
If you like "Laurus", I have to highly recommend the novel "Elements" by an anonymous priest of the Coptic Orthodox church. It's a beautiful story of a modern man repenting so hard that he walks the path to sainthood. It's kind of like Laurus but set in the modern world. Very fun and inspirational
Ohhh thanks for the recommendation!
"The Aviator" is another wonderful book by Vodolazkin
I didn't read fiction for over a decade, despite loving it, because I was so immersed in my philosophical studies. At the end of that, I came to believe that the arts are, when done right, higher than philosophical speculation. Philosophical speculation and inquiry, even at its best, is a searching for the true, the good and the beautiful. But art is dwelling with and on the good, true and beautiful, and creating even more goodness in the world. At the end of the day, most philosophical and theological texts are tools to understanding, towards growth, that, once we have attained knowledge, will no longer be necessary. They have beauty, etc, and move towards it, but they are primarily tools. Only the arts can fully embrace beauty and goodness. (This obviously does not apply to the sorts of philosophical and theological texts that are akin to contemplative prayer.) Art, as Tarkovsky said, is prayer and communion. Non-fiction rarely reaches those heights.
Also, the best fiction incorporates the truth that our philosophy is helping unveil into narrative. I agree with you, truth as part of creation rather than as a separated concept is a higher level of truth.
My problem with reading in highschool was that I didn't always do my homework and chores first, lol!
Thank you, my dear Austen! My experience in reading is similar to yours in that I used to read a lot of fiction when I was younger but now read mostly non- fiction. After listening to your talk I realize that in the back if my mind there is some reasoning that it's escapism or empty pleasure when I could be reading something informative and spiritually enriching. I've been itching though, to crack open some Dickens or some contemporary blood and swords novel.....
It reminds me of one of my favorite poems by Emily Dickenson,
"There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry -
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human Soul -"
I think reading , as you said, helps us get unstuck from ourselves and come to think of it, a little 'escape ' might actually be very good for us now and then.
No frigate like a book......
Thanks for sharing this poem!
Fiction also inspires me in tiny ways which I normally would not have thought of. I remember little events or facts in books, which turned out to stay with me for years, even single sentences or words.
Fiction has such a staying power that most nonfiction lacks
Le Grand Meaulnes or The Wanderer by Alain-Fournier; the Woods, The Country and The Family by David Plante
I loved this, greetings from Peru
Love Watchman Nee's books, but rarely hear him mentioned.
Loved Tozer, Nee and Oswald Chambers but also was reading C.S. Lewis, Madeleine L'Engle and Stephen Lawhead in those days. Eventually discovered Chesterton, Waugh, Percy, O'Connor and more.
Thank you for once more asking the questions I`m unconsciously asking and adding wise perspectives to them. It certainly will help me to reduce my (self-imposed) bad conscience when reading the next book of this kind. A fictional book I enjoyed reading in the last years (though admittedly there was not much competition in the fictional segment) was "War With the Newts" by Czech author Karel Capek. (The author who "invented" the word "robot" in his play R.U.R.) A smart novel treating the human tendency to use, misuse and overuse and its (potential?) consequences. Well worth reading!
It's my pleasure! And thanks for the book recommendation!
Just finished east of eden. I’m still kind of chewing on it.
I really want to read that and The Grapes of Wrath. Need to finish Moby Dick first. Haven't read it in a couple months but it's a phenomenal work.
I read fiction of every other book I read because it is fun and gives me a break from being too serious. Humans LOVE stories! It is in our nature.
Ok Austin ... I'm trusting you here. I'm ordering both books you recommend (Independent People and Laurus). I'll let you know what I think.
Hope you enjoy them!
I don't do it on purpose, but now I can't read fiction.
( I did as a teenager, when I was not into my faith)
It feels to me like if I read fiction that I spent my time..
same
Tolkien is great. I also like irreverent comedy in the tradition of Mark Twain.
I love Dostoevsky for the serious Christian takes he provides in relation to ordinary life situations and moral dilemmas. I love Kafka for his bizarre, terrifyingly banal all-too-real dystopias. I even appreciate Sade and Masoch for their opposing views of how disordered man is when he disregards God. Sade is particularly funny to read because he fancies himself so smart but he basically just a very articulate Reddit atheist.
I tend to gravitate toward science fiction, but I've been working in other genres this year. The book this year that I enjoyed the most is "True Grit" by Charles Portis (a western).
I also enjoyed "Hondo" by Louis Lamore quite a bit as well. Very good book and a great John Wayne movie as well.
I'll have to check these out! Haven't read either
Are you a Book of the New Sun fan?
In the last few years I have been almost committed to reading the bible alone. I really needed to free myself of being of the world and the bible was my only way to gateway to Jesus and His creation. BUT last year I started watching the Lord of Rings movies again and this year I've been watching the Narnia movies. So I've now decided to read the works (both fiction and non-fiction) of CS Lewis and those books enhance my biblical experience. Having said that, I am almost reluctant to read anything new. I think that's the challenge I'm finding at this moment. Thank you for this timely and wonderful video. God bless ✝☦
Glad this was timely and helpful!
Make sure to read Lewis's Space Trilogy 😀
Check out Lewis's Screwtape Letters, The Abolition of Man, The Great Divorce and That Hideous Strength as well.
Have you read Pilgrim’s Progress. That book stuck by me for years.
I have! It's been several years though. I'm currently reading the Divine Comedy, but perhaps when I finish that I'll revisit Pilgrim's Progress
4. Reading fiction helps us to connect with our feelings, to rediscover joy, awe, sadness, scorn and grieve. This leads to reconnecting to prayer and to god.
I like it!
Since I’ve started reading theology and philosophy and the great works of fiction, I struggle to read popular fiction. I find the majority of it to be so vapid that I find it boring compared to the richness of Tolkien, Dostoyevsky, Graham Greene, etc.
I almost feel bad, but I just have pretty much no interest in most modern works of fiction. Although if folks have suggestions, I’ll check them out.
Laurus, which I suggest in the video, is modern.
Have you read Pope John Paul II “Letter to the Artists”?
I have not!
@@GospelSimplicity Well, get on it 😀
When I read fiction, by different authors, I continue to marvel at the incredible imagination that God has given to human beings. I have experienced a childhood and adolescence full of readings from Jules Verne to Tolkien and I have traveled with my imagination and experienced cultures, ways of living, real and imaginary. Those readings have contributed to my humanity. Then I lived a time in which I focused on more spiritual readings as I deepened my faith. Reading the "Inner Castle" by Saint Teresa of Ávila blew my mind. Then going deeper into the Bible and exegesis and theology led me to love my faith more deeply, without losing sight of the fact that the Christian dimension is like the cross that has a vertical stick facing the sky and a horizontal one that unites us with the rest of humanity. As a Catholic I have learned to cautiously distance myself from people who point to humanity as dirty and an obstacle to reaching God. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and helping us reflect.
It was my pleasure! And thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience as well!
When life is just too much, a good “mail order bride” romance novel and some spoonfuls of Cool Whip dipped in Nestle’s hot cocoa powder helps one feel better.
Laxness is definitely worth a read.
I've often said that if we are image-bearers of our Creator, then we should be storytellers and enjoy storytelling, because that is also what our Creator did. There is truth in stories. One of the primary ways Jesus taught truth was with "parables," fictional stories that conveyed eternal truths. Obviously, this has been a method and tradition that has been corrupted by "the satan," and people have become addicted to empty, meaningless, and/or harmful "parables," but that doesn't destroy the goodness of stories told well that convey truth.
Ohhh that's good
The ancient "Muses" were always appreciated by Christians as part of the landscape of the soul by which theology could be understood and the Divine could be apprehended. The hard division between "sacred" and "secular" is a fairly recent (protestant) phenomena in the Christian West. Both Lewis (Anglican) and Tolkien (Roman Catholic) wrote their fantasy fiction from their Catholic/Incarnational backgrounds.
Fiction has a place, but not when that fiction is indulging in what would be seen as evil such as Harry Potter.
It is about a boy learning magic that is for ‘good’, and the reader will empathise and relate to the journey of the character. This is plainly evil and many Christians are wilfully blind to this subject.
The character that you relate with and ‘go on a journey with’ OR the story itself emphasises values of that of the Bible for the story to be holy.
Especially Western ‘Christian’s’ are so easily fooled by the seductive ‘innocent’ stories literally focusing on partaking in evil acts….
It seems a few points are being confused here.
1. Is it "plainly evil" to empathize with people who do wrong? That seems to confuse empathizing with advocating.
2. It seems to me that the bar of a story being "holy" is higher than it being permissible or even beneficial.
Regarding the morality of fictional magic, I suspect we simply disagree.
I went back to reading fiction in 2020 (guess why). You want something fictional that'll still work your mind? Read Malazan.
Agree with all this. Too long to type out Nabokov’s final comments to his undergrad literature students when he taught at Wellesley and Cornell but that can be found in his Lectures on Literature - it provides some thoughts on why bother to read great literature. At the very least with great literature, there is an incredible evocation of the teeming wonder of life. And in this world of terrible suffering and great beauty, that is reason enough - because it so often seems that suffering and horror has won the day.
As for recommendations, I recommend Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald . Many have read The Great Gatsby and as good as that novel is, some consider this his best work.
Another recommendation I always make is Jorge Luis Borges “Seven Nights”. This is not a work of fiction (although he is the master of short fictions ). Rather it is seven lectures he gave on literature and related topics. It has the twin benefits of being both short and brilliant. From my Goodreads review :
This is Borges at his most straightforward (so to speak) since these are lectures as opposed to his intricate game-like fictions and essays. This is Borges showing and sharing his love for poetry and literature and associated aesthetic experiences in a way that is contagious. I can't improve on the wonderful statement in the preface: "The lectures are separate literary journeys that we could not take by ourselves. Borges is our Virgil; only he knows the way." When someone asks for a recommendation, I never want to burden them with a long or difficult read, but I do want to give them something with lasting value and pure pleasure. Seven Nights is a perfect recommendation.
If you don't know Borges, these lectures are a good introduction to themes that recur throughout his own work. For an anthology of his work (short fictions, essays, poetry), "Labyrinths" remains a good introduction to his primary literary output.
I've heard great things about Tender Is the Night too. I need to reread The Great Gatsby first.
I read the New Testament in the Greek original about 3 decades ago and my opinion has not changed. It's childish and full of crap. Now, many many books latter, I have to think very hard to come up with anything worse. The Old Testament, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, most New Age garbage and some right-wing and left-wing propaganda pieces certainly deserve their bad reputation and I consider at least 90% of all the fiction I've read much better than than any religious text.