loved this. made me think of that tweet that said something along the lines of you will find more wisdom in one chapter of jane austen or a monologue of shakespeare than in all self-help books combined. humanity is irreplaceable and there is nothing more human than fiction, i believe.
"humanity is irreplaceable and there is nothing more human than fiction" put that on my stone. tysm for reading the post and for sharing your thoughts, noam, that line alone is a gift<3
I grew up hearing people say stories aren’t “real,” but honestly, fiction has taught me more about being human than any self-help book ever has. Some of us just understand the world better through fictional literature. Your dad’s bookshop childhood sounds like a dream x
The book that rewired my 12-year-old brain was We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. I remember completely tuning out of one of those lessons I’d already lost interest in (probably maths) and diving straight into it. The Turkish translation was ridiculously dense because it wasn’t meant for a twelve-year-old but thank god I’ve always loved dictionaries, and I carried one in my bag all the time.
I was overwhelmed in the best way by this new world called “dystopia” and after that book I immediately fell into every dystopian novel I could find. It also sparked my interest in politics. Looking back, realizing that my first dystopian read helped shape me into a Trotskyist socialist… I’m honestly grateful that tiny me picked it up at a book fair just because I adored the cover and didn’t hesitate for a second.
BOOKS!! CAN!! RESHAPE!! THE WAY!!! WE THINK!!! say it louder because that is incredibly important, particularly in such a convoluted political climate, and i think people undersestimate the power of a work of fiction to help you understand the world. tysm for the recommendation that is going to my tbr NOW!
i don't remember where i read this, but someone once said that a human who doesn't need to worry about making money, will often choose the arts. i agree with this wholeheartedly, and wish society wasn't so driven on materialistic pursuits, and focused instead on the possibilities held through art. i think that fiction is of the most beautiful kinds of art. it can take us back to times of the past, take us to places we've never been before, and introduce us to characters we'd never thought we'd meet, placing us in a whole new world just by the turn of a page. i'd say stories, just like laughter, are among the best medicines. thanks for the great read once again!
Fictional stories can sometimes deliver important messages and critical themes far better than non fiction can. We are literally putting ourselves in other peoples shoes when we read fiction, we live lives that are different to ours and experience empathy on such a deeper scale.
Fiction is so soooo important and powerful as a literary tool for education and intellectual enrichment
such a beautiful and IMPORTANT read! My favourite book of all time that changed me as a person is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I read it when I was 15 and i have never been the same since. Did not know that words could actually make me feel this much and every time i re-read it, i find something new to marvel at, a MODERN CLASSIC!
Fiction books are the BEST and I will die on that hill. It is important because fiction allows us to reflect on our values and morals, AND to read about other types of struggles and stakes. It is important because it makes our mind wander and our hearts ache for imaginary characters. It helps us cultivate our creativity, our empathy and our imagination. I love fiction.
I’m currently reading The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young and I have a feeling you might like this. It’s awesome!!
developing empathy is a big one! it is no wonder that non-fiction books focused on self-growth and productivity are topping the charts right now, precisely when they want us divided and individual. and tysm for the recommendation!! that is going straight to my tbr hehehe
being raised with books surrounding us is such a privilege, i will always be thankful to have that someone to let me live so many lifes since the beginning as well - although in a much limited way! i would have probably been jealous of you as a kid: my mum would give me a limit of two books each to buy, so that everytime it was a struggle to pick each one. That book for me will always be little women, my first book ever, in all its multiple versions i have read (and seen! will always be thankful to have been able to experience that world in so many ways < 3)
ABSOLUTELY sef-help books are my personal book ban choice (jk but also fuck them)!! and bless your mum omg she was like ok miss we're not spending the full family budget on your stories ahahhaha
i come back to substack and decide this will be my first and last read of the day because it’s late only to realize that it is actually (kind of) similar to the post i am publishing tomorrow. i love that for us!! since we’re talking about fiction that opened up new worlds i’ll spoil my own post and say that the stories that made me fall in love with literature were the ones my grandmother used to tell my brother and me before bed. listening to the folktales that had been passed down for generations awakened something in me. my future as a reader was written there and then!
i love all literature but fiction is what made me me
may i say that great minds think alike???? i physically cannot wait to read that post (especially because i too have such a special connection to my grandmother), and though i fear i might bawl my eyes out while reading it i have the sense that is going to become one of my favourite pieces (as yours always do). tysm for reading clau!!<33
this is so so true. I know the worth of nonfiction, whether it's self help or autobiographies or even physics textbooks. but I think we tend to overlook the value of fiction these days because we could be more "productive" reading tangible knowledge. I hate how I used to fall into that way of thinking, and I think your article is such a great argument for not devaluing nonfiction, but the intrinsic value of fiction. thank you so so much for sharing
SHORT AND SWEET AND COMPLETELY AMAZING AND NO ONE IS SURPRISED!!!!! oh laura laura laura....... the way you wrote this, i feel like you are belle gliding around an at-home library on a rolling ladder!!!! when i read my brilliant friend and the rest of the series, it truly felt like i was going to hang out with my friends in naples for a bit every time i opened my book and by my book i do mean my kindle. i am so kindle-pilled i prefer it to physical books and i think this is a PROBLEM!!!!! back to the point -- we spend so much time with these characters (particularly in a long book or in a series) that it would be fundamentally inhuman NOT to form a connection to them!!!!! lenu and lila are my GIRLS!!! my sisters.........
THAT WAS EXACTLY THE ENERGY I WAS TRYING TO CONVEY TY FOR GETTING THE VIBE!!! i can always count on you for that one........ also i ADORE my brilliant friend what a good pick...... TASTE but what's new about that
I grew up with a mother who loves books! We have a makeshift library in every house we move into (as in thousands of books and places to try and fit them) & she is also a children’s storyteller. I’m so grateful to have grown up with this 🥹🥹🥹 I did deviate from reading for a little while in my mid teens but always return each time. I didn’t realise until I grew older how lucky I am to of had this🥹🥹🥹💕
that is absolutely precious, i can relate a lot and i am thankful everyday for a childhood surrounded by words:) thank you so much for sharing, issy<3333333this just made me smile sm
this is so lovely. I grew up in a house of writers and film lovers and feel like I was taught to love stories and storytelling, which has brought me far. loveeeee this laura!
arghhhh lauraaaa what a fantastic piece once again !!! and such an important message. i LOVE fiction i exclusively read fiction in my teens and wrote some too (which shall never see the light of day but by god it was fun). even fiction is real, maybe even realer than some non-fiction. and that’s what i love about it; it’s truths being coated in some otherworldly or veiled manner. we read to learn, not how to be better or do things faster, but how to feel, what living is, and why curiosity can never die. i love the way you let us into your world of books, the story of how you grew up is something i cling onto when i read your work, it shows through. it seeps through all your words and it is just so bloody beautiful🤍
some day when you become a famous columnist and get a job for some publishing house i will be pitching the idea of your memoir including those fiction pieces you wrote as a teenager…..keep this tweet. but THANK YOU as always for engaging with everything i write in such a thoughtful and eloquent way, it is always a delight to read your thoughts:) “we read to learn how to feel and how to live” AND FEELING AND BEING ALIVE ARE THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT THINGS. PERHAPS THE ONLY IMPORTANT ONES.
I'm seeing a lot of good comments about what fiction can do, and I'd like to add by recalling what John Berger thought fiction teaches us. In a beautiful conversation with literary reviewer Michael Silverblatt (frankly one of the most sensitive and exploring conversations I've ever seen two men share—they fall into whispers at a certain point, hunched towards each other over a table and grasping for understanding), Berger said that novels taught him how to behave. By this, he didn't mean that novels taught him conventional manners; rather, novels taught him how to behave in the event of the unconventional, when life creeps in and despoils plans, ideas, comfort. The novel is in a unique position to describe the very singular way in which we meet with the unprecedented, the unforeseen, the fulgurant within our own lives. In my own case, it's often a scene or a line from a book that arrives when the unfathomable occurs, and I have no convention to fall back upon.
thank you so much for your comment, Imran! as soon as i finish writing this, i'm running to YouTube to watch that conversation; i can already predict i will feel absolutely blown away and enlightened after it, so thank you for the recommendation:) and i could not agree more with that idea, novels do offer us a kind of rehearsal for the unimaginable. your description of a scene or line returning to you in times of rupture particularly resonates, and i see it as one of the quiet, secret gifts of fiction. it's as though stories stay with us, waiting for the moment when they will be needed, and isn't that the most beautiful thing we could ask for?
loved this. made me think of that tweet that said something along the lines of you will find more wisdom in one chapter of jane austen or a monologue of shakespeare than in all self-help books combined. humanity is irreplaceable and there is nothing more human than fiction, i believe.
"humanity is irreplaceable and there is nothing more human than fiction" put that on my stone. tysm for reading the post and for sharing your thoughts, noam, that line alone is a gift<3
I grew up hearing people say stories aren’t “real,” but honestly, fiction has taught me more about being human than any self-help book ever has. Some of us just understand the world better through fictional literature. Your dad’s bookshop childhood sounds like a dream x
!!!!!!!!! exactly and isn't that beautiful
The book that rewired my 12-year-old brain was We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. I remember completely tuning out of one of those lessons I’d already lost interest in (probably maths) and diving straight into it. The Turkish translation was ridiculously dense because it wasn’t meant for a twelve-year-old but thank god I’ve always loved dictionaries, and I carried one in my bag all the time.
I was overwhelmed in the best way by this new world called “dystopia” and after that book I immediately fell into every dystopian novel I could find. It also sparked my interest in politics. Looking back, realizing that my first dystopian read helped shape me into a Trotskyist socialist… I’m honestly grateful that tiny me picked it up at a book fair just because I adored the cover and didn’t hesitate for a second.
BOOKS!! CAN!! RESHAPE!! THE WAY!!! WE THINK!!! say it louder because that is incredibly important, particularly in such a convoluted political climate, and i think people undersestimate the power of a work of fiction to help you understand the world. tysm for the recommendation that is going to my tbr NOW!
i don't remember where i read this, but someone once said that a human who doesn't need to worry about making money, will often choose the arts. i agree with this wholeheartedly, and wish society wasn't so driven on materialistic pursuits, and focused instead on the possibilities held through art. i think that fiction is of the most beautiful kinds of art. it can take us back to times of the past, take us to places we've never been before, and introduce us to characters we'd never thought we'd meet, placing us in a whole new world just by the turn of a page. i'd say stories, just like laughter, are among the best medicines. thanks for the great read once again!
creative pursuits are what keep us alive and make us human! thank you so much for reading, Ray<3
Fictional stories can sometimes deliver important messages and critical themes far better than non fiction can. We are literally putting ourselves in other peoples shoes when we read fiction, we live lives that are different to ours and experience empathy on such a deeper scale.
Fiction is so soooo important and powerful as a literary tool for education and intellectual enrichment
could not agre more! thank you so much for reading:)
such a beautiful and IMPORTANT read! My favourite book of all time that changed me as a person is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I read it when I was 15 and i have never been the same since. Did not know that words could actually make me feel this much and every time i re-read it, i find something new to marvel at, a MODERN CLASSIC!
WHAT A GOOD PICK tysm for sharing
Loved this!!!
Fiction books are the BEST and I will die on that hill. It is important because fiction allows us to reflect on our values and morals, AND to read about other types of struggles and stakes. It is important because it makes our mind wander and our hearts ache for imaginary characters. It helps us cultivate our creativity, our empathy and our imagination. I love fiction.
I’m currently reading The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young and I have a feeling you might like this. It’s awesome!!
developing empathy is a big one! it is no wonder that non-fiction books focused on self-growth and productivity are topping the charts right now, precisely when they want us divided and individual. and tysm for the recommendation!! that is going straight to my tbr hehehe
being raised with books surrounding us is such a privilege, i will always be thankful to have that someone to let me live so many lifes since the beginning as well - although in a much limited way! i would have probably been jealous of you as a kid: my mum would give me a limit of two books each to buy, so that everytime it was a struggle to pick each one. That book for me will always be little women, my first book ever, in all its multiple versions i have read (and seen! will always be thankful to have been able to experience that world in so many ways < 3)
side note: fuck self help books !
ABSOLUTELY sef-help books are my personal book ban choice (jk but also fuck them)!! and bless your mum omg she was like ok miss we're not spending the full family budget on your stories ahahhaha
i come back to substack and decide this will be my first and last read of the day because it’s late only to realize that it is actually (kind of) similar to the post i am publishing tomorrow. i love that for us!! since we’re talking about fiction that opened up new worlds i’ll spoil my own post and say that the stories that made me fall in love with literature were the ones my grandmother used to tell my brother and me before bed. listening to the folktales that had been passed down for generations awakened something in me. my future as a reader was written there and then!
i love all literature but fiction is what made me me
may i say that great minds think alike???? i physically cannot wait to read that post (especially because i too have such a special connection to my grandmother), and though i fear i might bawl my eyes out while reading it i have the sense that is going to become one of my favourite pieces (as yours always do). tysm for reading clau!!<33
this is so so true. I know the worth of nonfiction, whether it's self help or autobiographies or even physics textbooks. but I think we tend to overlook the value of fiction these days because we could be more "productive" reading tangible knowledge. I hate how I used to fall into that way of thinking, and I think your article is such a great argument for not devaluing nonfiction, but the intrinsic value of fiction. thank you so so much for sharing
fiction always fiction FOR.EVER. A.MEEEN.
!!!!!!!!!
SHORT AND SWEET AND COMPLETELY AMAZING AND NO ONE IS SURPRISED!!!!! oh laura laura laura....... the way you wrote this, i feel like you are belle gliding around an at-home library on a rolling ladder!!!! when i read my brilliant friend and the rest of the series, it truly felt like i was going to hang out with my friends in naples for a bit every time i opened my book and by my book i do mean my kindle. i am so kindle-pilled i prefer it to physical books and i think this is a PROBLEM!!!!! back to the point -- we spend so much time with these characters (particularly in a long book or in a series) that it would be fundamentally inhuman NOT to form a connection to them!!!!! lenu and lila are my GIRLS!!! my sisters.........
loved this essay as always dear <3
THAT WAS EXACTLY THE ENERGY I WAS TRYING TO CONVEY TY FOR GETTING THE VIBE!!! i can always count on you for that one........ also i ADORE my brilliant friend what a good pick...... TASTE but what's new about that
I grew up with a mother who loves books! We have a makeshift library in every house we move into (as in thousands of books and places to try and fit them) & she is also a children’s storyteller. I’m so grateful to have grown up with this 🥹🥹🥹 I did deviate from reading for a little while in my mid teens but always return each time. I didn’t realise until I grew older how lucky I am to of had this🥹🥹🥹💕
that is absolutely precious, i can relate a lot and i am thankful everyday for a childhood surrounded by words:) thank you so much for sharing, issy<3333333this just made me smile sm
🥹🥹🩶
this is so lovely. I grew up in a house of writers and film lovers and feel like I was taught to love stories and storytelling, which has brought me far. loveeeee this laura!
that sounds like the most magical and enlightening childhood ever, aren’t we so lucky! tysm for reading<33333
🥰🥰🥰
arghhhh lauraaaa what a fantastic piece once again !!! and such an important message. i LOVE fiction i exclusively read fiction in my teens and wrote some too (which shall never see the light of day but by god it was fun). even fiction is real, maybe even realer than some non-fiction. and that’s what i love about it; it’s truths being coated in some otherworldly or veiled manner. we read to learn, not how to be better or do things faster, but how to feel, what living is, and why curiosity can never die. i love the way you let us into your world of books, the story of how you grew up is something i cling onto when i read your work, it shows through. it seeps through all your words and it is just so bloody beautiful🤍
some day when you become a famous columnist and get a job for some publishing house i will be pitching the idea of your memoir including those fiction pieces you wrote as a teenager…..keep this tweet. but THANK YOU as always for engaging with everything i write in such a thoughtful and eloquent way, it is always a delight to read your thoughts:) “we read to learn how to feel and how to live” AND FEELING AND BEING ALIVE ARE THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT THINGS. PERHAPS THE ONLY IMPORTANT ONES.
Brilliant post!
I'm seeing a lot of good comments about what fiction can do, and I'd like to add by recalling what John Berger thought fiction teaches us. In a beautiful conversation with literary reviewer Michael Silverblatt (frankly one of the most sensitive and exploring conversations I've ever seen two men share—they fall into whispers at a certain point, hunched towards each other over a table and grasping for understanding), Berger said that novels taught him how to behave. By this, he didn't mean that novels taught him conventional manners; rather, novels taught him how to behave in the event of the unconventional, when life creeps in and despoils plans, ideas, comfort. The novel is in a unique position to describe the very singular way in which we meet with the unprecedented, the unforeseen, the fulgurant within our own lives. In my own case, it's often a scene or a line from a book that arrives when the unfathomable occurs, and I have no convention to fall back upon.
thank you so much for your comment, Imran! as soon as i finish writing this, i'm running to YouTube to watch that conversation; i can already predict i will feel absolutely blown away and enlightened after it, so thank you for the recommendation:) and i could not agree more with that idea, novels do offer us a kind of rehearsal for the unimaginable. your description of a scene or line returning to you in times of rupture particularly resonates, and i see it as one of the quiet, secret gifts of fiction. it's as though stories stay with us, waiting for the moment when they will be needed, and isn't that the most beautiful thing we could ask for?