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Humans have always admired facts based on logical conclusions and empirical evidences; however, a large majority of people still admire being told events that have not happened anywhere with no one.
A collection of such events in written form can be called fiction and ever since humans started admiring art, fiction books have been selling like hot cakes.
As per Cambridge, the meaning of fiction book is ‘the type of book or story that is written about imaginary characters and events and not based on real people and facts‘.
Why do we like fiction literature?
A simple question arises as to why we humans like fiction when we know for a fact that it is not based on truth. Ever since the civilization began, humans have been declared to be the logical beings but what attracts them to fiction is simple.
We humans love to be told stories. If you recall, you were told some rhymes and anthems in schools based on idealism and rooted in imagination. In essence, we humans are designed to admire stories and stories are not based on facts.
The fiction literature provides us with some relief in the form of imaginary or fictional characters and allows us to detach from our wordily problems to take a dive into the the non-existent. Literature can be declared as ‘fairy tale for adults’.
Fiction vs non fiction. Why should you read fiction
Back to our question. I recently completed reading ‘The Kite Runner’ and that prompted me to pen down this piece. I certainly believe that though rationality is very much important for making real life decisions but it should not come at the cost of ignoring literature which acts as a shock absorber in life.
For instance, if you are reading a novel which mentions about the tragedies faced by an individual, you can either relate with that fictional character or can imagine that the tragedies can happen with you as well [God forbid].
In short, fiction prepares you for bitter facts and can be decaled as a dry run of life. While Seneca said that we suffer more in imagination than in reality, it is a truth that having read something scary prepares us mentally for the adverse situations as well.
Apart from this aspect, another factor which increase the importance of reading any book or fiction is that it increases your vocabulary bank.
For instance you can say that it is impossible to replace a sales executive due to his/her skills or you can also say that ‘those are high heels to fill’ regarding that executive. Both convey the same meanings, however, you can visualize the latter one which is a fairly good expression to convey.
What Celebrities admire in fiction
After having discussed the importance of fiction, let’s see what celebrities prefer when it comes to fiction.
Former US president Barack Obama shares his reading list every year and here are some of the top picks relating to novel genre from his list:
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
“At Night All Blood Is Black” by David Diop
“When We Cease to Understand the World” by Benjamín Labatut.
Meanwhile, Michelle Obama’s favourite book is Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. On the other hand, Hillary Clinton once declared The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky to be her favourite pick.
Emma Watson’s favourite book is “Le Petit Prince [by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry] while Daniel Radcliffe declares The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov to be his best read.
J.K Rowling, who mesmerized a generation with her Harry Potter declares ‘The Woman Who Walked Into Doors’ by Roddy Doyle to be her favourite pick.
Moreover, Jennifer Lawrence was attracted to Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
Top Fiction Books to Read by Goodreads
Here are some of the top picks from Goodreads when it comes to fiction:
- The Hobbit (Paperback) by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
- 1984 by George Orwell
- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
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Final Words: Fiction Books are Popular
Have you observed that most of the celebrities did not declare biographies and autobiographies to be their best books and instead they declared fiction books to be their favorite, knowing that biographies have an element of truth but fiction is imaginary and is not based on real life events.
This confirms that fiction books are popular amongst celebrities as well. The conclusion comes down to the point that as humans we love to be told stories. This might be due to the fact that we are so bored with the reality that we find refuge in fiction.
