We read...

To know we are not alone. ~C.S. Lewis~

Monday, April 27, 2009

Musing Monday is a weekly meme, hosted by based-on-fact Becca of Just One More Page. Want to join in?...leave a link to your Musing in my comments or pop on over to Just One More Page and muse along with many other clever musers.

This week's question is courtesy of Dianne.


Do you read non-fiction regularly? Do you read it in a different way or place than you read fiction?

If you'd asked me this question last year I'd have answered; yes, I read it regularly; yes, in a different, more task oriented, way. My last six years have been devoted to study and I loved every minute of reading non-fiction. Well actually it’s more a retrospective love of reading non-fiction ... now that I don’t have to read it I love it!

An awful lot of it was esoteric and I used it regularly as a cure for insomnia but I’m very appreciative of the experience and the knowledge it gave me. And that’s the root of my love of non-fiction – I want to know.

When I was away last week I purchased two books; one was a collection of short stories and the other was a history of the development of the English language. It’s a sign of the times that I’ve read the first short story but haven’t dipped into the history yet. I also have and extensive collection of books on functional grammar and literary criticism that are sitting in prim abandonment on my study shelves as I lose myself in fiction.

For me, as for many others I suspect, fiction offers an escape that non-fiction doesn’t. Take yesterday for example, whilst waiting with my father in a medical centre (for 90 minutes) I used fiction to escape an uncomfortable environment. I’m not a good nursemaid and geriatric nursing is a real struggle – whilst not diminishing Dad’s suffering, emphysema is a stomach turning ailment to witness.

We both had our books and I think it’s safe to say we could not have sat with such calm for 90 minutes without the escape they offered.

6 comments:

Yvonne said...

I don't read much non-fiction. I will if something catches my eye, but I prefer fiction. As you said, it provides an escapism and sometimes that's what I need.

Rebecca Johnson said...

I sense much more fiction reading in your future. Gotta love graduation.

Lisa (Southern Girl Reads) said...

I agree with you - fiction is an escape for me that I really enjoy. However, I do read an occasional memoir or current event book if its something that I'm interested in. Sometimes its political, sometimes not.

caite said...

you are right that i don't find that non-fiction offers the escape factor that fiction offers.
..and i love the image of those books sitting in "prim abandonment"..

Nise' said...

I am sorry about your dad's emohysema, it is hard, not only on the patient, but on the family as well.

Not much of a NF reader myself.

Ladytink_534 said...

The only non-fiction I read is entertainment kind pretty much and biographies of famous stars.

Here's mine!