New series: Fiction fortnight on Fridays

In a previous post, I have written about whether or not fiction is a waste of time. In summary, my thoughts are as follows:

It isn’t.

But (!) if you’re anything like me, sometimes it feels as though we need to be reading higher, more lofty and more weighty things. Biographies, for example. Or (gulp) newspapers (as if they could teach us anything of importance). And in an ever-increasingly fast-paced and schedule-packed society, we feel a need to ration our reading time…the ‘important’ things (let’s be honest, the stuff which makes us look more knowledgable and “with it”) are prioritized. Thus, inevitably, fiction drops to the bottom of the ‘to-read’ pile.

I recently have been feeling slightly (though irrationally) gloomy about life and the universe, and in talking to a good friend about it, I feel I may have discovered an extremely rational and helpful answer. He said, quite simply,

“When I feel down about the world, I need to read Harry Potter.”

Genius.

What fiction does is express the human condition with humour and insight, with fresh characters and interesting story-lines, and perhaps most crucially, in a language that helps us think. In the preface to his new book, Working with Words, Stanley Hauerwas says

“I am able to write, or I find I feel I have to write, because I read. Reading is also one of the ways I learn how to think.”

Whilst this may be true of more than just fiction, it is fiction that explores the expression of deeply personal thought and emotion…how to express that which dwells deep within us – our desires and fears ranging from the ordinary to the spiritual.

So, with all that in mind, I intend to set aside time to read a piece of fiction at least once a fortnight, and write about it. I hope you’ll enjoy the adventure with me!

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