AM Inspiration: Mid-Week Simplicity--Pleasure Reading

by Kim, August 19, 2009 at 6:00am

If yesterday's post is to be believed, a vampire novel can hold a mirror to our culture's struggles with consumption. Surely we're not going to keep our critical thinking faculties in check and brains in tune by reading fantasy? While it's important to encourage kids to maintain a balanced literary diet, there is actually much to be said for reading any kind of fiction.

The British Journal of Psychiatry explored reasons why psychiatrists should read fiction, among them that "reading literature helps develop empathy" and that fiction can expand our understanding of the world and human nature beyond the people in our immediate surroundings. The article mentions C.P. Snow's idea that the scientific and artistic are two increasingly divergent tracks in our society and suggests that drawing from both perspectives offers the most possibilities. The books they mention, though seem more along the lines of Dostoevsky. Is there a certain kind of fiction that's "good for you", with other kinds rating more like junk food for the mind?

There is always a difference between passive reading and active reading; encouraging young readers to see popular fiction as a stepping-off point to other reading and scholarship is probably a good compromise. Learning to enjoy reading is itself a valuable lesson.

And just because, here's a little mid-week simplicity from a letter by Rainer Maria Rilke.