Why are some drawn to fiction stories and others repelled by them?

[teddyv]

If I read for fun, it will be usually fiction. I don't know if I am specifically drawn to fiction versus non-fiction - a lot of my reading was in remote field camps with whatever was on hand.

To try and put a finger on it, fiction certainly allows the exploration of the "what if?". As an example, my favourite Tom Clancy novel is "Red Storm Rising", which explores a conventional war between Nato and the Warsaw Pact.

I also love SF, but especially when the universe is well-crafted. For an example of that, my favourite is Dune, but I'm sure there are plenty of other examples that I have not read yet. I agree with @Alive about the Asimov and Clark writings as well (have not read the Rama ones though).

[Alive]

2 minutes ago, Starise said:

Highbrow sci fi. Yeah this is the good stuff. Back before sci fi became something else.

I reckon maybe so.

:-)

[Alive]

Just one other point to GTW--I have asked myself the same question and thus enjoyed responding to it.

:-)

[Starise]

Right now I'm reading a book on theology that almost reads like sc fi. Best of both worlds.

The only problem is I'm blacking out. I'm laying there at 10pm reading and all of a sudden I black out. When I wake up the iPad is laying there toppled over on my chest. I think I hear what might have been a snort but can't really tell because I don't hear it any more. The same exact thing happens two or three more times. Each time my eyes get heavy and I black out. Finally I just roll over and go to sleep. This happens almost every evening.

[Marathoner]

I started reading at a very young age. My capacity for reading was never what most would consider as "normal" and I would read whatever I could lay my hands on. Dictionaries... encyclopedias... my father's technical and college textbooks... works of fiction and non-fiction... I could sit down and read for hours on end losing all sense of time and space. I could read an 800 page book in two sessions. I could've read it all in one fell swoop but other people (like my siblings and parents) were in the habit of pulling me away from books so I could eat and sleep. 

Edited December 10, 2020 by Marathoner

[GandalfTheWise]

31 minutes ago, Alive said:

Since a boy, I have enjoyed SF. Especially Isaac Asimov stuff--Foundation, the Robot Series. There are many other authors that I have enjoyed, but Isaac represents, to me, the best examples of why I have enjoyed SF. I enjoy it because it stimulates my imagination and that opens my mind to possibilities that I wouldn't otherwise entertain. His epic stories span a great deal of time and I really enjoyed that. His concept of 'Psychohistory' is both brilliant and thought provoking.

Another is the Rama Series by Arthur C. Clarke. These two authors write what I consider intelligent SF and exceptional expansive.

I also read a lot of science--all kinda stuff. I learned to have a great love and respect for literature at a young age.

 

  Was just talking with my adult daughter about these this morning.  She was just saying she wanted to go back and read some of the classics.  I mentioned the Rama series to her when she mentioned Clarke.   We also brought up Andre Norton and what she did for the genre as a woman decades ago.

[Edit:   First sci-fi book I ever read was "Star Rangers" by Andre Norton.  At which point I started grabbing every other book I could find and discovered Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Bradbury, and Verne.]

[Marathoner]

I wasn't aware of it at the time but I taught myself how to speed read when I was a kindergartner. I would read my teacher's paperwork when she wasn't looking or otherwise occupied with other students... she hadn't a clue. I learned how to glean a great deal of information in very little time.

When I darkened the doors of a college campus in my early 40's the realization hit me like a ton of bricks: people are taking speed reading courses? Really? I thought everyone knew how to speed read! 

It took quite some time for my naivete to pass away.  

 

[GandalfTheWise]

1 minute ago, Marathoner said:

I wasn't aware of it at the time but I taught myself how to speed read when I was a kindergartner. I would read my teacher's paperwork when she wasn't looking or otherwise occupied with other students... she hadn't a clue. I learned how to glean a great deal of information in very little time.

When I darkened the doors of a college campus in my early 40's the realization hit me like a ton of bricks: people are taking speed reading courses? Really? I thought everyone knew how to speed read! 

It took quite some time for my naivete to pass away.  

Same with me.  I had no clue some people read looking word by word and reading silently to themselves.

[Alive]

1 minute ago, GandalfTheWise said:

Same with me.  I had no clue some people read looking word by word and reading silently to themselves.

Same here. LOL

Never read any Norton but I did dabble in a the genre via Marion Zimmer Bradley and her Darkover Series. It was fun and a distraction.

I like stories that pit good against evil.

Tolkien

Steven R. Donaldson (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever)

Stuff like that.

[Marathoner]

An elder sister had an expansive selection of science fiction novels and I dove into them with great zeal. Silverberg, Clarke, and Asimov were my favorites; I didn't care much for Heinlein since his yarns tended to be racy and filled with superfluous tripe (confessions of a childhood critic).  

I ran into Tolkien's works at a library and loved them at first read. The Silmarillion is my favorite.

Edited December 10, 2020 by Marathoner