The 2 Questions I Wish I'd Asked Myself Earlier

[image description: a stack of leather-bound antique books in red, green, and brown, with a fourth book open next to the stack.]

I run two book clubs in Columbus, Ohio and they bring me such joy. Last month in Bad Girls Book Club, we read Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.

The book came out when I was 13, but I know I wouldn’t have appreciated it then. The book club is full of super smart, empathetic ladies, so the discussions are always thought-provoking. If like me, you were sleeping on Reading Lolita in Tehran, it’s a memoir in books written by a professor of Western literature at the height of Iran’s cultural and religious revolution where the country went from being forward-thinking and progressive in the 70s to being an authoritarian, fundamentalist state in the 80s due to a change in leadership. That’s the short version, anyway.

On the first day of class, Professor Nafisi asks her students two questions: 1) What should fiction accomplish? and 2) Why should anyone read at all?

In the context of the book, it makes sense to ask because, when the radical regime is bombing the houses of intellectuals they disagree with, it does beg the question of who could have the mental energy to read when they’re constantly in fear for their lives? And what could college students in Tehran during this time of turmoil possibly have to learn from characters like Jay Gatsby, whose stories are so vastly different from their lived experience?

Someone in the book club suggested we answer those questions too. You’d think I’d have a ready answer for this. I have a book blog, so I’m thinking about these questions all the time, and I read 150+ books a year. Shouldn’t these answers come easily to me? In truth, I had to think about it for 10 minutes before I could even begin to come up with a cohesive answer.

I’ve had more time to think about it now, so I’ll attempt to answer both What should fiction accomplish? and Why should anyone read at all? at the same time.

I think the absolute base-level thing a book has to do is entertain the reader. While we know books have the power to do so much more, entertainment is the basest requirement otherwise people won’t finish the book.

The entertainment aspect feeds into escapism, which is not an insignificant factor in a deeply tumultuous country. I think people connect to books in a way they can’t with other media. For example, when you’re watching a film, you’re seeing another person perform the actions of that story. You innately understand that you’re not present in that story because you’re witnessing someone else’s actions. But with books, particularly first-person narratives, you see the story play out in your mind. Through a temporary suspension of disbelief, you become that protagonist as long as you’re reading. You get access to their innermost thoughts, articulated through words, in a way that can be difficult or impossible to portray through actions alone. An action can be misunderstood or misinterpreted, but words tell you exactly what the person is doing and why they’re doing it.

Humans thrive on stories; it’s in our evolution. I once heard a quote that put it succinctly: facts get recorded, stories get remembered. Even the most compelling and accurate facts mean nothing if there’s no story attached to it to make those facts real. That’s why fiction is so powerful––authors can mold the narrative to drive readers’ emotions through story. Through fiction we can empathize with people we’d otherwise despise or never encounter in our daily lives. We can understand the motivations of people about whom we might otherwise know nothing and in doing so, come to understand truths about ourselves.

I don’t think “what should fiction accomplish?” is the right question to ask since fiction only has one goal: to entertain. The genre itself doesn’t have an agenda beyond that. A better question to ask might be, What does the author want to accomplish by writing fiction and what do they hope their readers will take away from their stories? I see fiction as a tool. How you use it is what matters.

I’ve long seen the question of “why should anyone read at all?” get turned into a self-righteous diatribe that usually amounts to, “if you don’t read this many books or these specific genres then you’re a lesser person.” I feel the need to dissect the question for clarity.

• Do I believe people should read at all, in any capacity? Yes.

• Do I believe people should read a particular genre? No. There are people who only read fiction, only read nonfiction, only read poetry, or don’t read books at all and only read newspapers or magazines. I think people should read whatever they want to read.

• Since reading fiction is the central question of this post, do I believe people should read fiction? No, though I think it can have a profound impact on their lives if they choose to do so, especially if they find a book that just hits them at the perfect time.

• Do I believe fiction is the only genre that has the ability to entertain, educate, foster empathy, and create memories through stories? No.

In short, I would encourage anyone and everyone to read fiction, though I think people can be educated, empathetic, intelligent people without it.

This makes me think about the ways in which fiction is often taught in schools and universities as required reading. There are probably equal numbers of people who love and hate fiction because they were forced to read it. Are other forms of art, like film and music, for example, so systematically required in the US educational system year after year? Beyond the occasional film or music elective, I haven’t personally heard nearly as much about required watching or required listening, and it’s definitely not spoken about in the same way as required reading.

Is demanding that people appreciate fiction what makes some people question its value? Is that why questions like "what should fiction accomplish?” and “why should anyone read at all?” are asked, so that fiction’s value, it’s usefulness, can be justified?

I wish I’d asked myself these questions earlier because I imagine my answers might have changed over time as my relationship to fiction has changed over time. Years ago I only read fiction unless a teacher or professor forced me to do otherwise because I assumed nonfiction was boring. These days, I’m probably split 50/50 between fiction and nonfiction. Fiction hasn’t become less meaningful to me over the years, it’s that I’ve also found meaningful stories in other genres.

And I imagine that as I continue to think about these questions, I’ll think of better answers. Now, I want to know what you think! How would you answer Nafisi’s questions?