<p>I have a little problem and I want to know if this issue only applies to me or there are other people out there that feel the same way. Personally, I feel novels are a waste time of time. Now don't get me wrong, I like to read. Especially articles on Wikipedia. When I read, I want to read something real that actually happened. I've read a lot of novels, both fictional and nonfiction and I feel the nonfiction ones appeal more to me. I know novels are meant to be enlightening, insightful.....all that jazz but I feel they are meant for people who desperately seek a means of escaping the problems and burdens of their daily life. </p>
<p>Are there people out there who feel the same way or is it just me??</p>
<p>you must be reading some crappy novels...pick up some classic literature. there's a thread floating around here about good books to read. Kite Runner seems pretty high up on everyone's list. I personally recommend On Beauty by Zadie Smith. Won some prestigious award I think.</p>
<p>p.s. there's no such thing as a nonfiction novel.</p>
<p>there are nonfiction novels? (or did you mean historical fiction) are these nonfiction novels in the nonfiction section: <a href="http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/000467.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/000467.html</a></p>
<p>EDIT: damn, i took too long to find that link, jimbob already pointed out the nonfiction novel thing</p>
<p>I prefer to read nonfiction stuff too, especially wikipedia. I've spent so many hours on that site it's not even funny. I do enjoy the occasional fictional novel as well, though. :)</p>
<p>i like reading novels, it's like tv but with no commercials. :]</p>
<p>but i love reading articles on wikipedia.i just think of stuff that i;ve always wanted to know about and search it. hehe</p>
<p>I bet GreenDayFan likes PBS.</p>
<p>Does the same thing apply for other media? Like would you rather watch a documentary movie because it 'actually happened' while you find regular movies pretty much pointless? It's really the same thing, there's no reason to say you enjoy watching actors portray fake situations but reading about them is a waste of time, unless you just secretly hate to read. I suppose there are people that have such little imagination they hate anything remotely fictional, though I've never met one...</p>
<p>I love fiction!!!!</p>
<p>BTW... anyone can write anything on Wikipeda (granted it usually is right). Our teachers won't even let us use it in school ans it is blocked on the school website because anyone can edit it... well I have before but it was for the good!</p>
<p>KissMeKate actually i literally never watch PBS lol. I have to admit i'm not very intellectual with my tv show choices...mtv, reality tv, dramas..(I like Greys Anatomy..and they're doctors...so thats kind of intellectual haha).</p>
<p>Rectifying a mistake from my first post, I meant to say I've read a lot of books, not novels, both fiction and nonfiction. Replying to jimbob1225's suggestion, I've actually read Kite Runner and although the book is fictional, there are some details in the novel that the author derived from his personal life. His father WAS a well-known man in Kabul, Afghanistan, his mother WAS a teacher although she didn't actually die at child-birth and Amir(who I think is Hosseini by the way) did move to California. Personally, I think Kite Runner is just a modified verson of Khaled Hosseini's autobiography with embellished facts, of course. In order words, Kite Runner is a "nonfiction-fiction".</p>
<p>No, I don't hate reading. I just find over-extended fictional proses(aka novels) pointless because they serve no purpose in my life but to dream between pages at the moment...................and later return to my everyday life.</p>
<p>I dislike novels because they don't really mean anything, sure you get a 'thrill' (I don't) reading it but in the end what did you learn? I would read a textbook over a novel anyday. I think its the information age that bred this preference since all I read nowadays is news articles on the internet which are short, sweet, and to the point.</p>
<p>i agree that novels don't give you "Facts" but i STRONGLY disagree with the idea that you can't learn anything from novels. you learn a LOT about ideas from novels</p>
<p>If opening your mind to new ideas is useless, then sure, novels are useless. </p>
<p>I love political-fiction type books like 1984, Animal Farm, A Separate Peace, Brave New World, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Jungle (which, by-the-way, was certainly not useless), The Crucible, The Scarlet Letter, etc because they do make you think. </p>
<p>I have a thing for WWII, so I read a ton of nonfiction books about it as well. Currently I'm reading The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler...awesome book. </p>
<p>Philosophy books are awesome, too. Lincoln-Douglas debate got me hooked...and one of my buddies majoring in Philosophy and History sure did all he could to encourage it.</p>
<p>And there's nothing wrong with a little Harry Potter in between.</p>
<p>I get that some people don't enjoy reading (or don't like certain genres), but it's a bit silly to say that a book is useless just because it's not factual.</p>
<p>you're not the only one...to a cetain degree</p>
<p>also, what's wrong with losing yourself in the pages. Do you not do ANYTHING that doesnt serve a greater purpose? Play video games? Sports? listen to music? just hang out? everything you do can't be goal oriented, you have to do things for <em>gasp</em> fun.</p>
<p>Okay, maybe this scenario would offer a better perception of what I'm trying to get across: If you were asked to pick a better book, Night by Elie Wiesel Vs. Kite Runner or A child called IT(or its sequel The Lost Boy) by Dave Pelzer Vs. Catcher in the Rye(which is a classic) by J.D. Salinger, which would you pick?</p>
<p>I'm sure a majority of people would agree that the non-fiction books are better because the fact that the details in the book actually occured in real life adds all the more that enthralling feeling you get while reading a book whether it be sympathy for the mass amount of people that got executed at the camps in Night or the little child that had to put up with his mother's abuse for years in A child called It.</p>
<p>Again, I don't hate to read and I'm not saying you can't learn anything from fictional novels but you can learn all you can get from a ficitonal novel in a non-fiction book and maybe even more.</p>
<p>I like reading fiction because it doesn't matter and I don't really have to learn anything from it. I feel that there are things to be learned from fiction books, but I can just get lost in the pages and read if I want to. I'm not expected to remember anything from them or analyze the book to death. That's exactly why I read fiction. It's entertaining and I pretty much can't stand non-fiction. For me it's boring to read facts about things that happened. I do enjoy historical fiction because it's like a twist on something that really did happen. I guess I'm just a dreamer. :)</p>