What's the point of reading fiction?
This isn't b8, it's a serious question. I used to read a lot of fiction, but lately I haven't been able to, and it made me think. What's the point?
The only reason I could think of is prose of the likes of Joyce, for instance. Even though that again leads me to think, why?
All this is of course disregarding the idiotic escapist notion of 'entertainment', I'm not interested in that.
>it's a serious question
>I'm not interested in that.
>disregarding the idiotic escapist notion of 'entertainment'
>mfw
Thanks for the picture though she's real qt. Love that hair style.
>>7432567
What's your problem, pal
>>7432604
he writes fiction
>>7432563
What's the point of anything? Do you enjoy it? Does it give you profound experiences? Does it help you connect to people who've read the same things? Why do people play sports? Why do people study things?
>>7432563
What's wrong with entertainment? Why, exactly, are you on 4chan? How is that not entertainment? And if it is, why do you despise one form of entertainment but partake in other?
Why haven't you killed yourself yet? This isn't b8, this is serious questions.
>>7432563
I'd attempt a reply but you don't seem to value logic much. So I'd say just read non-fiction. You'd be surprised how much understanding of key philosophers improves enjoyment of fiction in general, and then there's even fiction that solely bases themselves on such concepts. Reading non-fiction should be a delight in itself however. Get some edumuhcation and then try it again. Or don't, enjoy ennui for all we care.
Why do anything that isn't necessary for survival? In fact, why even live at all? You should probably go ahead and kill yourself, OP. Your own philosophy demands it.
>>7432563
Because it makes me appreciate the language more, I love the historical importance of the fictional texts I read, and I gain completely different perspectives about mundane or profound things by just "hearing" the author through his writing.
I think the only reason I read is that sometimes I don't have anyone else to connect to. So I open up a book and take up the intrigues and drama of whomever is within and I feel less alien.
>>7432563
I will answer with a quote from the protagonist of Houellebecq's Platform:
"Not having anything around to read is dangerous: you have to content yourself with life itself, and that can lead you to take risks.”
>>7432653
So escapism
>>7432563fun
There are multiple ways of getting at the study of humanity. Abstract philosophy is part of it, and so is history. But literature fills a void that neither of these can really cover. It lets you work out ideas that maybe aren't possible to articulate rationally and concisely, maybe even ones that the author can't put forward except by presenting his total mental picture or emotional experience for you to interface with. It lets you flesh out more abstract concepts and play with them to see how they might work in reality. It lets you live lives and have experiences that are enlightening, but unrealistic or impossible in reality.
Even if you take the most utilitarian possible approach, you just have to acknowledge that human heuristics are more complex than simple abstract thinking. It's useful to be able to draw subtle comparisons and contrasts with deep and nuanced thought experiments other people have provided. If your mind doesn't jump to certain examples from literature when you wonder if totalitarianism or hedonism aren't good things for humanity, then you aren't reading enough. It's not just about being able to make literary allusions in those situations, it's about having access to models drawn from literature as heuristics.
>>7432563
the point? none.
>>7432633
>>7432636
>>7432687
Thanks for the non-meme answers
>>7432563
Sometimes a metaphor is a good way to transport a philosophical idea.
>>7432563
Read Kafka. If this doesn't resonate with you or light you up at least a little on what you're not understanding at the moment, you ought to go buy a gun and just put a bullet to your head.
>>7432723
this kafka gives one of the biggest insights on human nature of all literature ever written
>>7432771
And he's fucking hilarious all the while
>>7432563
>This isn't b8
There isn't a quicker way to signify that it is.
>>7432776
>implying it won't be perceived as such either way
>>7432723
Which Kafka book should I start with which answers the questions? Not OP btw
>>7432563
It looks like her head is floating without a neck in the thumbnail
>>7432672
sure, escaping from 'reality', but what even is 'reality'
Good literary fiction is more insightful than most non-philosophy non-fiction on the questions of life (what makes a life good, what life is for, etc.) and usually is more aesthetically pleasing than philosophy texts. Aesthetics can be an end in themselves, but without getting into that, literary fiction, read not just for entertainment, enriches lives. No one would argue that being able to talk with the most brilliant and thoughtful members of our culture about their insights into life would be a wasted experience, and books afford us that very opportunity.
Literary fiction is also likely to help with emotional intelligence and empathy (which makes sense because it takes people out of their own world and exposes them to the perceptions of others). You sound like you could use a big helping of this OP, so I recommend you put down the airport thrillers and pick up some literary fiction.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/i-know-how-youre-feeling-i-read-chekhov/?_r=0
>>7432991
Not thus shit again
>>7432563
sometimes a story can represent a moral or an idea better than writing it out in black and white.
>>7432803
>implying I was implying that.
All you need is Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. You reached Exit Level. That's all.
>>7432994
>airport thrillers
I've actually only ever read patrician top shelf shit
>>7433005
bible > 20th century /memecore/
>>7433134
The bible's literary significance is the same as a dictionary. It's a bunch of memes all in one place.
>>7433162
pleb
