Reading fiction is pointless.... Listing to music is pointless.... Dreaming is pointless.... Love is pointless.... We are not robots, our souls are fed, and our lives are enriched by the arts. “To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. So do it.” - Kurt Vonnegut.
very poor comparison dude...fiction in book form is not as important as the others or necessary to "feed the shou" (god thats sounds bad on so many levels as well....
I noticed my personality is changing due to reading literature. After reading Les Mis I all of the sudden started giving money to homeless people instead of judging them. When reading Tolstoy I learned about power. After reading Nietsche I noticed I was less susceptible to argumentation. After reading Oscar Wilde I fell in love with poetry and language in itself. When reading Melville I was stunned with the beauty of sentences. From reading Kafka I learned to not trust the system blindly. When reading Elsschot I learned the simplicity of life…
you sounds like u truly have read those books unlike most commentors who just say i enjoy/love that book, it's fantastic, i read abc, etc without adding anything much. i screenshot your comment to check them out.
WoW, your comment IS pure poetry itself. Certainly, Literature affects our brain in many ways. Reading is a source of learning and pleasure. I read every day. If, for whatevever reasons I cannot do It, I don't feel like myself. Books are my paradise📚❤
Kazuo Ishiguro once left this profound words in the interview- "I’m not an essayist, I’m not a historian, I write fiction, which means I’m trying to connect with people through feelings.”
are u sure u have read his books? i cant understand why the western world is obsessed with this rubbish writer. there are lot of better books to fill up our short life.
@@AnthonyGargini what u think of murakami? U like him too? I wrote many comments on Japanese authors particularly these few whom the western world exalted above their rubbish writing on youtube related to their books. Sadly none of my friends read so I cannot find anybody to discuss. I tell them the funny weird fetish of most Japanese writers, weird as in disgusting. Wasted my time reading them years ago and I stopped.
@GuacamoleyNacho I don't have an opinion on Murakami. I've only read a few pages of his. But Kazuo Ishiguro is a different person and there's nothing particularly Japanese about Remains of the Day. It's a british novel
When my kids were little I read to them as much as I could. I always told them, “ you can go anywhere if you have a book” . The library is a big part of our lives and I took them weekly to find treasures. Miss those times
My fav time with my boys is bed time stories. such a bonding time, they race to bed to sleep next me. we found a happy medium though i sleep in the middle and each one of them by side lol
As readers of fiction we recognize the humanity in the character. This is pure gold, the heart of what it means to be a person educated in the humanities. Many thanks!
For me, fiction very often leads me directly to non-fiction. I read lots of historical fiction, and often get so interested in the topic, person or era that I immediately then seek out non-fiction on the same subject. For me, the combination of the two is really important. They are completely interlinked. Companion-reading fiction and non-fiction is one of my favourite things.
There are a million good and wholesome reasons to read the classics, and I'm all for them. But the most important reason by far is simple pleasure. Reading for pleasure adds enormous quality and depth to our lives.
I discovered Hardy in college and immediately devoured every one of his books that I could get my hands on whenever I could find the time, usually during the breaks between terms as a reward for getting through another term. As a single mother with rambunctious school-aged children, I spent a lot of time in parks letting them blow off steam and trying to reduce my personal stress level. After being exposed to the writings of Thomas Hardy I began to actively notice and appreciate the beauty of the scenery and complexity of nature but also the beauty and complexity of the other people in the park as they interacted with one another or walked alone. I was usually trying to study while my children played but would find myself looking up from my textbooks, distracted by all the things I had never really noticed before and just enjoying the peace and joy of being present at that moment, in that place and that time.
I've never forgotten an incident from more than 50 years ago, when my cousin asked me what I was reading. "The Picture of Dorian Gray," I said. I'm not sure he'd ever heard of it, but he knew it was fiction. He condescendingly encouraged me to do what he did: stick to non-fiction only. "Truth!" he said. I knew he was wrong, but I didn't know how to make my case (I was only 16 or 17 at the time). If anyone said that to me today, I'd laugh. There's more truth in a piece of fiction written by an artist than there can possibly be in the most thoroughly researched history written by the most erudite historian who ever lived. Fiction is concerned with internal truth, the ways and whys of human behavior. We can all recognize it as "true" in the only sense that counts. This was a lovely presentation. Thank you.
As a broad generalization: * Non-fiction (such as science) teaches us how to live. * Fiction (such as classic literature) teaches us why life is worth living. 😊
'You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was Dostoevsky and Dickens who taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who ever had been alive. Only if we face these open wounds in ourselves can we understand them in other people. An artist is a sort of emotional or spiritual historian. His role is to make you realize the doom and glory of knowing who you are and what you are. He has to tell, because nobody else can tell, what it is like to be alive.' - James Baldwin
Excellent! Over the years I've tried to explain the benefits of reading fiction to "nonbelievers", but all my efforts pale in comparison to this video. You certainly have a gift!
My young son's language usage and understanding came on leaps and bounds when he started reading fection for himself, for pleasure, around age 11. I noticed it also helped develop his empathy and ability to imagine other people's lives beyond his own.
My sons are age 12 and 10. While they do like bed stories, i feel like video games are slowly taking over. I have to find ways to make them interested in reading again.
Umberto Eco was once asked to explain why folk should bother to read at all. He explained that if you read zero books in your entire life, you've only lived one lifetime, but if you've read thousands of books, you've lived a thousand different lives. Like Hope, who ambivalently hovers and quivers in Pandora's jar, I ask you---is this is a curse or a blessing?
I find that great fiction allows me to better understand people and myself. But it also somehow allows me to connect with more people with a sense of understanding. The same goes for gaining a nuanced understanding of interesting ideas and emotions. It has also opened me to the sheer beauty of the written word. Some writing is simply breathtaking, and I have to put down the book and marvel. It gives me fleeting contact with what’s great in life. And for those who insist on non-fiction - please realize that becoming a clear reader is really being a clear thinker. And developing clear thinking is not time wasting fluff.
The power of an excellent fiction is to transfer the feelings of the author through his chosen words. And the reader becomes The Observer being on the 'opposite' side. I loved your video 😊 thank you❤
I read the return of the native for the first time last year. I ended up reading it twice it was so enjoyable. Your reading just inspired me to read it again! Alan Rickman has a wonderful audio version on audible i cant recommend enough
Read something this AM directly after listening to this brilliant instruction! “Rarely does a man move beyond an abecedarian ignorance that precedes knowledge, and a doctoral ignorance that comes after it. “. 🤯 Michel de Montaigne
I pretty much felt that way, read mostly nonfiction but now a tad more fiction than not. I found out late in life that really they complement each other. 📖
Stories have been been part of the human experience for longer than almost anything else. We used them to understand the world around us before we learned how to view things through a scientific lens, we used them to relate to our fellow human beings, we used them to express the complicated emotions of the human condition. Fiction builds curiosity, understanding, and empathy. Fiction is an essential part of being human.
All this reminded me of the tale "To build a fire" which effectively expresses the terror of freezing to death, the infinite frustration of not being able to do anything about it. It's a very short story but has immense impact. I strongly recommend it.
Brilliant Tristan, just brilliant. I’m new to the classic other than good children’s literature because I was raised in a religion that forbid fiction because it was a lie-- I never learned how to read fiction because of it. I have extensively enjoyed and learned the other great arts-music, dance, fine art, opera but knew nothing of literature. Thanks to you and Ben McEvoy I have a new and beautiful world opened to me. I now have my husband and daughter joining me in my quest for beauty and truth through language. Every evening my husband and I listen/read a great book together rather than watch tv and are loving it. Thank you for articulating so well the power of great minds and great language.
Dear Tristan This is an amazing contribution! A must-watch for any kind of reader. I‘m baffled at how you so easily and naturally transmit these highly complex ideas. This is proof of your mastery of not ownly knowing but also understanding. This could have easily been a lecture at university.
I actually feel the way described in the case of recent novels. Too many classics not read yet to faff about. I'm never disappointed by classic literature.
When people ask me, what kind of fiction I like to read, I always tell them: 'I don't really care what a book is about, as long as it's really well written'. This is exactly why. And yes, a good story and interesting characters are also important...but it's always the descriptions and little observations that really draw me in. That make it such a joy and so utterly satisfying, to immerse myself in a book.
You know what? Miss Trotwood in David copperfield has always been a rôle model for me. She exemplifies what a woman should be. She is strong, yet open-minded , she is able to evolve, she takes no heed of what other people might think of her. She is determined yet kind-hearted, she is faithful and funny😊. She does not interfere with David ’s life even if she realises his first marriage is probably not a good one and she remains optimistic even in dire circumstances, she is able to forgive the man who broke her heart and ruined her when she was a young woman and she visits him on his death bed. She is also resourceful and never complains😊 Thank you Mr Dickens 😅
I remember reading the woodlanders in bed 30 years ago. I was mesmerized, i would re read paragraphs over and over to soak in the joy. He wrote this sentence that blew me away "THERE IS NO GREATER DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANY TWO MEN, THAN ONE MAN AND HIS MOODS "
Tristan I started watching your videos in Sept 2023 and having always read non fiction, you opened my eyes to the potential delights of fiction. Through your recommendations I have discovered some fabulous novels that I would doubtful had chosen myself. The Painted Veil, David Copperfield, Diary of a Nobody , House of the Dead, Madame Bouvary and Our Mutual Friend. Some hits and some misses but all interesting to interact with so thank you 😊
Great video and agree with every word! Nevertheless, I'm a voracious reader who tends to prefer nonfiction (history, biography, books on religion, science and philosophy) to fiction. A big part of the reason, I think, is that with nonfiction you know what you're getting before you even open the book - say, a biography of a famous historical personage whom you're already interested in - and even if the book isn't great, you've learned something while reading it. Whereas with fiction, particularly contemporary fiction, you don't know what you're getting until you start reading and, sad to say, at least two out of three times I find it hard to finish what I started and I feel as if I've wasted my time. When, however, I do find a work of fiction that I like, it is often a truly transcendent experience; hence the reason why I keep buying fiction!
If anyone ever said anything like that to me I would tell them that they need to ask the Wizard of Oz for a brain.😂 I enjoy reading the classics and gift people fiction books all the time-fiction is beneficial to me especially when life gets a bit sticky and difficult-it’s my favorite temporary escape.
As a beginner in reading, your videos keep me want to read more and explore the world of literature. Thank you for all of your passion, effort, and time into making these informative, entertaining videos 🤍
You have inspired me so greatly to pick up reading again for myself. I had given up personal reading after having children 10 years ago. But, it's time to reignite my brain. Thank you for sharing your passion.
Great video! I love reading fiction and nonfiction. Not long ago, I decided to challenge myself by reading Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov." And what an experience it was! I learned so much about how different people perceive the world and their interactions with it and each other. When I finished it, I picked up "The Idiot." Again, I was floored by what I learned about the human condition and the ways different people respond to it. Then, I tackled "Crime and Punishment." Such an intense character study. and eminently accessible. Then came "Fathers and Sons" by Turgenev. One book that I feel may be my favorite is "Of Human Bondage" by Somerset Maugham (an English diversion from the Russian authors). The life journey of Philip Carey that Maugham paints is breathtaking in scope. These are all very large volumes, and at first, I admit to having been intimidated. But once I finished "Brothers", the rest were just as much of a joy. These books are not easy reads and the names take getting used to, but once you are familiar with Russian naming conventions, it's easier. From each of these books, I came away with an appreciation for other people's viewpoints and the culture that was the background for the stories. I can't wait to read more and discover more about the similarities that tie us together, no matter the time and place.
I am reading The Brothers Karamazov for the very first time. I'm only on the first chapter, so I'm barely getting started. It's intimidating, that's for sure!
‘Fiction gets in’ ❤ A fantastic video Tristan, beautifully expressed. Yes, non fiction is instruction but fiction takes the experience of being human and holds it up and turns it around in the light. ❤
Wonderful video. I have always been a modern fantasy or YA reader and was in a major reading slump - until I happened across a copy of Grapes of Wrath in a local free library. I'm 100 pages in and it's reinvigorated my love for reading again and given me a lot of perspective on what I view as 'major problems' in my life. The beauty of the writing is like a breath of fresh air and the plotlines are timeless - even if I don't get all the references. I've got my eye on many more classics now. x
I am almost 75 and have loved fiction all my life. I am also a psychiatrist and the best and truest psychology and workings of the human mind and heart are to be found in fiction. You have surpassed yourself in this video, Tristan, showing us the magic, truth, and delight of fiction. 🩷
This is a really thought provoking video. In my eyes both fiction and non fiction have their place in the arts in my eyes. Fiction helps you mold a universe out of your own mind with its own sets and preceptions of the created reality for that world. While non fiction helps developing skills or help us figure out more about historical events and so on. Great video as always 🙂❤📚
Thank you Tristan. I have really enjoyed this and see my reading time as important personal development. Thanks to you, I am finding so much in classical literature, it has enriched my life.
Loved this. My reading mix is about 10% non-fiction /90% fiction. I have learned so much over the years from fiction. I've learned a lot about myself and about other people. I'm reminded of the universality of the human experience when I'm reading a fiction book. Fiction books have gotten me through some difficult times and have made me an overall well-rounded human. Non-fiction books are great too, but honestly, I've gained so much more from fiction over the years.
Yes, I know some of your ideas from before. Love the one that says how fiction can take you to experience different times and situations. Read almost all of my life. And somehow, it connects me to the universe.
Here's a simple way to remember the difference between the two: Fiction is based on truth, and truth doesn't change. Nonfiction is based on facts, which change all the time.
You are preaching to the choir with me, but I could listen to you talk about fiction all day! I especially loved the metaphors you used- with the cannons... and the droplet. Just lovely. Thanks for so much quality content and for sharing your thoughts, Tristan.
Thanks for giving suggestions of Georgette Heyer. I read Faro's Daughter and was very amused. Can't remember a book that I read smiling so much to myself. Also read Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell, another good book.
That's great. It's a delight to find a book you can fall into. Have you ever read, A Month In The Country? One of the most beautiful stories in my opinion.
Tristan, this is your best video yet-and one of the best I’ve ever seen. Thank you, you’ve helped express what I’ve been feeling. Some stray thoughts- Literature, feeding the soul, the written word, The importance of my morning reflections, Robinson Crusoe - how he yearned to find a way to write, to take down his thoughts not auditory, not movies, not thoughts in the mind, there to see, devour, drink, eat, nourish Connected to our times and its loss of religion, that no one reads anymore This is VERY connected
Your explanation is absolutely brilliant. I read a lot of non fiction until one day I read a biography by either CS Lewis or Tolkien (I can't remember who it was) that there is more truth in fiction than non fiction...I started reading the Classics .. the great fiction books and that was it for me...I was Hooked....I might sneak in the ODD non fiction but very rare.
What a charming video! You are a big fan of literature and the fascinating method of talking about it affects us, and what an awesome pronunciation! Where are you from? I am fond of your reading asking you more reading every video. Thank you for this wonderful time.
Have learned relevant stuff from a few over the last year or so. Nineteen eighty-four, crime and punishment, devils, even gleaning useful points from atlas shrugged. I’ve been surprised how topical old books can be.
That was superb Tristan, thank you. To read and live through a good book is one of the great joys of life. Imagining where you are, who you are with, the progression of their lives all as clearly as if you were there with them. I loved your examples. Thomas Hardy is a great favourite (sometimes the greatest), I can really immerse my life with the landscapes and people in his books, empathise with every emotion, enjoy every scene. A good fiction book is inhabiting a "real" world with "real" people. The trouble is finishing them, leaving that world and it's inhabitants behind; where does one go next?
I think you've got such a fire burning in you while you express your appreciation of the literature. And you're able to give it to us. Thanks. P.S. I love your English:)
Always look forward to your videos Tristan. You do a great job! Since retiring two years ago, I've made it a point to develop my library so it's packed with all the greatest of the classics. I read every day, and some of my favorite authors are Dickens (not saying much), Thomas Hardy, and George Elliot. I wanted also to mention that I just bought "Three Men And A Boat" off of Ebay, and look forward to receiving it, as you've mentioned it so many times in your videos. I'll let you know after I've read it my thoughts. Lastly, I've found your analysis of many classics as much deeper and collegiate than many other BookTubers vid's. I appreciate this as I was an English literature major in college way back when, and I miss the in-depth quality analysis you provide. Keep up the great work buddy! Sincerely, Jeff S.
I had a comcersatiom about this topic the other day. And we made a lot of the same points. If I'm reading a book and theres a description of an actual weapon or a car, that description teaches me something. Also, if the setting is frontier life, I pick up little details about that time period and learn more about what life was like in that time leriod. And that's to say nothing about historical fiction where the setting may be a war or the black death.
Thought-provoking, thank you. You do a nice job of articulating subtle points. As a lifelong reader of mostly non-fiction, I'm trying to add more fiction to my plate. I had a few thoughts as you spoke: 1. I find that I can't "get into" certain genres of fiction -- fantasy, science fiction, and horror for instance. I always end up thinking, "Why am I bothering with this? It's just a made-up story about an imaginary world the author invented." I prefer fiction that is more reality-based (e.g., historical fiction or at least something set in the real world). 2. If you asked me what the main thing I get out of reading fiction, it's this -- I get to experience, from the comfort of my armchair, other people's lives, other experiences, other cultures, other times that I cannot experience otherwise. Example: I recently finished All Quiet on the Western Front. I got to experience -- albeit vicariously and from a position of safety -- what it was like to be a soldier in the trenches of WWI. The horror and the fear of that, the petty power plays, the starvation, the death of your friends, the attempt to return to 'normal' life, all of it. I have never been to war and never want to, but I was able to get a small sense of what it was like. 3. One of the purposes of fiction is just to entertain. I assume that the wealthy businessman who said he doesn't see the point in reading fiction watches movies or TV series. Same thing -- made-up stories. 4. Fiction has a special ability to get inside a character's head. I'm interested in people's inner lives. Those can be hard to see -- all we get is the facade, mostly, the image people present of themselves. Movies can portray characters, but it's still from the outside looking in, from an external perspective. Fiction is different. With fiction, you can hear about what a character is really thinking and feeling, from the inside. You get to know their inner world. I love that part of fiction -- getting to know people I would have never met otherwise, and getting to know them on the inside.
Tristan offers an interesting recurring experience where I will look at the video title and think "Well man, you're going to be preaching to the choir, but let's hear it," and then I have to pause the video several times to soak in truths that would have taken lifetimes to ever cross my mind had it not been for the collective human wisdom locked away in literature
I believed this for years purely based on idea that if I wanted escapism, I would watch a movie, and if I was going to read a book, I needed to learn something. Fast forward to the present, and all I read is fiction. I was offered the book tender is the flesh by Augustina, and after completing that there was no turning back.
What a beautiful video. Thank you for addressing this topic as I hear this all the time! Some other thoughts I'd like to add are: Everything non-fiction - math, science, engineering, architecture, etc began in someone's imagination. The "idea" or observation or design all stem from the imagination as well. So it is no more worthy than fiction. Most non-fiction is frozen in a moment of time. It represents the ideas at the time it was written, and ideas are ever-changing. Most non-fiction written today will be irrelevant in 100 years. Yet The Odyssey and The Mahabarata are still widely read and loved. Lastly, when I read quality fiction, it's a sort of meditation. It absorbs my attention in a way that non-fiction never has. For example, the moment in David Copperfield when David slaps Uriah Heep, they stand motionless and the hand print on his face goes from white to red. That will stay with me forever.
I agree. David Copperfield is a favorite of mine. So many great characters, and each one, a reminder of someone of our acquaintance in modern time. Aunt Betsy, tells David multiple times of things his sister Betsy Trotwood, would have, or would not have, said or done. Hilarious!
On average, for every 7 books of fiction I read a non-fiction book. Medical books had me trapped for nearly a decade....ah, but end of terms meant fiction 😊 Now I read more fiction, the rest are biographys/autobiographies, historical events on and on and it really helps to broaden the mind. For example, are you interested in films ? Well, there are so many books about films, directors,actors etc....any subject , to my way of thinking, is interwoven with all subjects however implausible it may sound. When I say "I love books" I mean books and do not like to categorize because all subjects help are useful to each other. Wide selection is better than narrow selection and great needs no explanation.
I have just discovered your channel, and I'm in. Subscribed! I have a 10 year old boy speed reader who is veracious for books. He reads science textbooks, he knocks over the popular 'literature' for his age in 30mins. I grew up a scientist who was never introduced to the classics (Although we did do Old man and the Sea at high school and I just watched your video - where to start with the classics)... so I am wondering, could you do a 'kid friendly' introduction to the classics? Or just amazing literature for young people, but nothing too scary or with more adult themes as he doesn't like that. Or if you already have something like this... just point me in that direction... thanks so much!!
This was pure poetry!!! I encourage all non-fiction readers to watch this.
Thank you Lucy, I'm pleased that you enjoyed it.
Reading fiction is pointless....
Listing to music is pointless....
Dreaming is pointless....
Love is pointless....
We are not robots, our souls are fed, and our lives are enriched by the arts.
“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. So do it.” - Kurt Vonnegut.
Spot on.
Well said!
Thank you for this! I seriously going to start painting again. I just screenshot your comment to keep me inspired. Very appreciated! 🙏🏻✌🏻💙
very poor comparison dude...fiction in book form is not as important as the others or necessary to "feed the shou" (god thats sounds bad on so many levels as well....
I noticed my personality is changing due to reading literature. After reading Les Mis I all of the sudden started giving money to homeless people instead of judging them. When reading Tolstoy I learned about power. After reading Nietsche I noticed I was less susceptible to argumentation. After reading Oscar Wilde I fell in love with poetry and language in itself. When reading Melville I was stunned with the beauty of sentences. From reading Kafka I learned to not trust the system blindly. When reading Elsschot I learned the simplicity of life…
Les Mis changed me. I love that book.
aww that's some good reflections, may I know what your favorite books are? you seem to have good taste :))
Hemingway made me a more quiet person.
you sounds like u truly have read those books unlike most commentors who just say i enjoy/love that book, it's fantastic, i read abc, etc without adding anything much. i screenshot your comment to check them out.
WoW, your comment IS pure poetry itself. Certainly, Literature affects our brain in many ways. Reading is a source of learning and pleasure. I read every day. If, for whatevever reasons I cannot do It, I don't feel like myself. Books are my paradise📚❤
Kazuo Ishiguro once left this profound words in the interview-
"I’m not an essayist, I’m not a historian, I write fiction, which means I’m trying to connect with people through feelings.”
are u sure u have read his books? i cant understand why the western world is obsessed with this rubbish writer. there are lot of better books to fill up our short life.
@GuacamoleyNacho is that the author who wrote Remains of the Day that's an awesome book. Are you perhaps thinking of Haruki murakami
@@AnthonyGargini what u think of murakami? U like him too? I wrote many comments on Japanese authors particularly these few whom the western world exalted above their rubbish writing on youtube related to their books. Sadly none of my friends read so I cannot find anybody to discuss. I tell them the funny weird fetish of most Japanese writers, weird as in disgusting. Wasted my time reading them years ago and I stopped.
@GuacamoleyNacho I don't have an opinion on Murakami. I've only read a few pages of his. But Kazuo Ishiguro is a different person and there's nothing particularly Japanese about Remains of the Day. It's a british novel
Reading Historical fiction lets me experience a place and time I would not able to know and feel except through the wonders of reading.
When my kids were little I read to them as much as I could. I always told them, “ you can go anywhere if you have a book” . The library is a big part of our lives and I took them weekly to find treasures. Miss those times
My fav time with my boys is bed time stories. such a bonding time, they race to bed to sleep next me. we found a happy medium though i sleep in the middle and each one of them by side lol
As readers of fiction we recognize the humanity in the character. This is pure gold, the heart of what it means to be a person educated in the humanities. Many thanks!
For me, fiction very often leads me directly to non-fiction. I read lots of historical fiction, and often get so interested in the topic, person or era that I immediately then seek out non-fiction on the same subject. For me, the combination of the two is really important. They are completely interlinked. Companion-reading fiction and non-fiction is one of my favourite things.
There are a million good and wholesome reasons to read the classics, and I'm all for them. But the most important reason by far is simple pleasure. Reading for pleasure adds enormous quality and depth to our lives.
I discovered Hardy in college and immediately devoured every one of his books that I could get my hands on whenever I could find the time, usually during the breaks between terms as a reward for getting through another term.
As a single mother with rambunctious school-aged children, I spent a lot of time in parks letting them blow off steam and trying to reduce my personal stress level. After being exposed to the writings of Thomas Hardy I began to actively notice and appreciate the beauty of the scenery and complexity of nature but also the beauty and complexity of the other people in the park as they interacted with one another or walked alone. I was usually trying to study while my children played but would find myself looking up from my textbooks, distracted by all the things I had never really noticed before and just enjoying the peace and joy of being present at that moment, in that place and that time.
I've never forgotten an incident from more than 50 years ago, when my cousin asked me what I was reading. "The Picture of Dorian Gray," I said. I'm not sure he'd ever heard of it, but he knew it was fiction. He condescendingly encouraged me to do what he did: stick to non-fiction only. "Truth!" he said. I knew he was wrong, but I didn't know how to make my case (I was only 16 or 17 at the time). If anyone said that to me today, I'd laugh. There's more truth in a piece of fiction written by an artist than there can possibly be in the most thoroughly researched history written by the most erudite historian who ever lived. Fiction is concerned with internal truth, the ways and whys of human behavior. We can all recognize it as "true" in the only sense that counts.
This was a lovely presentation. Thank you.
I actually started that book today!😊
I just bought my Penguin Clothbound edition today!! Thank you, I am really excited to finally read it. :)
As a broad generalization:
* Non-fiction (such as science) teaches us how to live.
* Fiction (such as classic literature) teaches us why life is worth living.
😊
The irony is that Wilde would disagree with you. At least that it’s not the *purpose* of art to be anything other than beautiful
'You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was Dostoevsky and Dickens who taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who ever had been alive. Only if we face these open wounds in ourselves can we understand them in other people. An artist is a sort of emotional or spiritual historian. His role is to make you realize the doom and glory of knowing who you are and what you are. He has to tell, because nobody else can tell, what it is like to be alive.' - James Baldwin
I NEVER leave comments, but this reasoning was outstanding and just had to let you know how much I appreciated it!!!
Thank you, Jacqueline, I truly appreciate. And your comment is so helpful to the video too. I hope you have a wonderful day 😀
Excellent! Over the years I've tried to explain the benefits of reading fiction to "nonbelievers", but all my efforts pale in comparison to this video. You certainly have a gift!
Fiction is where the magic of life truly resides 📚💫
if u have no life in reality maybe....
Hilarious!@@snxjsnsnjsiwnsjsosjsmmemsjsn
My young son's language usage and understanding came on leaps and bounds when he started reading fection for himself, for pleasure, around age 11. I noticed it also helped develop his empathy and ability to imagine other people's lives beyond his own.
My sons are age 12 and 10. While they do like bed stories, i feel like video games are slowly taking over. I have to find ways to make them interested in reading again.
Same can be said about certain cinematic films. Good Art bypasses the technical mind brain, and goes straight to the heart brain.
Umberto Eco was once asked to explain why folk should bother to read at all. He explained that if you read zero books in your entire life, you've only lived one lifetime, but if you've read thousands of books, you've lived a thousand different lives. Like Hope, who ambivalently hovers and quivers in Pandora's jar, I ask you---is this is a curse or a blessing?
I find that great fiction allows me to better understand people and myself. But it also somehow allows me to connect with more people with a sense of understanding. The same goes for gaining a nuanced understanding of interesting ideas and emotions. It has also opened me to the sheer beauty of the written word. Some writing is simply breathtaking, and I have to put down the book and marvel. It gives me fleeting contact with what’s great in life. And for those who insist on non-fiction - please realize that becoming a clear reader is really being a clear thinker. And developing clear thinking is not time wasting fluff.
That is excellently expressed, Darren.
You sir have one of the most underrated Book Channels on RUclips. Thank you for the content and I hope you continue doing this great work.
The power of an excellent fiction is to transfer the feelings of the author through his chosen words. And the reader becomes The Observer being on the 'opposite' side.
I loved your video 😊 thank you❤
That is well, and succinctly, put.😀❤️
The quality of your teaching is just astounding
I read the return of the native for the first time last year. I ended up reading it twice it was so enjoyable. Your reading just inspired me to read it again! Alan Rickman has a wonderful audio version on audible i cant recommend enough
Thank you for letting us know about the audio version! I love Alan Rickman.
Wow. Having spent my working life in technical translation, and having now all the time in the world to appreciate literature, I couldn’t agree more.
This is your best video yet! As we say here in the US, you knocked this one out of the ballpark!
Read something this AM directly after listening to this brilliant instruction!
“Rarely does a man move beyond an abecedarian ignorance that precedes knowledge, and a doctoral ignorance that comes after it. “. 🤯
Michel de Montaigne
Ouch, that is dynamite! Thanks for sharing that aphorism.
This guy is a priceless delight.
Watching your videos is like taking a college course for free… I’m loving this
Glad you enjoy it!
I pretty much felt that way, read mostly nonfiction but now a tad more fiction than not. I found out late in life that really they complement each other. 📖
What a great explanation. There are so many benefits to reading fiction but this really gets to the heart of it.
Stories have been been part of the human experience for longer than almost anything else. We used them to understand the world around us before we learned how to view things through a scientific lens, we used them to relate to our fellow human beings, we used them to express the complicated emotions of the human condition. Fiction builds curiosity, understanding, and empathy. Fiction is an essential part of being human.
Thank you for this lovely meditation. Yes, the poet, whether in poems or in fiction, notices to notice.
All this reminded me of the tale "To build a fire" which effectively expresses the terror of freezing to death, the infinite frustration of not being able to do anything about it. It's a very short story but has immense impact.
I strongly recommend it.
Thank you for this excellent video. I always feel like you are clothing my thoughts in words I would never have found myself.
Brilliant Tristan, just brilliant. I’m new to the classic other than good children’s literature because I was raised in a religion that forbid fiction because it was a lie-- I never learned how to read fiction because of it. I have extensively enjoyed and learned the other great arts-music, dance, fine art, opera but knew nothing of literature. Thanks to you and Ben McEvoy I have a new and beautiful world opened to me. I now have my husband and daughter joining me in my quest for beauty and truth through language. Every evening my husband and I listen/read a great book together rather than watch tv and are loving it. Thank you for articulating so well the power of great minds and great language.
Oh, that is so lovely!
Dear Tristan
This is an amazing contribution!
A must-watch for any kind of reader.
I‘m baffled at how you so easily and naturally transmit these highly complex ideas. This is proof of your mastery of not ownly knowing but also understanding.
This could have easily been a lecture at university.
Thank you so much. You are very kind 😇
I actually feel the way described in the case of recent novels. Too many classics not read yet to faff about. I'm never disappointed by classic literature.
When people ask me, what kind of fiction I like to read, I always tell them: 'I don't really care what a book is about, as long as it's really well written'. This is exactly why.
And yes, a good story and interesting characters are also important...but it's always the descriptions and little observations that really draw me in. That make it such a joy and so utterly satisfying, to immerse myself in a book.
You know what? Miss Trotwood in David copperfield has always been a rôle model for me. She exemplifies what a woman should be. She is strong, yet open-minded , she is able to evolve, she takes no heed of what other people might think of her. She is determined yet kind-hearted, she is faithful and funny😊. She does not interfere with David ’s life even if she realises his first marriage is probably not a good one and she remains optimistic even in dire circumstances, she is able to forgive the man who broke her heart and ruined her when she was a young woman and she visits him on his death bed. She is also resourceful and never complains😊 Thank you Mr Dickens 😅
I remember reading the woodlanders in bed 30 years ago. I was mesmerized, i would re read paragraphs over and over to soak in the joy. He wrote this sentence that blew me away "THERE IS NO GREATER DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANY TWO MEN, THAN ONE MAN AND HIS MOODS "
Another extremely powerful and useful presentation! Your productions sincerely make an impact. Thank you for your exceptional work.
Tristan I started watching your videos in Sept 2023 and having always read non fiction, you opened my eyes to the potential delights of fiction. Through your recommendations I have discovered some fabulous novels that I would doubtful had chosen myself. The Painted Veil, David Copperfield, Diary of a Nobody , House of the Dead, Madame Bouvary and Our Mutual Friend. Some hits and some misses but all interesting to interact with so thank you 😊
Great video and agree with every word! Nevertheless, I'm a voracious reader who tends to prefer nonfiction (history, biography, books on religion, science and philosophy) to fiction. A big part of the reason, I think, is that with nonfiction you know what you're getting before you even open the book - say, a biography of a famous historical personage whom you're already interested in - and even if the book isn't great, you've learned something while reading it. Whereas with fiction, particularly contemporary fiction, you don't know what you're getting until you start reading and, sad to say, at least two out of three times I find it hard to finish what I started and I feel as if I've wasted my time. When, however, I do find a work of fiction that I like, it is often a truly transcendent experience; hence the reason why I keep buying fiction!
Glorious!
I'm pleased that you enjoyed it ☺️
If anyone ever said anything like that to me I would tell them that they need to ask the Wizard of Oz for a brain.😂
I enjoy reading the classics and gift people fiction books all the time-fiction is beneficial to me especially when life gets a bit sticky and difficult-it’s my favorite temporary escape.
As a beginner in reading, your videos keep me want to read more and explore the world of literature. Thank you for all of your passion, effort, and time into making these informative, entertaining videos 🤍
You have inspired me so greatly to pick up reading again for myself. I had given up personal reading after having children 10 years ago. But, it's time to reignite my brain. Thank you for sharing your passion.
Great video! I love reading fiction and nonfiction. Not long ago, I decided to challenge myself by reading Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov." And what an experience it was! I learned so much about how different people perceive the world and their interactions with it and each other. When I finished it, I picked up "The Idiot." Again, I was floored by what I learned about the human condition and the ways different people respond to it. Then, I tackled "Crime and Punishment." Such an intense character study. and eminently accessible. Then came "Fathers and Sons" by Turgenev. One book that I feel may be my favorite is "Of Human Bondage" by Somerset Maugham (an English diversion from the Russian authors). The life journey of Philip Carey that Maugham paints is breathtaking in scope. These are all very large volumes, and at first, I admit to having been intimidated. But once I finished "Brothers", the rest were just as much of a joy. These books are not easy reads and the names take getting used to, but once you are familiar with Russian naming conventions, it's easier. From each of these books, I came away with an appreciation for other people's viewpoints and the culture that was the background for the stories. I can't wait to read more and discover more about the similarities that tie us together, no matter the time and place.
I am reading The Brothers Karamazov for the very first time. I'm only on the first chapter, so I'm barely getting started. It's intimidating, that's for sure!
Excellent video, Tristan. I believe that If you don’t like fiction, you don’t like people.
‘Fiction gets in’ ❤
A fantastic video Tristan, beautifully expressed.
Yes, non fiction is instruction but fiction takes the experience of being human and holds it up and turns it around in the light. ❤
Wonderful video. I have always been a modern fantasy or YA reader and was in a major reading slump - until I happened across a copy of Grapes of Wrath in a local free library. I'm 100 pages in and it's reinvigorated my love for reading again and given me a lot of perspective on what I view as 'major problems' in my life. The beauty of the writing is like a breath of fresh air and the plotlines are timeless - even if I don't get all the references. I've got my eye on many more classics now. x
This is the best video I have ever watched on reading and how it truly permeates our being. Brilliant!
I am almost 75 and have loved fiction all my life. I am also a psychiatrist and the best and truest psychology and workings of the human mind and heart are to be found in fiction. You have surpassed yourself in this video, Tristan, showing us the magic, truth, and delight of fiction. 🩷
This is a really thought provoking video. In my eyes both fiction and non fiction have their place in the arts in my eyes. Fiction helps you mold a universe out of your own mind with its own sets and preceptions of the created reality for that world.
While non fiction helps developing skills or help us figure out more about historical events and so on.
Great video as always 🙂❤📚
Marvelous. Great examples to prove your point. Thanks, Tristan.
Thank you Tristan. I have really enjoyed this and see my reading time as important personal development. Thanks to you, I am finding so much in classical literature, it has enriched my life.
Loved this. My reading mix is about 10% non-fiction /90% fiction. I have learned so much over the years from fiction. I've learned a lot about myself and about other people. I'm reminded of the universality of the human experience when I'm reading a fiction book. Fiction books have gotten me through some difficult times and have made me an overall well-rounded human.
Non-fiction books are great too, but honestly, I've gained so much more from fiction over the years.
I'm always happy to see you content pop up on my feed💕 You make me think in ways I had not thought before. Thank you!
Yes, I know some of your ideas from before. Love the one that says how fiction can take you to experience different times and situations. Read almost all of my life. And somehow, it connects me to the universe.
Here's a simple way to remember the difference between the two:
Fiction is based on truth, and truth doesn't change.
Nonfiction is based on facts, which change all the time.
Most facts don't change
This video is so important. Thanks for doing it, Tristan!
Tristan, you are a romantic and a poet. Your talk makes me want to sit outside under a tree on this lovely spring day and read a classic. Love you!
I'm so glad I stumbled on this channel. Thank you!
Wow! What a dazzling eye- opener on the Fire paragraph of Hardy. So beautiful and So under- appreciated when I was a teen!!
Tristan, you are such a joy! I love the way you talk about fiction. Do keep uploading more videos more often. Thank you!
You are preaching to the choir with me, but I could listen to you talk about fiction all day! I especially loved the metaphors you used- with the cannons... and the droplet. Just lovely. Thanks for so much quality content and for sharing your thoughts, Tristan.
Well done! Thanks for the video.
This presentation is spot-on and I enjoyed it immensely! ❤
Thanks for giving suggestions of Georgette Heyer. I read Faro's Daughter and was very amused. Can't remember a book that I read smiling so much to myself. Also read Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell, another good book.
That's great. It's a delight to find a book you can fall into. Have you ever read, A Month In The Country? One of the most beautiful stories in my opinion.
Excellent! Thanks so much, this was one of your best.
Tristan, this is your best video yet-and one of the best I’ve ever seen. Thank you, you’ve helped express what I’ve been feeling.
Some stray thoughts-
Literature, feeding the soul, the written word,
The importance of my morning reflections,
Robinson Crusoe - how he yearned to find a way to write, to take down his thoughts
not auditory, not movies, not thoughts in the mind,
there to see, devour, drink, eat, nourish
Connected to our times and its loss of religion,
that no one reads anymore
This is VERY connected
You touched my heart and you inspired me. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and love to literature. ❤
Brilliant argument! Thanks Tristan.👏🏼👏🏼🇧🇷
So glad you talked about Sherlocke.....one of my favorites! You make some good arguments for reading fiction; particularly the classics.
Дуже цікаве та пізнавальне відео, дякую!
Well said. Thank you for the video.
Your explanation is absolutely brilliant. I read a lot of non fiction until one day I read a biography by either CS Lewis or Tolkien (I can't remember who it was) that there is more truth in fiction than non fiction...I started reading the Classics .. the great fiction books and that was it for me...I was Hooked....I might sneak in the ODD non fiction but very rare.
Brilliant video! Excellent exposition and choice of pieces.
What a charming video! You are a big fan of literature and the fascinating method of talking about it affects us, and what an awesome pronunciation! Where are you from? I am fond of your reading asking you more reading every video. Thank you for this wonderful time.
Have learned relevant stuff from a few over the last year or so. Nineteen eighty-four, crime and punishment, devils, even gleaning useful points from atlas shrugged. I’ve been surprised how topical old books can be.
Beautifully said. Great video I'll be sharing this one.
That was superb Tristan, thank you. To read and live through a good book is one of the great joys of life. Imagining where you are, who you are with, the progression of their lives all as clearly as if you were there with them. I loved your examples. Thomas Hardy is a great favourite (sometimes the greatest), I can really immerse my life with the landscapes and people in his books, empathise with every emotion, enjoy every scene. A good fiction book is inhabiting a "real" world with "real" people. The trouble is finishing them, leaving that world and it's inhabitants behind; where does one go next?
I think you've got such a fire burning in you while you express your appreciation of the literature. And you're able to give it to us. Thanks.
P.S. I love your English:)
Always look forward to your videos Tristan. You do a great job! Since retiring two years ago, I've made it a point to develop my library so it's packed with all the greatest of the classics. I read every day, and some of my favorite authors are Dickens (not saying much), Thomas Hardy, and George Elliot. I wanted also to mention that I just bought "Three Men And A Boat" off of Ebay, and look forward to receiving it, as you've mentioned it so many times in your videos. I'll let you know after I've read it my thoughts. Lastly, I've found your analysis of many classics as much deeper and collegiate than many other BookTubers vid's. I appreciate this as I was an English literature major in college way back when, and I miss the in-depth quality analysis you provide. Keep up the great work buddy! Sincerely, Jeff S.
Wow, this is so inspiring! Please keep up the good work and keep these videos coming. You do an amazing job.
Thanks, Darren.
So brilliant! 👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you so much. I truly appreciate it 🙏
I had a comcersatiom about this topic the other day. And we made a lot of the same points.
If I'm reading a book and theres a description of an actual weapon or a car, that description teaches me something.
Also, if the setting is frontier life, I pick up little details about that time period and learn more about what life was like in that time leriod.
And that's to say nothing about historical fiction where the setting may be a war or the black death.
Thank you for your video, greatly appreciated 🎉
Woah. Some of Tristan’s videos are just pure genius!
Thank you, Ed. I'm pleased that you enjoyed it ☺️
Thought-provoking, thank you. You do a nice job of articulating subtle points. As a lifelong reader of mostly non-fiction, I'm trying to add more fiction to my plate. I had a few thoughts as you spoke:
1. I find that I can't "get into" certain genres of fiction -- fantasy, science fiction, and horror for instance. I always end up thinking, "Why am I bothering with this? It's just a made-up story about an imaginary world the author invented." I prefer fiction that is more reality-based (e.g., historical fiction or at least something set in the real world).
2. If you asked me what the main thing I get out of reading fiction, it's this -- I get to experience, from the comfort of my armchair, other people's lives, other experiences, other cultures, other times that I cannot experience otherwise. Example: I recently finished All Quiet on the Western Front. I got to experience -- albeit vicariously and from a position of safety -- what it was like to be a soldier in the trenches of WWI. The horror and the fear of that, the petty power plays, the starvation, the death of your friends, the attempt to return to 'normal' life, all of it. I have never been to war and never want to, but I was able to get a small sense of what it was like.
3. One of the purposes of fiction is just to entertain. I assume that the wealthy businessman who said he doesn't see the point in reading fiction watches movies or TV series. Same thing -- made-up stories.
4. Fiction has a special ability to get inside a character's head. I'm interested in people's inner lives. Those can be hard to see -- all we get is the facade, mostly, the image people present of themselves. Movies can portray characters, but it's still from the outside looking in, from an external perspective. Fiction is different. With fiction, you can hear about what a character is really thinking and feeling, from the inside. You get to know their inner world. I love that part of fiction -- getting to know people I would have never met otherwise, and getting to know them on the inside.
Tristan offers an interesting recurring experience where I will look at the video title and think "Well man, you're going to be preaching to the choir, but let's hear it," and then I have to pause the video several times to soak in truths that would have taken lifetimes to ever cross my mind had it not been for the collective human wisdom locked away in literature
Very moving.
I believed this for years purely based on idea that if I wanted escapism, I would watch a movie, and if I was going to read a book, I needed to learn something. Fast forward to the present, and all I read is fiction. I was offered the book tender is the flesh by Augustina, and after completing that there was no turning back.
Very well said! I really enjoy all your videos!
So well said, thank you!
What a beautiful video. Thank you for addressing this topic as I hear this all the time!
Some other thoughts I'd like to add are:
Everything non-fiction - math, science, engineering, architecture, etc began in someone's imagination. The "idea" or observation or design all stem from the imagination as well. So it is no more worthy than fiction.
Most non-fiction is frozen in a moment of time. It represents the ideas at the time it was written, and ideas are ever-changing. Most non-fiction written today will be irrelevant in 100 years. Yet The Odyssey and The Mahabarata are still widely read and loved.
Lastly, when I read quality fiction, it's a sort of meditation. It absorbs my attention in a way that non-fiction never has. For example, the moment in David Copperfield when David slaps Uriah Heep, they stand motionless and the hand print on his face goes from white to red. That will stay with me forever.
I agree. David Copperfield is a favorite of mine. So many great characters, and each one, a reminder of someone of our acquaintance in modern time. Aunt Betsy, tells David multiple times of things his sister Betsy Trotwood, would have, or would not have, said or done. Hilarious!
@@cherylsykes660 she was so disappointed in his sister. 😂
Loved this video❤
On average, for every 7 books of fiction I read a non-fiction book.
Medical books had me trapped for nearly a decade....ah, but end of terms meant fiction 😊
Now I read more fiction, the rest are biographys/autobiographies, historical events on and on and it really helps to broaden the mind. For example, are you interested in films ? Well, there are so many books about films, directors,actors etc....any subject , to my way of thinking, is interwoven with all subjects however implausible it may sound.
When I say "I love books" I mean books and do not like to categorize because all subjects help are useful to each other. Wide selection is better than narrow selection and great needs no explanation.
This was so beautiful, thank you!
I have just discovered your channel, and I'm in. Subscribed! I have a 10 year old boy speed reader who is veracious for books. He reads science textbooks, he knocks over the popular 'literature' for his age in 30mins. I grew up a scientist who was never introduced to the classics (Although we did do Old man and the Sea at high school and I just watched your video - where to start with the classics)... so I am wondering, could you do a 'kid friendly' introduction to the classics? Or just amazing literature for young people, but nothing too scary or with more adult themes as he doesn't like that. Or if you already have something like this... just point me in that direction... thanks so much!!