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Fiction versus Nonfiction


Pramana

Fiction versus Nonfiction  

78 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you prefer to read fiction or nonfiction?

    • Fiction
      56
    • Nonfiction
      22

This poll is closed to new votes


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I've realized that my reading list tilts heavily towards nonfiction (should make a point to add more fiction). In the meantime, here's a thread to discuss the relative merits of fiction versus nonfiction books, and also feel free to add your thoughts on movies versus documentaries.

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I find it difficult to get into fiction unless it's a novelization of a TV or Film that I enjoy ... something where I'm already invested in the characters.

 

I prefer non-fiction (memoir, creative non-fiction) - because I like the information in them.

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Always been a fan of fiction. Non-fiction can be interesting, but it depends on the subject. I'm not so often interested in people, more along the lines of history and information.

 

Fiction has always invested me more. It's special to read through a setting generated entirely from somebody's mind. And I think fiction provides more grounds for thought to experiment with concepts and ideas that you wouldn't normally be privy to finding in non-fiction.

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Alejandrogynous

On the whole I read more fiction than non, but not exclusively. When I do pick up nonfiction, it's usually a memoir or biography. I do really enjoy the grey area in between though, those 'half fiction, half truth' works like The Bell Jar and the writing of the Beats. Semi-fiction, fictionalized nonfiction, whatever you want to call it.

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-----------------

While I prefer fiction, I do like non-fiction. It's because I like learning random things, especially about science and biology.

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I read mostly comic books and sci-fi/fantasy novels, so, unless There are people who run around in spandex bat-suits fighting clowns, hyenas, scientists, plants, etc. Then I've got to go with fiction

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4 minutes ago, A.R.B. said:

 so, unless There are people who run around in spandex bat-suits fighting clowns, hyenas, scientists, plants, etc. Then I've got to go with fiction

Lmao this just made my night 😂💡

i understand this greatly. 

 

I think any book is a beautiful and a powerful thing. Fiction helps foster creativity or relieve stress from home life for me. In middle & hs i was a fiction book junkie. They were my friends and company & just a sure fire way to find peace in an environment that was always filled with chaos. 

Like if your parents are going at it for hours screaming and you can put headphones on and read and enter a world of flying dragons or crazy cool magic?!? Why the hell not? Lmao

 

once I hit college though I realized the necessity of non fiction books. They literally contain evidence of different situations or knowledge or mistakes in history that should not be forgotten for fear of repeating again in future. It’s a tool to help me learn all the random hobbies I wish to master like book binding or Bruce lee’s Book on Jeet Kune Do 💡 but also if you think about it even if a people or person have been through oppression or cruelty a book left behind is their legacy and medium through which they can have their voice heard & story told.

 

same goes for movies (creativity) 

documentary (instructional almost? Lol idek)

 

What these four have in common? The ability to widen the sight and mind of the person watching or reading. They have the ability to inspire personal growth.

 

🤔 talking too much :ph34r:

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I prefer fiction, but I've been favoring literary fiction lately, and I have a hard time getting into sci-fi/fantasy.

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I used to absolutely love fiction, but lately I've been bored with it. Recently I've been shifting towards nonfiction, which I find to be incredibly boring unless it's a topic you're interested in, than it can be endlessly fascinating :)

I'm super fascinated by sexuality, nature and politics, so I enjoy reading those books more and more these days. I also really like reading biographies lately, especially political ones, some have been boring but others are surprisingly funny and witty and I feel smarter reading them :D

 

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I guess I don't have a definitive preference. I read my fair share of both. Fiction's more therapeutic, but I read nonfiction for its informativeness. 

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Both

I don't know percentage-wise which I read more, but I like to read sci-fi, fantasy, mysteries, humorous fiction, etc., and also science, history, biographies, etymology and language, etc. I also like to read books about things like art and various crafts (including art history, as well as books about how to do stuff).

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Probably fiction for me -- I like adventure type stories and they can be difficult to find in nonfiction. I do enjoy nonfiction occasionally for learning purposes, especially science and art/crafts (basically just edible and non edible chemistry honestly :D ). 

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My day tendency is to read fiction over non-fiction. So far this year, all 14 books I have finished have been non-fiction.

 

Of the 50 books I read last year, 46 of them were fiction.

 

I think a change was in my mid 20s to change to more fiction than non-fiction.

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Non-fiction all the way

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It's pretty much a 50/50 split for me :P the poll will only let me choose one option though so I didn't vote!!

 

I only read non-fiction these days, but I listen to fiction generally a minimum of four hours a day, often up to 10 hours or even more depending on how many tasks I have to do that don't involve thinking (I listen while cooking, cleaning, drawing, walking etc).

 

I'm reading Rick Strassman's DMT: The Spirit Molecule, and a memoir called Cellar Girl which I'll use for my next article, usually have a few non-fiction things on the go at once. But for audiobooks I just finished Michael Chrichton's Andromeda Strain (loved it!) and am just starting another one of his called Timeline. I read/listen to an even amount of fiction vs nonfiction I guess, and enjoy them both equally but for very different reasons (though I can usually make money in some way or another from the info I learn in nonfiction, whereas fiction is purely pleasure - I enjoy them both equally though).

 

14 hours ago, Pramana said:

and also feel free to add your thoughts on movies versus documentaries.

It's actually pretty much the same case for me when it comes to movies vs documentaries. For work I've been spam watching episodes of I Shouldn't Be Alive to find some of the more obscure (and epic) survival stories, I usually have a few documentaries on the go during work hours specifically for moneys. However at night before sleep (or before sunrise depending on when I get up) I like to watch a bit of a movie or TV series and just make my way through slowly like that. Currently watching a movie called You Were Never Really Here, only halfway through (hoping to finish tonight) but it's sooo good so far. Last week I watched Annihilation and loved that one as well - been a while since there were some good movies out!

 

 

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I read just as much of one as the other, so your methodology is flawed! Trying to start dissent in the Readers huh? Well sir I won't stand for this! 😁😁😁 I'm just messing with you! I'm a to each their own kind of guy, so you know.

Anyways I enjoy Gothic fiction especially from the period between 1750 to about 1820, the first wave of Gothic. Then I like weird fiction, Lovecraft and his cabal, and recently been hitting the Jeff Vandermeer and Adam L.G. Nevil real hard. If you like strange or weird mixed in with your horror they are the dudes who deliver in spades. I also like some fantasy, but mostly writers who have been forgotten or considered minors in the canon, especially Mervyn Peake and his ( and his wife's) Gormenghast quadrilogy. 

In nonfiction I've always been a philosophy guy, and I'm a big fan of the Scottish Enlightenment, especially David Hume. I'm also a fan of Existential philosophy, Heidegger, DeBeauvoir, Sartre, and Camus in particular with a healthy dose of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard to spice things up. Then the small doses of technology studies, polisci, and biology thrown in for good measure. I guess you could say I'm a generalist rather than a specialist when it comes to reading. 

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I like both. But I'll only be interested in nonfiction if it's about a subject I'm interested in. My fiction interests are broader.

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Really depends on my mood. I read a lot of fiction, but if there's a nonfiction subject that catches my attention, I will read/listen to it. For instance, right now I'm listening to a series of lectures by Prof. Michael Drout called The Norsemen: Understanding the Vikings and Their Culture. Earlier this year I listened to a lecture series on the Celts. I've also read a lot of fiction featuring both of these cultures, but I also enjoy SF, Fantasy, Mystery, hybrid Romance (mixed with all of the above), the occasional Horror, UFOlogy, Urban Legends, etc. My interest shift as the year goes on.

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3 hours ago, ABryonJ.maybe said:

I read just as much of one as the other, so your methodology is flawed!

I know you're joking, but I did not vote in the poll because my choice is both. :P

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1 minute ago, ABryonJ.maybe said:

@daveb they need an all of the above! Heck,I think I even enjoy reading the ingredients and health info. on food packaging really.

In a pinch I would read the back of the cereal box. :P

(and the sides)

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Just now, daveb said:

In a pinch I would read the back of the cereal box. :P

(and the sides)

If you get Capt. Crunch they usually have a find the hidden items puzzle! 

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I used to get in trouble in primary school for only reading non-fiction books. Now most of the reading I do revolves around learning new things rather than fictional stories.

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everywhere and nowhere

I also tend to read mostly non-fiction. A list of the books I've read this year... Note: generally I read in four languages at least: Polish, English, German and Ukrainian... however, accidentally, all full books I've read this year so far were in Polish. Some are translations, in these cases I give original titles, some were either never translated into English or I don't know the official Englich title, then I translate them myself without keeping the English rule of using capitalization in titles.

 

1. "Freedom Climbers", Bernadette Mc Donald - non-fiction; story of famous Polish mountain climbers.

2. "All You Need is Love: scenes from the life of the counterculture", Jerzy Jarniewicz - non-fiction; about the 60s counterculture.

3. "The Underground Railroad", Colson Whitehead - novel.

4. "Poland is really such a dump: why do Polish people dislike Poland and their compatriots so much", Adam Leszczyński - non-fiction; a popular-scientific book from the area of social psychology about Polish self-stereotype.

5. "Paint means blood", Zenon Krzuszyński - non-fiction; a book by a former hunter turned eco-activist.

6. "Leave no traces: the case of Grzegorz Przemyk", Cezary Łazarewicz - non-fiction; recount of the case of a 19-year-old boy beaten to death by the militia, probably as retaliation for his mother's activity in the opposition.

7. "The generals", Juliusz Ćwieluch - non-fiction; interviews with generals who were silently forced to retire from the Polish army by the defence minister.

8. "Celibacy: stories of love and desire", Marcin Wójcik - non-fiction; reportage about celibacy in the Catholic church.

9. "Patriot of the Universe", Karol Sienkiewicz - non-fiction; biography of the Polish artist Paweł Althamer.

10. "I'll return as thunder: short story of the Wild West", Maciej Jarkowiec - non-fiction; about Natie American history and activism.

11. "Tao: on the Road and on the Run in Outlaw China" - Aya Goda - novel (though, it seems, based on real events).

Currently reading:

12. "Spiritual life of animals", Peter Wohlleben - non-fiction; popular-scientific book about how animals seem to be capable of a lot of feelings some human selfishly consider unique to themselves.

In the queue:

13. "Volunteers", Irena Karpa - non-fiction; about Ukrainian writers active in helping their country during the war with Russia.

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2 hours ago, Kazka said:

I used to get in trouble in primary school for only reading non-fiction books. Now most of the reading I do revolves around learning new things rather than fictional stories.

Although I think learning and fiction are not exclusive qualities.  Some novels can interest the reader to find out more about things mentioned in the novel I.e. human acts by han kang encouraged me to look into the military dictatorship in south korea , burnt out town of miracles by Roy Jacobsen interested me in the winter war between USSR and Finland, Judas by Amos oz both dealt with Jewish views towards Jesus and formation of Israel.

 

When reading Yugoslavia, my fatherland, I had an atlas poised to look at on the map the places the main character ventured in search for his father.

 

It is a success for an author where their books elicit the response that a reader wants to find out more on the background of the subject

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I'm pretty much a 50/50 split, although I don't read as much since I joined AVEN :rolleyes:

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15 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

I'm pretty much a 50/50 split, although I don't read as much since I joined AVEN :rolleyes:

One would almost think that AVEN is a bad influence.

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@Pramana, the time to make all these posts has to come from somewhere :P:P

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WinterWanderer

It's hard for me to vote for one of them over the other. They are entirely different realms to me, and I like them for different reasons.

 

I escape into fiction to get away from the real world. But I delve into nonfiction to discover the secrets that the world has to offer.

 

Fiction, specifically fantasy, is my escape. I grew up with it as my anchor. When I felt trapped or broken or alone, I turned to books (and movies) to remind myself that hope and friendship can still prevail.

 

Meanwhile, nonfiction is something I explore out of curiosity. Especially since I got into the medical research field, I've started reading research articles for fun. And I have a soft spot for articles, books, documentaries, etc. about chemistry, nature, and history too.

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