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Is this claim based on anything other than your personal feeling? And your thought that "fiction is overrated" is little more than your highly subjective opinion. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it shouldn't be expressed as if you've discovered some truth.
I didn't expect everyone to agree. And how can a "rating" be anything but personal opinion?
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Originally Posted by MinivanDriver
I've read a lot of incredibly absorbing, interesting fiction. What's the actual point of this thread?
To discuss the pros and cons and support or attack my thesis that fiction is overrated. I'm curious what people get out of it and where they get it. Although I haven't read a lot of great fiction, I have read some and I do like short stories because they are short. But I usually start a novel and quit within 50 pages. Which is why I prefer short stories.
OP has an opinion. So what? I like some fiction but not several of the popular genres. I worked in criminal justice for decades so the reality of crime and punishment is beyond the scope of popular fiction. Other fictional efforts in fantasy or science fiction don't interest me much. I don't write fiction, generally, but have experimented with it and it is more work than I like. I enjoy the research and problem solving for non-fiction.
Is this claim based on anything other than your personal feeling? And your thought that "fiction is overrated" is little more than your highly subjective opinion. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it shouldn't be expressed as if you've discovered some truth.
The inability to distinguish between subjective preference and objective fact is common. And there are a lot of people who have this neediness wherein they need to be reassured that what they like is, in fact, an expression of what is correct.
I read more non-fiction than fiction as well. But I'm not so self-absorbed that I think others are 'overrating' fiction if that is their preferred reading. They can only be 'overrating' it if my personal rating is some sort of universal gold standard. And it's not. Nor is anyone else's.
Most of it is boring and gives me little reason to care. Especially "based on a true story fiction", which most of it is. I'd much prefer to read the true story.And even more especially novels that run well beyond 200 pages. Really? Who cares? People revere novelists like they are almost gods. Me, why should I care enough to read more than 20 pages about made up people? About the only fiction i like other than short stories is either weird enough to keep my attention, or is entertaining. All of my favorite writers wrote nonfiction and novels and without exception their nonfiction is superior.
Then isn't it just great that you have a choice!
Read what you like.
Gosh, you sound just like my dad, OP. He was a voracious reader of mostly history, never fiction. Like you, he couldn't understand why anyone would read about "made up" characters and events. He considered it an utter waste of time.
Becky, is that you? Actually that's not quite my position. History is dull. I don't care about made up people if they are supposed to be serious characters in a serious plot. Like I said though, if something weird or entertaining is going on then it might keep my attention. I loved science fiction when I was younger because it was all just fantasy. But made up people who are supposed to be telling me some universal truth or something meaningful...Hell I see that every day in real life. I don't need a fictional story to do that. Occasionally it works but it must be about 1 in 100.
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I prefer reading nonfiction, but I do really enjoy a good novel. The problem is th at it's hard to find a good novel. Most, like most movies, are pretty ho-hum, imo.
Right. Me too on both counts. Movies are overrated too. I never watch movies unless I'm at someone else's house and have no choice. Then I yawn my way through it.
Most of it is boring and gives me little reason to care. Especially "based on a true story fiction", which most of it is. I'd much prefer to read the true story.And even more especially novels that run well beyond 200 pages.
How do you feel about poetry? What about comedy? Have you considered changing your screen name to Joe Friday?
For the record I really used to enjoy me a good 500 page Tom Clancy thriller but I stopped reading them after 9/11 because it just was too close to real life and it wasn't fun anymore.
There is a lot of bad fiction out there, particularly since the self-publishing industry removed any barrier to entry. You might try reading some Pulitzer Prize or National Book Award winners before painting all fiction with the same overly broad brush (and as an added bonus, reading top-tier material will improve your own writing skills no matter what your chosen genre).
I think there are are some great fiction, both short and novels. There is great beauty in the plot, structure, characterization, language and the truth the work is delivering. The experience of reading fiction and non fiction however is not the same. After a while the attraction of being told a piece of fiction wears thin. There is just so much more to non fiction.
Of course both need to be well crafted.
I didn't expect everyone to agree. And how can a "rating" be anything but personal opinion?
To discuss the pros and cons and support or attack my thesis that fiction is overrated. I'm curious what people get out of it and where they get it. Although I haven't read a lot of great fiction, I have read some and I do like short stories because they are short. But I usually start a novel and quit within 50 pages. Which is why I prefer short stories.
I find you need to get past that 50 pages before the work settles in and gets absorbing.
OP has an opinion. So what? I like some fiction but not several of the popular genres. I worked in criminal justice for decades so the reality of crime and punishment is beyond the scope of popular fiction. Other fictional efforts in fantasy or science fiction don't interest me much. I don't write fiction, generally, but have experimented with it and it is more work than I like. I enjoy the research and problem solving for non-fiction.
[quote=jtab4994;61181087]How do you feel about poetry? What about comedy? [quote]
I have a shelf full of poetry, had one poem published, subscribe to Poem-a-Day, and I love comedy.
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Have you considered changing your screen name to Joe Friday?
was that comedy? It needs work...you need to research your subject some more.
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Actually that's not quite my position. History is dull. I don't care about made up people if they are supposed to be serious characters in a serious plot. Like I said though, if something weird or entertaining is going on then it might keep my attention. I loved science fiction when I was younger because it was all just fantasy. But made up people who are supposed to be telling me some universal truth or something meaningful...Hell I see that every day in real life. I don't need a fictional story to do that. Occasionally it works but it must be about 1 in 100. 
