Why Fiction Should Be Required Reading
There is at least one assignment to finish, exams are always around the corner – when you may ask are uni students supposed to read for pleasure? However you manage it; in the bath, just before bed, on the bus it doesn’t matter as long as you do squeeze it in. I love to read, in the holidays I can quite easily whiz through a good chick lit novel every couple of days but the minute I return to my uni city it grinds to an immediate halt.
I’ve realised that I shouldn’t let this happen, every book is an escape into another world it activates your imagination and stimulates your creativity. Reading as a past time is dying out among young adults and even more depressingly amongst children.
The getaway
Novels act as a portal into another time, place and experience. Your imagination is a powerful tool, but there’s no harm in using it to escape once in a while: everyone needs downtime. I’ve only recently got back into reading fiction (it is just after the holidays after all!), and started with The Picture of Dorian Gray. Bringing back memories of reading it when I was younger as well as making me want to read more varying novels, I’ve decided next I’m going to branch out into The Time Travellers Wife. There doesn’t need to be any pattern or logic to your pick of fiction it is simply a case of choosing whatever you fancy and enjoying it.
Knowledge gathering
The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries. Descartes
Despite reading fiction being a pleasurable fun activity the vocabulary and language structure you can gain subconsciously can benefit you throughout your life. With the plethora of electronic gadgets distracting people from reading the future is looking bleak for a wide and interesting vocabulary. There are various studies taking place that link reading to all sorts of benefits including better self-confidence, easier job obtaining and all sorts of unlikely things.
Whether these studies prove conclusive or not, there is one reason why you should turn off the TV for half an hour and lose yourself in a novel – it’s fun! This is one of the best ways to spend half an hour, I defy you to find anything better than sitting in front of a fire on a horrible winter day lost in a good book! Whenever you get the chance, try your hardest to read at least one book this holiday, be it in your lunch break, commute, or at home relaxing. Enjoy!
