The experience of reading a well-written book feels like your entire being is drawn into a new and fantastic set of circumstances. You get to see alien worlds, experience heartbreak, and achieve greatness, all within the bounds of a book. Reading is truly a gift, but does it change you in any way?
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Whenever I have the chance to enjoy a work of fiction, I come away with ideas of what I liked about the characters and how I can implement those traits or behaviors into my own life.
For example, I am a huge fan of the Game of Thrones series (books over the show). I remember the first time Tyrion Lannister is introduced in the first book (A Game of Thrones, 1996), he emerges in the early morning from the library of Winterfell, having spent the entire night reading the rare texts that only Winterfell holds.
It sounds incredibly nerdy, but I felt overwhelmingly inspired to stay up all night reading ancient tomes by candlelight, just from that character introduction.
In contrast, I recently got into reading the Witcher books. When Cirilla is training at Kaer Morhen, the author brings you along for the ride. Being in the story and seeing her progress in her training inspires me to attack my workouts with more energy!
Reading is one of the most powerful methods we have, as humans, to experience the life and inner-workings of other humans. A good writer can draw the reader into the story and give them just enough details so that the reader can create the rest of the picture on their own. Because the reader is so deeply enmeshed within the story, the lessons and morals learned throughout the story feel personal to the reader, as if they experienced it in their own life.
A study from 2014 concluded that reading fiction actually promotes empathy! The next time you are slaying kikimoras with Geralt, you can count it as empathy training!
Reading fiction promotes empathy by putting you in the shoes of the characters, bringing you along on their journey, and allowing you to experience an emotional journey that you may not have in your own reality.
The moral of this story is: if you want to understand people more, read more novels about people! And while you are at it, maybe you will be inspired to model your behaviors after your favorite characters. Who knows how the world of fiction can change your life!
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