I read so many books that one can call me a bookworm. I now read non-fiction and fiction books in various genres because I do not want to miss anything I can learn from books. Over 15 years ago, I chose to read only non-fiction books because I could gain more benefits from non-fiction books – at least that is what I thought. A non-fiction book led me to reread fiction books. So, now I reintroduced fiction books in my life. If someone asks me which one benefits me more, I will not answer it. They serve different purposes, and they are equally valuable to our life. I decided to write how I came to this conclusion and appreciate both books.
When I was younger, I read more fiction books. My parents had a room full of books at home. I started reading children’s books such as Anne of Green Gables, Little Princess, and Daddy-Long-Legs. I stopped reading them when I reached ten years old since they were not exciting. So, I started to read my parent’s classic books at the library. My favorite thing to do was to devour books in my favorite blanket. I spend hours only reading like being sucked into a book. I still remember how I was crushed by reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles. I loved reading “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” I read many Japanese classic books such as “No Longer Human” from Dazai.
By the time I was in 4th grade, I had started reading more non-fiction books. I started reading them because I wanted to acquire knowledge. Instead, I read non-fiction books so that adults around me could have a decent conversation with me as an adult. My father disliked having a dialogue with me if I argued only from sentimentalism. Most books at the library were too tricky for me to understand. Sometimes, I had to check dictionaries and encyclopedias to understand the concepts – this process helped me expand my knowledge in various topics.
Knowledge can significantly improve satisfaction gained from fiction books. In my junior and high school years, I read non-fiction books to understand fiction books. When I read the romance of the Three Kingdoms, historical fiction written about 3rd century China, I read my father’s Chinese history books to understand the period better. If I wanted to know more about the topics, I went to the local library or school library to search for books. Curiosity grown from reading fiction books led me to more non-fiction books. The more knowledge I gained, the more I appreciated fiction books.
At late teens, I moved to Canada to study at a Canadian University. The language barrier prevented me from reading many books. So, I started to seek the most efficient way to acquire knowledge. I stopped reading fiction books altogether because I could not read fiction and non-fiction books. To put it badly, I decided not so much knowledge can be gained from fiction books with my arrogant prejudice. I could count the number of fiction books I read with both hands for the next following 15 years.
Ironically, the biggest trigger to get into fiction was non-fiction books about literary analysis. Literary analysis is an exciting discipline – it was like pattern recognition. With intense curiosity, I started rereading fiction books. I read a number of both modern and classic fiction books when I was young. Unfortunately, I forgot the story of the books since I have not read them for so many years. This time, I am reading fiction books, mainly in English. I realized that I barely felt the language barrier at all. During the past 15 years, the knowledge gained gave me different perspectives from books I read when I was younger.
At first, I was overwhelmed from reading fiction books. To understand the character better, I tried to profile the characters by their personalities, traits, and biographies. Excellent authors often do not explain the story’s plot from the narrative. To understand the story better, I try to figure out the thoughts and feelings of the character so that I can reveal their hidden agendas. Sometimes, the emotion of those characters I imagined is so intense that I feel like my feelings are shaken from the narrative of the books. This exercise helps me better understand others and see the world from a new perspective.
Fiction books have enriched my creativity. The reintroduction of fiction books to my life helped me interpret music better. I like to imagine what a composer was thinking or feeling while playing the piano. In this way, I am profiling the composer through their music. Then, I tried to carefully make each keystroke express what I imagined and felt from bittersweetness from Chopin’s Nocturnes or even Bach’s devotion toward God.
Fiction books feed me motivation to gain more information by other means. To understand the plot and the worlds the author creates in a book, I often seek more information. Another day, I read “Little Women” and pursued more information about Civil Wars. Every time I take non-fiction books to research, it makes me chuckle a little. I used to do the same thing when I was young.
There was a significant language barrier. It was hard for me to read books in a foreign language and synthesize them from Japanese books. I could not read as fast as now back then. I had much less English vocabulary. So, I focused solely on non-fiction books. At least, I did not turn from reading entirely. I will not regret reading only non-fiction books for the last 15 years. There are benefits to reading non-fiction books. I still gained a lot of knowledge from non-fiction books. I gained tons of vocabulary from reading many books. The language barrier may not completely disappear, but I noticed it is much smaller. I sometimes could not tell whether I was reading in English or Japanese.
I chose not to read any fiction books over 15 years. When I started rereading fiction books, I realized the benefits of reading fiction books. I realized that reading fiction books helped me gain empathy and different perspectives, which helped me interpret piano music. It motivates me to seek more knowledge. I think non-fiction or fiction books can serve us differently. Thus, I stopped weighing them, and I accepted the difference.