Low tolerance for fiction

I’m probably the opposite - much more likely to lose interest in or not finish a non-fiction book.
I find they often seem to repeat the same points over and over so I eventually end up skimming through.

I would wonder whether someone with a low tolerance for fiction has a general attitude that everything has to be useful and/or whether they have interest in the arts generally l- museums, ballet, symphony, etc.

It would have been interesting to know if they disdain all fiction, or just junky pop fiction, as opposed to classic literary fiction.

A study done in 2010 found that 84% of the reviewers for the NYRB were male and 84% of the books reviewed were by men, the LRB it was 78% and 74%.

Yep they get themselves into the dominant positions even in the predominantly female professions - eg nursing, cooking (chefs and slebs). Maybe needlework has escaped - leading it to be largely anonymous and sleb-free AFAIK even though fabulous work is produced. I feel a flaming coming on. Should I get my coat?

May be connected that boys, who famously on the whole dislike fiction

And yet more published books are written by men, more literary prizes are won by men and most of the 'canon' is written by men. They can't dislike it that much.

That would suppose that there is nothing to learn from human imagination.

I dislike fiction, and like you, concluded that I'd rather stay in the real world. I feel like fiction is a waste of an opportunity to learn something (true) new.

Personally, I only ever came across the idea that novels were either bad/silly or actually sinful because they were 'lies' in 19th and early 20thc fiction, especially fiction aimed at girls it comes up a lot in LM Montgomery's Emily and Anne series, where two future writers are young girls being brought up in strictly Presbyterian households. Novels are seen as bad, adults are bemused that people get paid for 'such lies', and at one point, Emily is required to a give a solemn agreement to her aunt that she will not, throughout her years at secondary school in town, write a single word that isn't strictly true in her free time so she isn't allowed to write fiction or poetry for several years.

I definitely don't personally think of fiction as necessarily any more escapist than biography or history, or factual books, though it probably depends on what genres you regularly read but I grew up in a household where the adults were not literate enough to read for pleasure, with no books at all, and an entrenched adult idea that reading was 'lazy'. My mother would be absolutely enraged at the sight of twelve year old me reading some 19thc novel in the summer holidays -- she thought it was 'not normal'.

It's an interesting question. I've noticed that a lot more men in my life only read non-fiction, in fact I only know two or three who read fiction. I've often wondered why that is the case.

I'm the polar opposite - I have absolutely zero interest in non-fiction books. You could not pay me to read one. It's all about the escapism for me.

[quote DustyMaiden]**@toffee1000
No not everyone is like my DS but it’s a trait I recognise that I believe is due to his autism.

I never did and never would say people with ASD had no empathy .

Of course all people are not the same my DS is extremely polite, you not so much.[/quote]

I don't think @toffee1000 was solely replying to you @DustyMaiden

I agree with pp about the investment it takes to read fiction. I've got to the stage where I'm almost scared to start a new book in case it lets me down; especially as I can't tell until about page100.

There are also so many new books being published, billed as the new "insert name of recent bestseller". Hyped up "everyone's reading it". That won't stand the test of time.

Sadly, there are great new books amongst the not so good that are in danger of going under the radar.

Your thread sparked my attention. I have always been a non fiction reader, loving memoirs in particular, and never been drawn to a story. I thought it was time better spent reading to learn. The same goes with my TV watching. I don't watch much but prefer documentaries rather than 'box sets' in general.

Still, in lockdown, I've set myself the GoodReads challenge with a friend and aimed to do a mix of fiction and non fiction. I've really enjoyed a number of novels that I've read and now feel not so drawn to real life stories. I wonder if it's something to do with the escapism needed at the moment.

(I do also have two autistic, fiction-averse godsons who read huge amounts but think fiction is fundamentally silly despite having a novelist mother.)

The fact that this is a family thing suggests learned behaviour within the family environment to me.

What messages about novels did you absorb from those around you while growing up?

I wrote a long and considered response, and as usual, MN wiped it. So I’ll only say, if you enjoy poetry, you could try Monkey’s Mask by Dorothy Porter, which is a crime novel written in poetry. It sounds dire, but is, in fact, wonderful.

It sounds like you DO like fiction, OP.

as I get older I find most fiction pretty dull. So many predictable plot points interlaced with Too.Much.Waffly.Description. Zzzzz. When I do find fiction I like, and dare to recommend it here, I get mocked. Generally I like memoirs best to read.

The 3 books I have on the go right now are..
historical fiction
memoir by Katie Adie
Book of American mystery/crime short stories

@toffee1000
No not everyone is like my DS but it’s a trait I recognise that I believe is due to his autism.

I never did and never would say people with ASD had no empathy .

Of course all people are not the same my DS is extremely polite, you not so much.

I haven't read fiction since I was a child.
I will only read books from which I can learn something practical.
It's like I feel it's a waste of my time to read something which has no influence on my life.
I know it's weird!
On the plus side, I'm a good cook and gardener and have excellent knowledge of the British isles!!!

DBro use to read only non-fiction and wasn't interested in 'made-up stuff' when he was younger. As he's got older he has realised non-fiction tends to be of its time whereas fiction contains deeper truths that are longer lasting than the facts in non-fiction.

It doesn't really matter, most people read for enjoyment and that is absolutely fine however you achieve it.

I have ASD and I like fiction. Not every autistic person is like your son DustyMaiden.
And not everyone with ASD has no empathy, either, so stop with the tedious stereotypes please.