I wrestle with this question a lot, probably more than I should. There’s a certain expectation among Christians (those who read frequently, anyway) that the books you should be reading are theological. Instructional. Non-fiction. It’s usually not an overt comment, but more subtle. Try this: post about a popular “Christian living” book you’ve read, and then a few weeks later, a fiction book you’ve read. See which one gets more likes and comments.

Maybe that’s not a fair comparison, or a fair assumption. Maybe it’s more of an attitude in the ministry community.

My guess is that non-fiction books simply tend to be more well-known. So maybe it’s not a deliberate downplay of fiction, but simply less familiarity. Regardless, there is still a whisper in the back of our minds that fictional stories are less valuable, since they seem to be less practical. We call them “pleasure reading,” as though that is the primary value of fiction: fun. Entertainment.

Certainly, that is the main reason many people open a novel, and why many others write them.

But what if there is more to it?

I have a theory that fiction is what we turn to in order to make sense of reality.

It’s been said by people smarter than me that the reason we dream at night is for our mind to make sense of our emotions. We create fictional experiences in order to process real-world experiences. So perhaps diving into a story in a book is much the same thing.

“Everything is useful which contributes to fix us in the principles and practice of virtue.” Thomas Jefferson wrote this in 1771 to his friend Thomas Skipwith. The context is that Jefferson was recommending to Skipwith to include fiction in his library.

G.K. Chesterton wrote: “Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” Of course we know that dragons are not real. But dragons embody dangers that we know all too well.

C.S. Lewis also had a positive view of fairy tales. He said: “When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” I love this idea of it being childish to worry about reading a fairy tale.

The final quote is from a book I’m currently reading, called The Emotional Craft of Fiction, by Donald Mass, presented without comment. He writes the following:

“Why do people get caught up in events that they know cannot be real? What causes people to feel strongly about fictional characters, argue with them, and even reimagine their outcomes? Yes, scientists really study this stuff…A story causes what psychologists call cognitive evaluation in readers…Making us think while we read not only makes a story intriguing, but medically speaking it’s necessary for our well-being and mental health. Put simply, to be healthy we have to experience wonder. It’s one of the reasons that reading stories feels necessary. It actually is.”