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Fiction or nonfiction? Why? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I appreciate fiction, but I almost always read nonfiction. It's probably because I typically choose the books on topics I'm interested in, and I want to learn about them. But I also love the way a great nonfiction writer can weave a narrative so strong that it's just as much literature as it is journalism.

Some of my favorite examples of nonfiction that do this well: Soul Full of Coal Dust, Toms River, Desert Solitaire (Abbey can be problematic, though, so be warned), The Pine Barrens, This Land, and on and on.

I guess I'm kinda stuck in the environment/nature section these days!

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I like this approach, but I have trouble with simultaneously reading anything with much length, so I try to alternate between fiction and non.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It usually doesn't give me any trouble. I have run into issues where I was reading non-fiction about the Napoleonic Wars and also a historical fiction book about naval warfare during the Napoleonic Wars. As one might guess, I had trouble remembering what actually happened and what was fiction. As long as I avoid situations like that I'm usually okay, hah.