A Fiction Slump

Over the past year or so, I’ve been suffering a painful fiction reading slump.

It’s been hard to find good fiction for some reason. Every time I pick a fiction, I read it filled with much anticipation but then towards the end of the book I just feel a bit deflated.

A small part of me knows that starting this bookstagram page has slightly contributed to it. I’ve become a more critical reader and although I’ve loved developing that skill, I think there are some disadvantages to it too.

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My Reading Journey

Till my teens, fiction was my way of living a life that was the opposite to mine. A life full of adventures, of spy missions and faery worlds fighting for justice.

Then I discovered books like Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys and then fiction became my way of learning about the lives of people different to me.

And I realised first hand the power of fiction.

I started reading more and more fiction by POC and fiction about different eras in history. But then I discovered books like The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul and A Thousand Splendid Suns, and although these books were filled with beautiful writing and heart-wrenching scenes, something didn’t sit right with me.

And I realised first hand the dangers of fiction.

How, although fiction has the power to increase empathy between people from all different walks of life, it also had the power to place seeds of suspicion and apathy towards the ‘other’.

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So I started reading POC fiction using a more critical lens. Around that time I started this page and became part of this bookstagram community who also couldn’t stand misrepresentation in books. But with so much critical analysis… I think over time it became hard to just enjoy the stories.

It’s hard balance to strike. A balance between just enjoying the story but also holding authors accountable for the damage they can cause through their writing. So instead of trying to strike that balance, I think I just slowly moved away from the world of fiction towards memoirs and non fiction instead.

But I do miss reading a good ol' story.

If you reached till the end of this reflection, thank you my friend. I appreciate it!

I hope we get to meet each other in my next post too. Until then, if you have any thoughts about what you’ve just read let me know (in the comments or any other way). I’d love to start a conversation!

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Until next time,

Thasneema 🌻