Yes, Fiction Is Consumption

I have been reading fiction for more than a decade. I have lost count of the books I have read. So when I came across a post claiming that reading fiction is just another form of mindless consumption, entertainment masquerading as intellectualism, my first instinct was to leave a scathing reply. Then I stopped. I wondered whether there was any truth to it. My urge to defend fiction was natural, given how many years I have spent reading it. I write stories and have published two books. I love stories, so I am protective of them. Books have become part of my identity, and any attack on books feels like an attack on me. So let's assume the argument has merit. Fiction tells stories, just like movies do. There is an undeniable entertainment value. Nobody reads fiction for beautiful sentences alone. We read it for the stories. For how they make us feel. For how we lose track of time while reading. The claim that fiction is just another form of consumption isn't entirely baseless. But…