LITERARY FICTION AND EMPATHY

Reading this article kind of amazed me at how much reading can affect how a person acts! I knew that reading usually makes a person more perceptive to emotions but I didn't know that the types of literature read had such a dramatic effect. I guess I have sort of noticed this in my own life. I usually feel more moved after reading literary fiction than when I read something like a Nicholas Sparks novel. Literary novels do make me feel more attached and involved with characters because I invest more time in them. Literary characters leave more open to interpretation, leaving the reader feeling closer to the character because he or she is involved in the characterization of said character. In Hamlet, the reader can feel closely connected to Hamlet because his soliloquies allow the reader to get a look into his inner thoughts and develop opinions as to what type of person Hamlet really is. Realizing these emotions in literary characters will make a person more successful at recognizing them in real life.