Aug 8, 2017 · 1 min read
There’s also a middle ground here. As important as fiction is to me, I get more out of fiction because of real life experience. To borrow from your examples, I couldn’t understand Levin as well if I hadn’t had similar work experiences — though not actual scything. I have less trouble than a friend of mine does with the character Albertine because I once knew someone, an actual woman!, who was very similar — at least in some ways.
Sallie Tisdale and Annie Dillard speak to me in part because I’ve spent a good deal of time mucking about in nature. If I only read books, I don’t think I would connect with these authors in the same way.
