I don't know about you, but most of my friends don't really like reading novels. For many, opening a fiction book has become tantamount to throwing their time out the window and receiving nothing worthy of it in return. In their opinion, the situation is totally reversed when it comes to biographies, science or even popular science books. These latter genres provide the reader with some kind of useful information - and sometimes even knowledge - which can be put to a good use later on, even if this use ends up as a quick mention in a general conversation.
Wanting to know more is definitely a good thing and I, for one, am a huge fan and avid reader of the popular science literature. In a world full of pragmatism, defending the value of information gathering is futile, although emphasizing the beauty and usefulness of apparently impractical endeavors, such as that of reading fiction, seems to be a must. In all honesty, delving into the twisted plot of a novel every now and then might enrich your life in a not so direct fashion, but meaningful nonetheless. The exact route will probably vary from person to person, but there is still a lot to learn or at least to meditate upon.
What strikes me most about novels is the way in which they bring me closer to my utmost spiritual ideal, which is that of unconditional love. Unless we've been lucky enough to be already born this way, most of us need to train our capacity for loving other people in the absence of positive expectations. Looking at our evolutionary history, marked by more or less intense periods of violent conflict, it makes so much more sense for conditional love to have been selected for at the expense of its unconditional version. So don't be too harsh on yourself if you find it hard to love only the people you like and who love you back. But don't think that you cannot do anything about it either because that's not quite true. The control of your emotions derives from the control of your thoughts and we already know how one can successfully discipline one's mind. As with most human enterprises, it requires perseverance, commitment and some degree of effort. On top of that, a comfortable cushion perhaps and a couple of minutes of mindfulness per day.
Now, you might reasonably ask why would someone be interested in achieving unconditional love if (1) we might as well survive without it and (2) it requires so much work. The answer lies in the fact that general compassion and its association with unconditional love lead to personal happiness and spiritual fulfillment. These are the findings of a relatively large body of psychology and neuroscience research. Also, you might easily notice this correlation by observing the behavior of those people around you whom you regard as genuinely happy. Truth be told, how could real happiness be associated with feelings of hate or with the holding of grudges? It's kind of a non-starter.
When we analyze the behavior of the people around us and, more rationally or not, decide on liking or disliking them, we have to be aware of the fact that we have a very fragmented perspective on their lives. Being lied upon, for instance, is not something that will make you love the liar. But understanding the reasons behind the lie might actually achieve just that.
I was recently shocked to realize that although I have disliked many people throughout the years by being exposed to certain unfortunate bits of their behavior, I have always ended up nurturing the most positive feelings towards the characters I've met in novels. It goes without saying that not all of these characters were instances of moral virtue and the like. Some of them were quite monstrous, to say the least. But, as part of a novel, a character is usually presented in its complexity and, as such, the readers do not only witness a string of imperfectly related actions. We also get an insight into the bigger story and, most importantly, into its evolution, together with the reasons and constraints that determine a certain course of events.
I have many times wondered if I had still liked and felt the same affection for Sarah Woodruff, Rodion Raskolnikov, Severus Snape or Cersei Lannister were I to meet them in real life. Probably not, because I would've certainly ended up mistaking a part for the whole. And what a loss would I had incurred... So, let's turn to you now. Which are your favorite literary villains and what did you learn from your novels?
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