Novels as influence and inspiration

We are all aware of the many influences that shape our lifelong interests and aspirations: teachers, parents, friends and colleagues, the wonders of nature, and human achievements such as art, architecture and literature will all make a difference to our lives and will help to set our ambitions and priorities.

Fiction is not always fully acknowledged in the list, yet the first spark of a person’s interest in a place, an academic discipline, a craft or sport, is often lit, not by formal study, but by reading about it in a novel, a novel in which the author has presented the subject with such knowledge, enthusiasm and vibrancy that the reader becomes intrigued and wants to find out more.

A good novelist can prepare the reader for a real-life place far better than most professional travel journalists, because novelists are skilled in conveying atmosphere, the inner spirit as well as the outer appearance. When we first visit a country or a city that we already ‘know’ as the backdrop for memorable stories by a skilled writer, whether it be Mary Stewart’s Crete, or Jayne’s Seattle, we experience the pleasure of recognition in a way that even the best guide-book cannot possibly emulate. Linking details of a real setting to a well-known and well-loved story, featuring fictional characters that have become virtual friends, adds an extra dimension to our experience.

Good historical fiction, accurately researched, deserves to be a vital element in the training of professional historians, and even bad historical fiction conveys invaluable Awful Warnings! All who study the past can learn from the work of historical novelists. We find out how to use our imaginations in the interpretation of bald facts; we are reminded of the proper limits of inference, and of that fascinating balance between the familiar and the unfamiliar which it is vital to remember when studying other cultures.

Non-fiction works should never be dull, however academic they may be, and a good writer can inspire a reader on any subject from knitting to the administration of the Roman Empire without making up a story, but the person who picks up a non-fiction treatise or text-book has usually already made a commitment to studying that subject. Fiction is subtler and sneakier — it can take one by surprise, revealing the attractions of a subject that the reader did not even expect to find interesting.

So, have you ever taken up a craft or hobby that you first read about in detail in a novel? Have you been moved to research the factual background of a topic to which a novelist introduced you? Have you visited a museum or art gallery and looked with new knowledge and enthusiasm at exhibits because a favourite author has provided you with deeper insights, or learnt to appreciate the appeal of some activity, from fishing to quilting, that formerly fell outside your own range of interests?

Novelists wield more power than they sometimes realise.

Mystery Blogger: AgTigress