life and fiction

Several years ago, I stopped reading novels for leisure. And, if fiction is an education of the heart, this might have meant that my heart ceased to be educated. But it wasn't that at all. I stopped reading fiction because there was too much going on in my life - more than enough to educate any heart many, many times over - and I felt I didn't need any more education. Instead, what I needed was, is, rest. And that is one thing that novels, for all their power, cannot give.

...

...