WHIRL (What Have I Read Lately) Books is a site for readers to find books for themselves and their book clubs. Liz at Literary Masters runs book groups and literary salons where we "dig deep" into literary treasures.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

This is Your Brain on Fiction

In today's world, there's a lot of competition when it comes to getting our eyes on print.  I have to admit, I rarely get through the paper on Sunday; if it's not captivating, I put it down so I can return to my latest novel.  But this past Sunday was an exception.  If you missed this piece in the opinion section of the New York Times, you should read it now.  It's all about your brain on fiction.  As if we needed another reason to read our novels!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?scp=1&sq=brain%20on%20fiction&st=Search

I especially liked the last line:  "Reading great literature, it has long been averred, enlarges and improves us as human beings. Brain science shows this claim is truer than we imagined."  Amen to that!

2 comments:

  1. Why do you "especially" like this last line?

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  2. It tickles me that science is confirming something that I have believed for years, and I have come to my conclusion just from reading great literature!

    ReplyDelete