Fiction, such as novels and short stories, is always considered as a way of entertainment, but as far as I am concerned, I think it is far more than a pure relaxation. It can be instructive, and it can even teach us more about life than tex tbooks. Authors of famous works are usually well experienced. They put all their knowledge and social experience into their literary works. They create a colorful world in which we can find great quantity of treasure. Since fiction is primarily based on everyday life, the knowledge it includes is always close to life. It is easy to master and ready to practice. On the contrary, textbooks focus on specialized subjects and they intend to be obtuse, theoretical or abstract and therefore dull. To most ordinary people, fiction is m ore acceptable.
There is no royal road to learning. 学无坦途。
Another reason why fiction is superior to ttbooks lies in their imagination. Authors always create attractive characters so as to give his opinion about nature and the society as well as life. It not only provides knowledge, but als o teaches us what is the right attitude toward life. For instance, we can learn from Gone With the Wind how to be a strongwilled person. from Jack London, how to love life. We can be stimulated to overcome all obstacles to realize our ambi tions. So, fiction enables people to form their positive view of life, optimism of spirit and invincible courage. In this aspect, fiction provides us with an opportuni ty to learn and to practice, while textbooks barely can.