For years, my father had tried to get me interested in the classics and his favorite histories to no avail. Then he tried a new tactic. Perhaps taking a tip from Montaigne, he gave me Tolkien’s epic trilogy, which I devoured in a couple weeks. Terry Brooks’\u00a0Shannara<\/em>\u00a0books followed, and then the first few books of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time\u00a0<\/em>series. Then a new book came out with a cool title \u2013 A Game of Thrones<\/em> \u2013 that blew them all away.<\/p>\n I bring all this up not to demonstrate how big of a fantasy dork I am. (I also occasionally played real-time strategy computer games. Sue me.) I share it to make a point: these books taught me to love\u00a0reading.<\/p>\n The Science of Fantasy<\/strong><\/p>\n Fantasy fiction is often pooh-poohed by academics and intellectuals, but it can whet the\u00a0appetite for learning. In my case, the great historical fictions of James Clavell, Gary Jennings, and Ken Follet followed Lord of the Rings<\/em>. Tolstoy, Nabokov, and\u00a0Dostoyevsky\u00a0came not long after; then the histories of Foote, Barzun, and Michener.<\/p>\n But the case for fantasy fiction goes beyond my personal experience. Scientific research shows there are clear positive neural effects to novel-reading. For example, Emory University researchers found<\/a> that students experienced heightened\u00a0activity in the left temporal lobe of the brain, the area associated with semantics, for days after reading novels.<\/p>\n It should go without saying that reading nothing but fantasy fiction, even good fantasy fiction, is not a path to a well-rounded education or intellectual maturity. But fantasy novels can awaken imaginations, inspire creativity, and create a passion for story-telling.<\/p>\n So if you’re a little worried that your teenage daughter seems a little too obsessed\u00a0with, say, Hunger Games<\/em>, relax. She’ll likely be reading George Eliot and Byron in a year or two.<\/p>\n
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