Why novels are a richer experience than movies
Novels solve what philosophers call "the problem of other minds." It's the problem that we can never know for sure what a person is thinking, or, from a metaphysical perspective, if they even have a mind at all! We must infer, we must guess, we must speculate. Novels, however, take place in an imaginary world where the problem of other minds does not exist, where mental states, like rage or ennui, can be referred to as directly as one does tables and chairs. There's an entire academic field that highlights this, like Dorrit Cohn's Transparent Minds, published in 1978, in which she emphasizes that this is "the singular power possessed by the novelist: creator of beings whose inner lives he can reveal at will." Or as another scholar put it: "Novel reading is mind reading." … (Nautilus)
Massimo Pigliucci
https://open.substack.com/pub/figsinwinter/p/suggested-readings-530?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
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I'm starting to worry that I'm spending too much time complaining on this blog. However, I can't help but to point out that this post absolutely doesn't have to be a comparison between novels and movies. One doesn't have to be better than other, they both have their own strengths and weakness, as well as things to appreciate about them! I absolutely love the write-up here about the "problem of other minds" and how novels solves it. It's genuinely an exceptional strength of novels and part of why we love them so much! They are windows into thoughts, minds, and experiences that we could never fathom or experience on our own. However, this doesn't make novels "richer" or "better" than movies, and I don't understand why it has to. I hope that I'm not coming off as too pretentious here. I just believe that there was no need to draw this comparison.
ReplyDeleteI love movies too, but I also think it's evident that novels have their advantage when it comes to depicting a character's inner life. The value of pointing that out is simply to appreciate literary fiction. That doesn't detract from the experience of film, but it does point to an actual difference in the respective media.
ReplyDeleteAnd: I don't think young people read for pleasure as much as I wish they did.
I think that novels and movies each have their respective place in the entertainment industry! I was raised to always read the book of a movie before going to see that movie, so I understand the critique of novelist or avid readers against the notion of movies over books. However, I think it is awesome to have something you have read visualized to you through the medium of film. However, I do agree with you professor. I think novels are much more proficient when it comes to further understanding a world or universe. Take the Harry Potter movies for instance. If one were to only watch the movies, then they would miss out on immense knowledge and worldbuilding that the books provide. I love movies and will always watch them, but I would definitely recommend to my own generation to read more novels!
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