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I’m having the same problem with other genres. Lately it’s been happening with movies too. I’ll think, “none of this is real… they’re acting, it means nothing…”

Maybe I’ll have to stick to reality tv or based-on-true-stories works? (although reality tv is pretty fake too..)

Everybody gets tired of things they have all the time. Take a break, branch out.

I wonder if you might enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction. It hasn't happened, but that doesn't mean it couldn't. Wool by Hugh Howey is a good introduction, I feel. Especially for any fans of the Fallout videogames.

Memoirs are a good option! You should check out {{Educated by Tara Westover}} if you haven’t yet. Such an amazing story.

That’s a great suggestion. Thanks!

Read Zero: A Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seifre. It's the history of 0 and how it affected the world.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World And the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

I go through the same thing some times. Sometimes you want chocolate, sometimes you want vanilla. Go explore other genres, or find a new pastime.

The fact that they're not real is why I love them. This real world is so messed up and intolerable at times. A dragon ate my character? That's sad. And totally fake.

Genius!

Ooh, Wool is a great suggestion!

All things fake have roots in reality. Any story can be as real as you need it to be. The emotions and lessons they hold are very real and have many parallels to reality when taken in a metaphorical sense.

Stop rereading them and read something else in another genre! There are a lot of positive things that can come from fantasy/fiction, not least strengthening your imagination and gaining empathy by relating to characters in unusual and difficult circumstances. But if you’ve read these books that many times you probably aren’t stimulating your brain in those ways bc you know the stories too well.

Basically to get the all benefits from reading fiction that do factually exist… you have to read new/different things, not just the same things over and over again

I've had similar experiences to this. What worked for me was stepping outside my comfort zone with my reading. I've read from different genres and that has helped. I've switched for a short time from novels to short stories or even articles and that has helped. Engage in conversations about what you're reading, either IRL or online. Focus on reads that tackle Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical concepts you haven't encountered in your life, as this is one of the reasons we have fiction, to create scenarios to help us develop our values.

All I can say is that most popular non-fiction also didn’t happen and is just the pov or idea of the author. (Of course I’m not counting academical works, most of which are based on facts and real studies and observations - thought perhaps not all).

I think what you can do is lay off of children’s/YA lit for a while, at least until you cross this period of taste. Maybe after a while of reading more realistic literature you can go back to enjoying the more fantastic kind of books …

We are made for stories, they teach us lessons, they teach us compassion, they teach us morals. Fairy tales, Parables from the Bible, and other fiction or interpretations have been part of the human experience forever. The emotions you felt or the lessons you learned are no less real because the story is fictional.

My two cents - this is natural and intelligent. But it’s not the end of the story.

Sounds like you just need to take the time to consider and seek what it is you’re looking for. No need to dump anything, just clarify what it is you’re looking for.

learn history

The problem is that there is little real magic and fantasy in the world so non-fiction books about dragons are thin on the ground.

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You are losing the most precious function of the brain - the ability to Suspend Disbelief.

Suspending Disbelief is the very capacity that makes it possible to enjoy any story, movie, radio play, song, legend, myth, tale, or even joke. Within that ability is all humor, song, poetry, play and joy. It means going gray and dull and dead inside, because you are taking life too seriously.

And that is dysfunctional, because life is essentially absurd. You exist in a meaningless cosmos within which nothing you ever do will truly matter, and you will die and be forgotten within three generations. What was your great-great grandmother's favorite color? Did she like sweet or savory? What was her favorite dream? That will be you - forgotten.

Get silly. It is your only hope. If life is so serious that you cannot enjoy fiction, your soul dies. Souls themselves are fiction. Keep what is left of your childlike wonder, because once that is lost, it is very, very hard to get back.

Be amazed at little things. Give up the notion that anything is truly meaningful. Embrace the absurdity and acknowledge it - and you may yet save yourself, and the fun of life and stories.

Play like a child, purposefully. As therapy.

I thought I was the only one that felt this way. I have hundreds of books and e-books, and 95% or more of them are non fiction.

The fact that they’re “made up” stories and so literally anything could happen at any time is I think what bothers me. I’ve been searching for years for an interview with Michael Stipe of REM in which he says basically the same thing, because I thought he was the only other person that felt this way!

You might be too smart for this genre as you get older and wiser. Try biography. Not current, older.

Alexander Hamilton? Amazing, almost surreal how wild his life was. Then watch the play and be a critic.

Non-fiction can be just as wild and may engage your intelligence more than imaginative fiction.

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Might not be real but good fiction teaches us more about what it means to be human than reading anything else. More basic human truth can be found in good fiction than anywhere else.

Damn, dude, that’s the best mini essay I’ve read in a year.

Sounds like it's time to learn to read more critically. It may not be for you, but imagining the author's intentions and passions and what they were trying to add to the great literary conversation is what keeps books and a lot of art interesting to me. What were they trying to express? How did they express it? Was it cool?

OMG where did you get this incredible nugget of wisdom? You literally created an epiphany moment for me. This is me. I lost all interest in video games, dislike any movie that is unrealistic. It is making me less fun. Did you get this from a book?

Holy shit… this is exactly it. Wow. Now I’m sad

Have you read Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun? I’m not an avid reader, and have only read LotR, and the Dune series in the last two years. I say this because Book of the New Sun has captured my attention more than almost any other book. In the same way that LotR has that “mythological” feel to it, Wolfe has written something that feels like a waking dream. Reading it is like coming across a vision of the far, far future that you’re not supposed to see.

I haven’t finished it yet, but it might eclipse LotR as my favorite book.

Have you considered reading not just historical non-fiction, but prehistorical non-fiction? Once you learn what strange things existed on this Earth in periods of deep time, the beasts and worlds of fantasy seem much less like fantasy.

There’s a YouTube channel by PBS called “PBS Eons” that has some great video essays. And one of my favorite reads through Earth’s history was “Life” by Richard Fortey. Fascinating stuff.

I watch PBS eons! Great channel.

I mean if the fact that stories are made up makes them unenjoyable to you then I feel like history books or books about real life cases of something is probably what you should be reading, right? Forcing yourself to read something you find 'meaningless' and not enjoyable is only gonna make you dislike it more

This is it OP, nothing more complicated than this

Do something besides reading, something real-world like a craft or hobby. Most entertainment is on screens and that makes it even less real to our minds.

Some people much prefer non-fiction and to read about the real world, and that's totally fine. No one can police or judge a reading preference.

But since you wrote here, keep this in mind : writing stories is something absolutely beautiful that humans do.

Remember that a human wrote that book, a human wrote that movie or tv script. Pouring emotions and showing what it means to be human into someone else's mind is so incredible.

That's why I love reading.Reading makes us more human and more empathetic because of this.

By the way, Star Trek has caused so many INTENSE debates (that spanned years) in my family about ethical and moral situations that could never happen on earth. And that's amazing 😅 so even fantasy can make you question your own humanity.

Enjoy whatever you like reading, fiction or not, but fiction will always have incredible value in my eyes.

No, this is my life experience. I am 62.

At the age of eleven, I read a collection of short SF stories by various authors called 'Tomorrow's Children', edited by Isaac Asimov. In the preface, Asimov wrote about how important it was to keep a childlike sense of wonder alive.

This hit me very strongly - even at that age, I realized that adults were trying to destroy any such thing in me, to make me fit in better, to make me a good worker, to make me as gray and boring as they were.

So, I made a vow to the universe - seriously, I really did - that no matter what I would always keep my childlike sense of wonder for the whole of my life. And I have kept that vow.

As I grew up, and grew old, I watched people of my age grow empty, and gray, and bitter, and hollow. I have seen my generation stop caring about anything good or decent or right in exchange for security, or power, or greed. I have seen them turn to wine and beer swilling pigs who shit on anyone younger or anything fun.

As for me - oh, my room is filled with video games and board games and awesome toys I could never afford when I was young. I draw and write and sculpt and paint miniatures. I read for pleasure and for fun. Science fiction, fantasy. I read stories out loud with one of my spouses (I live in a polyamory!) and we play and sing and have fun.

You have to grow old. But you don't have to grow up into a monster. You don't have to give up wonder, or joy, or anything just because society expects it. Fuck society. Fuck the gray, dead people of the world.

If somebody like me can keep their soul, so can you. Or anyone. You just have to choose to keep being amazed at stuff even if others think you are silly or weird because you can imagine worlds in raindrops, or marvel at the shape of a leaf, or enjoy comic books or tabletop RPGs or whatever.

You could allow that sadness to draw you to fun and happy things, and then never, ever give them up. You could keep the spark of joy alive inside you.

All it takes is valuing it more than being 'normal'.

You might try reading history, biography, memoir…. tons of ways to read (and books that tell stories) while also getting things that really happened. If you’re not in a place in your life where you enjoy fiction right now, I’m not sure trying to force it will have any benefits for you. But there’s a whole world of nonfiction and memoir out there!

I get you. Not sure how to help, reality is not my friend.

I second this, but it's also why I enjoy futuristic books/science fiction in general. It may not have actually happened, but maybe someday, something like that could happen. The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey was incredible to me because someday humanity really could colonize the solar system. And if/when we do, we will likely still face the divisions between the haves and the have-nots, and there will still be shady politics and there will still be People out there struggling with so many things that we struggle with now.

And sometimes you just need a bit of a break from fiction, too. There's nothing wrong with that, and I would recommend memoirs as they tend to have a lot of the same descriptions and engaging storylines, but they did actually happen.

Good luck, and I hope you find your mojo again!

Have you read the entire Silo trilogy? Lots of good stuff in there. I've also read the related short stories.

Yep, it was all great! I'm hopeful the show actually gets made (and is actually good). I can't remember if I read the short stories or not, I'll look them up

Oh, I cannot wait to see the results of the Wool and Fallout TV shows. Very eager for that! The short stories are in 3 separate anthologies called, "The End Is Nigh", "The End Is Now", and "The End Has Come".

I love this quote:

>“Books... are like lobster shells, we surround ourselves with 'em, then we grow out of 'em and leave 'em behind, as evidence of our earlier stages of development.”

>― Dorothy L. Sayers, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

If you browsed my bookshelves, you'd find proof of that.

As you age, your tastes change. You'll likely still keep a few old favorites that you reread. But you'll leave the rest behind.

EDIT: You might try historical fiction. Still fiction, but ones that accurately portray a very different point in time. Honestly, I've learned more about history from reading fiction than I have from reading history books.

If it helps - most if not all great narratives are based on the heroes journey archetype, which occurs in real life ALL THE TIME! Within each person, we are on a journey of ascension to higher iterations of ourselves and facing challenges, and as a collective we face immense challenges. We even face great 'evils' that, while not embodied in a single dark wizard, are very real threats to us all, and to our way of life (I am thinking racism, poverty, division, human rights abuses, excessive greed, etc).

While the stories are not exactly real, they are all metaphors for the grander journey of good versus evil, light versus dark, compassion and justice versus indifference and injustice. These battles are real and we all face a choice each day - take up arms for good or contribute to the dark with our inaction.

If you really wanna find real life implications for any of these stories in the world around us - look no further than climate change!! Substitute Voldemort and Sauron for climate change and you have a realistic battle with comparable stakes.

I hope this helps!!

It happened to me once. Trust me, it will head away soon. Maybe a week

I know you said you primarily read Fantasy, but you might enjoy dipping into Historical fiction? These stories tend to affect me more deeply because they’re often rooted in very real subjects, events, time periods, etc. while still offering up a taste of fiction. I highly recommend the Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak. An absolutely amazing book.

I feel as if you might be taking fiction only at face value. I read mostly fiction for the allegory. Most authors have something impactful to say hiding right beneath the surface. Many authors I find especially sci Fi authors don't bother hiding it much at all. Some examples of this are 1984, A Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451. All of which I strongly suggest you to read if you haven't. Look beyond the unreal story friend and search for the authors purpose

I also must confess I do enjoy also using fiction as an escape. Reality kind of sucks sometimes and I'd rather be somewhere else if just for an hour or two, but to each thier own I hope you find books you value and enjoy reading

Are you alright otherwise? Because sure it can just be your own normal at this age, or getting burnt out on a type of content. But (and sorry if I'm overstepping, but I know I needed people doing just that many times in similar situations) it could also be a symptom of depression or getting near / being in a "down" episode of various mental or neurological things, or a side effect of certain medications.

If you are okay in other aspects of life, pick up more stories rooted in reality or speculating about our future (could become real). Or turn it into a game to research and figure out how the fantasy books are real, all the good ones are full of allegories and meaning, and it's fun to dig them up (warning: don't do HP unless you're ready to deal with some bad stuff)

But if you're not okay... Struggling with other hobbies. Not caring what you eat because it's just fuel when you used to cook or had little treats. Cancelling plans because they aren't worth the effort. Change in cleaning or personal hygiene routines because some parts of it are pointless or you don't have the energy. Doubting friendships, not finding meaning in them or getting paranoid or feeling like everyone hates you. Memory issues, too much or too little sleep, losing time... Reach out for help, do some therapy if you can, get your meds adjusted or changed, etc.

This reads like a depression symptom to me. Obviously I know nothing about the OP and what's going on in their life, but loss of joy in something previously enjoyed often in combination with a rationalization on why it doesn't matter is a pretty classic symptom.

I enjoy the Terry Pratchett Discworld Series as being a mix of fantasy and reality.

Good points. There's a lot of nonfiction out there that tells stories. I've been addicted to the history of the Tudor dynasty in England since my teens. As a general rule, when people fictionalize those parts of history they become less interesting. Truth is stranger than fiction, fiction has to make sense.

I'm also a big fan of Simon Winchester, whose nonfiction books take a set of historical events (the volcanic explosion of Krakatoa in the 1800s, for example) and always put them in an interesting and thought provoking context.

If you’re mostly reading fantasy fiction then you probably need to mix it up. Most activities are subject to habituation—do it too often, too frequently and its effects will diminsh.

Refresh your experience by diversifying. Non-fiction is an obvious choice, literary fiction would be more grounded in characters, or if you want a different take on the fantastic you may enjoy speculative fiction for being out-of-this-world yet having relevant topical subtext.

Be aware that commercial sci-fi and fantasy can often be heavily driven by world-building and thus thin on other qualities. Being highly selective of authors may help once you have changed your reading habits.

There is a lot of great nonfiction writing out there. Branch out. Go to r/suggestmeabook and search for nonfiction. I like the Ghost Map and The Man Who Mistook his wife for a hat.

The entire point of speculative fiction is to take reality, reshape it, and use the result to express and exemplify very real principles concerning humanity or the world at large. Much the same way art in general does. If you're ignoring that simply because Frodo never lived.... I don't know what to say to you. That's very unfortunate indeed.

Do you then also not understand analogies, or parables, then?

If you’ll allow me to psychoanalyze, I held a similar opinion when I was really struggling with my view of the world. I was coming out of christianity and figuring out what was real and what wasn’t. But to boil things down, I was struggling to look at the world naked. How could I organize “the virtual” or the “make-believe” when I hadn’t fully categorized the “real,” the here and now?

If you read this, and you do find yourself in a similar situation: give it time. Look at the worst and strangest parts of the world and give your brain time to digest them. Once you’re finally comfortable in the world, or finally have a kind of comfort redefined, then come back to fantasy. It’s just as important as anything real.

I don't know if this is your issue but plenty of people only read non-fiction. Maybe try it for awhile, if only for a little nudge to shake yourself out of this mood.

Some books about historical events tell fantastic stories. I love Erik Laarson for example. Also investigative journalists like Gerald Posner and James B. Stewart. Or recent political books although the problem with the books that are very much of the moment is that we readers may not have yet developed the distance it takes to look at controversial events in a measured way.

Spoiler: >!Everything is fictional. Nothing is real. You are the only being who exists at all, and everything that happens/has happened/will happen is all in your mind. At least, that's one philosophical concept of the universe.!<

&nbsp;

While it is true that fictional works are tales of events that didn't actually happen, the same is probably true with at least parts of memoirs and autobiographies.

And really, does it matter if it happened? If you read real, true, completely accurate accounts of battles, or journeys, or other events that occurred thousands, or even hundreds of years ago (or during your lifetime, some distance from you) could you really tell if it was fact or fiction? Would the story be more or less impactful or meaningful based your belief the events occurred as described?

Another point to ponder: there is truth in fiction. Or at least, that's what many (most?) authors strive for: expressing truth through storytelling. For instance, most people will probably agree that doing the right thing is important and good, even (or especially) when it's hard to do. A common theme in HP, as I'm sure you know, and many other stories. And of course, there are many other true things expressed in fiction. So despite people and events being imaginary, there is still a lot we can learn. In fact, reading is a pretty good simulator for real experiences -- research with fMRI (if I recall correctly) shows that the same areas of the brain are active when reading about something as when experiencing it.

And as /u/Petal_Chatoyance said, suspension of disbelief is powerful and important. Try to nurture it, and re-develop it if necessary. I'm not sure how you do that -- maybe just tell your brain to chill when you're trying to enjoy some fiction, and it starts mumbling that this isn't important because it didn't happen (in our reality). Or maybe take a break from fiction and enjoy some non-fiction for a while. Or try some less speculative fiction (mysteries, thrillers, adventure... things set in our world, or at least adhere to the same limits of technology, physics, biology, etc....) It may be easier to suspend disbelief is there is nothing too fantastical about the story. Maybe try things like that until you start craving something more fun or escapist.