The experiment.....

     I was unfortunate enough to be married to a man who did not appreciate fiction at all. He would read his history books or newspapers and that was the extent of it. I was confused by this practice having mostly used History texts to help me sleep during high school. I took a live and let live attitude toward his narrow selection of reading material until one day he told me WHY he only read history books. He, like some of  the characters in Haroun and the Sea of Stories feels fiction has no purpose. My first thought was to tell him about voyages, adventures, and escape. I quickly realized this would go nowhere. Next, I began to think about who writes history and why. Many of the grand tales of battle and victory he poured over I suspected contained more fiction than actual accounts. Honestly, I think this is one reason our marriage and friendship were doomed. My concept of truth and usefulness were so far apart we were on different planets. I have not meandered too far from the title of my blog entry; this is just the background. This is the plan...
     My ex-husband, after this point referred to as B is in town this week. I have to deal with him because he will be spending time with our daughter. I am going to explain to B my theory about fiction being similar to scientific models and see if I can change his mind. Please, do not hold your breath. I will do my best to convince him that fiction is useful. I also know the saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks". In the interest of great literature and science I am going to try this experiment. If it works, we will know how to handle some of these misguided people, and if he actually reads some maybe he will learn and become easier to deal with. If not, at least I know I tried. Wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed. I don't actually believe in superstitious behaviors, but you can never be too careful. Especially when tampering with something as odd and often misguided as science or is it wizardry? Hard to tell really.