The Value of Novel Reading

Today we talked about Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. Austen's novel cautions young women about reading novels--in particular gothic novels. If we judge by Austen's heroine and hero, she seems to support novel reading, which can be rewarding, but she also appears to caution readers against an overactive imagination--a balance of imagination and rational thinking. We can see irrational thinking due to novels when Catherine enters the dead Mrs. Tilney's bed chamber expecting to find evidence of a murder, and rational thinking when she answers her younger siblings' questions regarding the abbey. Take some time and blog your own thoughts about novel reading. Do you see any value in reading novels? Do novels have anything to teach us about society? (Hint: research Uncle Tom's Cabin). Does it work as a mirror, giving us a reflection of ourselves (society) in which we may see flaws? Can literature move a society to change? Can you think of any novels that have changed your life or changed the way you view society (current or historical)?