21st Century Literature discussion

Is “escapism” a way you think about your own reading? What positive or negative connotations does the term bring up for you? Is it even a label you use in reference to any type of reading?

My interpretation of ‘escapist’ reading is something that takes the reader out of their everyday world, that allows them to take a break from their reality. I don’t think of escapism as being a particular genre - one’s idea of escape can vary significantly depending on personality, circumstance, time of life & a myriad of other factors. For some it’s adventure & travel, others it’s literally another world,
it can be the future or equally it can be the past. Probably most escapist fiction requires a fair degree of “willing suspension of disbelief”.
For me, it’s most often children’s books - a simpler world where there is always hope, ‘good’ triumphs & the universe is in balance. I don’t refer to it as escapism. I’m not a fan of labels in general.
Connotation wise, I’d probably go for positive as it’s another tool in one’s armoury for stress management/maintaining positive mental health.

Escapist is definitely the term I apply to the queer (romcoms) that I've started picking up when I can. However, the main bulk of my reading continues to be devoted to educating myself/developing a more holistic paradigm for experiencing literature through. I get some amount of escapism through the latter in terms of diverse/unfamiliar viewpoints, but the subject matter is usually the opposite of escapist.

I see it a lot of the way that Lesley sees it, a book that takes someone out of the present world and allows them to escape. For instance, I believe that many of the science fiction/fantasy type novels I read I feel are books that are pure escapism. For instance, I am currently reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' At the Earth's Core and to me this is pure escapism as are many of his other works. I think maybe a negative connotation with the term "escapism" when related to fiction is that the work is not very deep or serious literature or has less literary merit. Which could be true, I suppose, but I consider the term more favorably and it seems to connote a "fun, engaging" book for me.

I think the connotations may change over time and according to what's going on in our lives. For example, when I went to my mom's right after my dad died, I was looking for a book to read that night and she gave me Dead by Morning. I just stared back at her. Really mom? This is what you give me tonight? But I think to her at that point, death was an everyday subject in her life as compared to mine, and as long as the dead man in the story wasn't her dead man, it was escape, if you know what I mean. :-)

All that to say I've found the older I get, and the more troubles I have to escape, the more broadly I define escapist reading. It can even be learning something challenging that I'm tackling just because I want to. And it's a good connotation to me--as Franky says, fun and engaging and I'd also say rejuvenating.

I love reading for escapism, whether it's sci fi and fantasy or just regular fiction. Even if it's a tough subject or a book with a larger important message or one where I learn something, I'm usually escaping my day to day stresses, not Life in general.

Lately between anxiety and life stresses, anything that gets my brain out of it's unproductive cycles, thinking about anything else is helpful!

I've tried meditation but learned that reading is my meditation. :)

For me "escapism" is anything that allows an outlet for me to forget about the problems and difficulties of daily life. Reading can be that, sure, as can pretty much anything else. And I do read for enjoyment, but it's rare that I get only enjoyment out of it. It depends on the book - maybe it's insight into human psychology, exposure to other cultures and other ways of seeing things, or just exercising the parts of my brain that don't get much exercise in my engineering day job. Sometimes I do wonder though, what is my main purpose in reading?

When I was twenty, I thought I could unlock the secrets of the universe through books, I really did. There was an unacknowledged gnostic deep down in my heart there somewhere. I don't think I believe that anymore. Now, I'd say my expectations are much more modest. But even now, I'd say that enjoyment/escapism is only a part of what I get reading and not the biggest part.

I read mostly fiction. I've always felt that it's healthy to be taken outside my own head. I don't know if one would consider that "escapism". Reading puts things in perspective, reminds me that there are much worse problems than mine. And sometimes fiction might suggest alternative interpretations for or approaches to what's been bothering me.

I used to think that reading was a form of escapism but when Covid struck, reading novels actually became difficult despite the fact that I actually had time on my hands and I badly wanted escape the constant negativity around me. I got into baking and that helped.

For me reading is simply an enjoyable hobby.

Robert wrote: "I used to think that reading was a form of escapism but when Covid struck, reading novels actually became difficult despite the fact that I actually had time on my hands and I badly wanted escape t..."

I think you need a certain amount of calm to be able to read. There has been only one time I can recall that I was unable to read - a time when my thoughts became all consuming.
It makes perfect sense to me you found baking more therapeutic, as did many people at the time. For me, it was walking.

It’s fascinating to read the ways people use books to take themselves somewhere different. There is an argument that says that all fiction is escapist & I think there is some truth in that.

If I'm enjoying a book I'm no longer in the place my body is occupying . If I'm not, I'm still aware of things around me . Somewhere in between , a sort of half and half , where I'm thinking how many pages to the end of a chapter ....A really good novel is better than any flotation tank , but one where I can chose , at any time , to surface again . Bliss .

I think escapism has gained a shallow implication which is unwarranted , a sort of slur , as if reading has to be work or worthy in some way .

While it's true that some novels demand more attention than others , like music , reading is simply about the ability of someone else's imagination and craft taking you somewhere else . Helping you escape.

Escapism can be a really joyful thing. The word itself has become a bit tarnished, as though the only books that can aid escapism are somehow fairly superficial; but I'd resist that interpretation. When we say a book transported us, we're saying essentially the same thing – but no-one would find that in any way derogatory.

My own escapism runs the gamut from sci-fi to the Patrick O'Brian Master and Commander series, plus a ton of other stuff. Hester's point about some novels demanding more attention than others is a good one, though; there are some novels I read with awe, but which are tough going at times, or which force the reader to confront things in a way which is artistically exciting but not, perhaps, relaxing. So maybe escapism needs an element of comfort to it? (I labelled one of my Goodreads bookshelves "Comfort food" because that's how I think of those books...)

Great point Guy!

Kathleen wrote: "... And it's a good connotation to me--as Franky says, fun and engaging and I'd also say rejuvenating."

Kathleen, your comment reminds me of this Neil Gaiman quote on escapism and its critics:

“People talk about escapism as if it's a bad thing... Once you've escaped, once you come back, the world is not the same as when you left it. You come back to it with skills, weapons, knowledge you didn't have before. Then you are better equipped to deal with your current reality.”

That's a great quote Whitney!

And also from Whitney . Thank you . Here what I was trying to say but someone put it better than me ...

Tolstoy : The aim of the artist is not to solve a problem irrefutably but to make people love life in all its countless inexhaustible manifestations

Oh, both fantastic quotes, Whitney and Hester--thanks for sharing. I love that escapism allows us to arm ourselves, and how true is the idea of inexhaustible manifestations!

Love that quote as well Hester!