People keep asking what you actually get out of reading novels.

There’s no checklist. No takeaway slide. Nothing you can optimize.

You’re asked to stay with a person as they make choices, justify them, regret them, and live with the consequences.

You don’t skim past the uncomfortable parts.

In a culture that values speed and certainty, fiction forces patience and attention.

It teaches you how to sit with lives that don’t match your own.