“Fiction offers the best means of understanding people different from oneself, short of experience. Actually, fiction can be lots better than experience, because it’s a manageable size, it’s comprehensible, while experience just steamrollers over you and you understand what happened decades later, if ever. Fiction is terrific at giving factual, psychological and moral understanding.

-Ursula K. Le Guin in Words Are My Matter: Writing on Life and Books

This quote by the brilliant writer, Ursula Le Guin, beautifully highlights the power of fiction to nurture empathy and compassion. I have seen thousands of patients over my career as a psychiatrist, each one teaching me something new about the human condition, but my understanding would lack considerable depth if I hadn’t also spent innumerable hours reading fiction.

Time spent exploring the conversations and, wonderfully, the inner monologue of my favorite characters, not to mention those of the villains and monsters, has been as important, in my opinion, as the facts taught by my instructors during psychiatric residency.

This is one reason why I’m so disturbed by the surge of book bans around the country, promoted by those who believe they are “protecting” our children by shielding them from topics they may find confusing or upsetting. Humanizing individuals different from ourselves, whether by race, culture, religion, sexual orientation or other beliefs, allows us to create a healthier future where we recognize all bodies deserve care. Hatred saps our energy through division and discord, while understanding and empathy supercharge our collective power, and allow us to grow in knowledge, particularly our important healers.

The world would have seemed smaller, more confusing, and definitely lonelier if, as a child, I hadn’t had the constant companionship and illumination of books. I am blessed with a loving family and have many wonderful people in my life, but reading is my oldest friend. Books have been there for me as I’ve faced uncertainty, grief, and anxiety. Stories of individuals living with courage and hope have propped me up through some of the darkest times, and continue to inspire me to keep going, even when our collective future seems to be veering off course. I would hate to think the young men and women seeking their own support network would be unable to find comfort in books.

We must not prevent children from reading. There are no protective bubbles thick enough to shield them from the truth, and stumbling onto these topics on social media or from a poorly informed peer can cause true pain and confusion.

I will continue to read banned books. My children are allowed to read banned books. I welcome their questions, and try to answer them honestly and without bias, or as close to this as I can manage. If I am preparing them to survive in the outside world, I hope they can learn to view books as dear friends, and try to face the unknown, whether people, places or ideas, with curiosity and compassion, and know they are never alone.

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