Interpretive Fiction vs. Escapist Fiction

Recently I purchased a second edition copy of the bestselling book Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense by Laurence Perrine. This guide to literature, poetry, and drama has made an invaluable addition to my collection of books.

The first chapter begins with a question: why bother to read fiction? The author than responds to this question with two answers: enjoyment and understanding. Enjoyment is rather straightforward; we read for pleasure and in this, fiction needs no other justification. But Perrine observes that, ". . . unless fiction give something more than pleasure, it hardly justifies as a subject of college study. Unless it expands or refines our minds or quickens our sense of life, its value is not appreciably greater than that of miniature golf, bridge, or ping-pong. To have a compelling claim on our attention, it must yield not only enjoyment but understanding"--(Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, pg. 3)

This leads us to two broad categories that Perrine calls "escape literature" and "interpretive literature". He writes, "ESCAPE LITERATURE is that written purely for entertainment--to help us pass the time agreeably. INTERPRETIVE LITERATURE is written to broaden and deepen and sharpen our awareness of life. Escape literature takes us away from the real world: it enables us temporarily to forget our troubles. Interpretive literature takes us, through the imagination, deeper into the real world: it enables us to understand our troubles . . ." (pg. 4)

However Laurence Perrine is clear in that these two 'categories' are two ends of a scale. Some books lean toward escapism and others toward interpretation. He goes on to elaborate on these two opposing ends of the scale:

1. "The difference does not lie in the absence or presence of a 'moral.'"
2."The difference does not lie in the absence or presence of 'facts'"
3.The difference does not lie in the presence or absence of an element of fantasy.'"

I find this to be a helpful way of analyzing the stories I read. This perspective explains why we are drawn to writers like Shakespeare, Dickens, Tolstoy, etc.. The great works of literature (apart from perhaps, Alice in Wonderland and other such novels) tend to weigh in much closer to the interpretive end of the scale while much of today's 'fluff' is escapist through and through.

With this perspective in mind, what are some examples of interpretive fiction that you enjoy? Is reading for pure enjoyment (escapism) a good a use of our time?