Megan

“Then fiction started up, and we started burning brain cells on stories about things that didn’t happen to people who didn’t exist. Why? The only answer can be that humans deeply, deeply desired it. They needed the consolation. Real life is rarely satisfactory. The transaction is clearly apparent in romantic fiction. In real life, you sit on the subway and you see a beautiful girl. Truth is, you aren’t going to dinner with her, you aren’t taking her home, you aren’t going to live happily ever after. In fact, you aren’t even going to talk to her. But in a novel, all that good stuff happens. It’s a vicarious way to live. Same for crime fiction. In real life, if your house gets burgled or your car gets ripped off, they aren’t going to find the bad guys and you aren’t going to get your stuff back. If someone bullies or disrespects you at work, or in school, or in a relationship, there isn’t much you can do about it. But something can be done about it in a book, and people enjoy watching it happen. They love it. It’s closure, albeit vicarious.”
― Lee Child, Killing Floor