I couldn't read the whole of the first URL that Nnyhav gave us, as I haven't registered as a read of the FT. From the bit I could read, I did notice that Orwell spent £25 on books per year, which must have been quite a sum in those days. You have to remember that Eric Blair came from a pretty well-off family. Though when he wrote that paperbacks were relatively cheap, it is true. I don't think this is one of Orwell's most profound essays.
But it isn't money that stops some people reading fiction, but a lack of education and encouragement. Public (and university) libraries have been around for a very long time. Most of my first reads of any value were schoolbooks, lent to us by the school I went to, or books from the local public library. But someone (parents, schoolteachers) has got to get young people into the habit of reading fiction, and appreciating why you read it. Fiction can train your faculties and give pleasure, but will not magically be a handbook for all your problems.
I think it's a bit of a wind-up to suggest that
fiction is a sort of magic source of information where profound minds can learn solutions to the ills of the world. It appears to be a slightly hysterical comment caused by the second Black Monday on the bourses. The FT does, after all, cater for people that invest and otherwise shove sums of money around. Do you really think that people recently sacked from the banking and building society sector are going to seek the holy grail of fiction to improve their lives, now they have endless hours on their hands?
I think Jan Mbali is right when he says:
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Fiction works because it plumbs depths non-fiction cannot, by diving deep into, and synthesizing, elements of our culture and its manifestations in our individual subconsiousnesses. Something like the alchemists desire to transmute base metals into gold.
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Personally, I think a healthy balance between prose fiction, poetry and non-fiction will make you a wiser person. Let the (ex-?) FT journos fantasise about "that novel that opened my eyes".