Air travel Quote by Charles Baxter
““The techno-political thriller and the romance novel serve as antidotes to the imagination rather than stimulants to it. For this reason they make for ideal reading in airports and airplanes. They effectively shut down the imagination by doing all its work for it. They leave the spirit or the soul—and ambiguity, for that matter—out of the equation. By shutting down the imagination, genre novels perform a useful service to the anxious air traveler by reducing his or her ability to speculate. For the most part, people on airplanes, and here I include myself, would rather not use their speculative imaginations at all; one consequence of this situation is that great poetry is virtually unreadable during turbulence, when the snack cart has been put away and the seat belts fastened. Enough anxiety is associated with air travel without Rainer Maria Rilke’s Sonnets to Orpheus making it worse.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: On Reading in Airplanes, 2012
Genre novels that are formulaic provide mental ease for anxious travelers, but they suppress imagination and depth.
In simple terms: Formulaic books calm nerves but limit imagination.
Key Takeaway
Balance entertainment with thought‑provoking reading.
Themes
travel
genre fiction
imagination
anxiety
Mood
reflective
analytical
Type
critical
observational
When to use this quote
- air travel
- airport lounges
- long flights
- stress relief
Key Concepts
cognitive load
comfort reading
literary value
Questions to Reflect On
- Why do we seek mental shortcuts while traveling?
- What could be a more engaging yet calming reading choice?
A Different Perspective
Relying solely on easy reads may dull critical thinking.
