Literary Fiction and Empathy

I was very intrigued by this article as I never would have imagined that reading literary fiction can help one gain better social skills. Albert Wendland explains that people who read literary fiction have to participate in the character's dialect just as one would do in real life. Popular fiction leaves no room for imagination because the author has full control. Wendland also explains that reading about peoples' lives can help you really get to know them by putting yourself in their shoes. You then are able to understand their position or situation they are going through and gain empathy towards them. For example, as I was reading Hamlet's first big soliloquy I was able to really feel his emotions by imagining myself in his position. If I were to have gone through the tragic experience of having my father murdered by my uncle and then having my mother marry my him only two months after the murder, I would feel just as frustrated and angered as he was.