I know that it's said that a good book should submerge you entirely in its plot and characters, but does everyone find this? My dad, for example, almost never suspends his sense of reality - and yet he appreciates books and enjoys reading them; he just never gets emotionally involved because he knows it isn't real, even with books such as Birdsong and Harry Potter (I'm not trying to start a debate on the relative merits of the two!)
Does anyone else find this? How far do you find yourself being drawn into the books you read, or even the stories you write? I find myself getting very drawn in - I admit that I have actually cried after reading Jane Austen because the characters, and even the time she writes about, don't exist! Do you think of books as an almost alternative reality, or are they just entertaining things that have come out of someone's head?
I'm really sorry, I'm finding it hard to describe exactly what I mean - hopefully someone will make some sense of this ramble!
David, your answers are so balanced and insightful, I always find them a pleasure to read. if only you had commented on my work when I had shared it; )
Of course you get emotionally involved with the characters. I can't think of anyone who would enjoy reading and not get involved with the plot. Some people might express it, some not, some differently, but in many ways all human beings are the same. If there wasn't a connection, one couldn't read on. That's my take.
People have different levels of emotional response to life - all aspects of it - from any event they see to what they read. It is eveidently possible to get extremely emotional about a game of football - and it is also possible to be highly elated by reading a good, revealing description of a technical subject. We are used to the former and rarely see the latter.
There is a social element in this. Reaction to a group activity such as football is (pretty much) expected while getting excited about learning anything from a book os called "nerdy".
As Jonathan says - how do you know that your father isn't reacting emotionally?
There is an age thing of course - but - even modern men aren't supposed to show so much emotion - especially not about such a thing as "mere reading" - unless they are reading about football of course...
I think that we should all get as much as we can out of reading - and however we can... Whether we let anyone else see our reactions might be another matter.
I have found that I get very emotionally involved with the characters I write about. I get angry at/with some and feel all sorts of things about what happens to others. My hope is that my feelings won't come across to the reader so much but that they will experience "feelings" about the characters as well.
If I have a character that is an absolute beast I don't want readers to feel bland about him/her. At the same time I want readers to feel involved if a character gets married, divorced or whatever major event in their life. I don't want my readers to blandly say "oh, he/she got married/divorced/run of by a truck - oaky" and just plough on dryly to the next scene.
I hope this helps.
:-)
'Books are all very sad, because when you really enter them you find that there is no exit.' This is a rough translation of something one of my friends wrote once. I completely agree.
I think your way of reading is wonderful and you should certainly not try to change anything about it. It sometimes happens to me, with very good books (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), although it happens more often with music (especially Mahler and Bruckner).
I called a friend once and she told me: 'You know what, I was in the middle of a marriage proposal. I'm really starting to hate technology!' It turns out she was reading from 'North and South' by Gaskell. So, yes, I think it happens to many people and I think that's a very good way of reading.