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!
Alice, I have cried reading books from the Harry Potter series, a book called Skin Deep and a book called Between Shades of Grey. All of the above are completely fictional, however with the Between Shades of Grey which is historical fiction I actually believed it was completely based on true events. I became emotionally attached to the characters and found I cried when they did and smiled when things went good. It wasn't till the end of the book when the author said only one character was real that I realised I had been wrong. In terms of becoming attached to stories etc you write, whilst writing Never Forgotten I cried when the daughter died and when the second child is born, I also find I become attached to my characters (almost like they are my children - even the characters I want to be disliked) and because of this I find it hard to change them in any way :)
How d'you know he doesn't? Personally I'd never admit to being affected emotionally by a book (and frankly I rarely am) but that doesn't mean I can't get deeply involved in the story.
He's pulling your leg ;)
I think I understand what you mean Alice. However, very few books have actually moved me emotionally. One of the few is my all time favourite; To kill a Mockingbird, when the little girl (Scout) is attacked by a knife weilding madman on her way home from her school play (dressed as a ham!) When I first read this scene, I completely forgot that it was the childs adult self telling the story, so it was obvious she was going to live, but at the time, I remember my heart was in my throat fearing for her life.
However, my main fodder is anything from Stephen King, and whilst being a great author and providing some great chilling moments, I cannot say that I get drawn in to his world in the same way as I did with Mockingbird... Which is probably just as well, for what would that say about my state of mind? :)