The article lays out a great deal of topics, but what we desire to know is what makes us so connected to a novel? Throughout the reading we are told what components are necessary in order for a novel to be created. When one gets attached to a novel one cannot do anything but think about it all the time. Reading allows us to break-free from our lives and read about somebody else’s whether it’s better or worse than ours. As mentioned in the reading it allows us to feel a bond with somebody else, whether they are fictional or not is irrelevant.
While reading a novel we allow our minds to wander and think of what life may be like in the novel; it presents us with the opportunity to step into somebody else’s shoes and see the world from an alternate perspective. The article says, “… it exists not as words written in books but as images with feelings attached.” When we remember what a book was about we remember how it made us feel and how we imagined the characters in it. It most certainly is not a memory of specific words or lines. It’s staggering how much we can feel attached to a book, it can make us feel levels of happiness which is indescribable in words. A novel is so powerful that it can put you in any possible mood depending on the last line you read.
Take the Harry Potter books for example; I was glued to the pages of the book and absolutely distraught when the book ended. I could only imagine what it would be like to live in a place in Hogwarts and even when I wasn’t reading the book all I could do was create images of how the characters and places looked. A good author like J.K. Rowling knows exactly how to grasp the reader’s attention and drive them into a world from which no one would desire to leave. It says, “… It can be enjoyable and correctly read just to see what happens next and to enjoy the company of the author, the narrator, and the characters.” This is what the best authors in the world do! They exercise their talent to create a novel, which becomes your friend. You pick it up because you want to know what’s happening to the characters and if something bad were to happen you feel sorrow. You feel these emotions because you have a bond with the characters in the book. Moreover, another thing that drives people to be attached to fictional characters is their similarity to themselves. The article says, “It enables a reader to relax with a novel as with another person, and also to feel as though the novelist might have something to say in relevance to the reader’s own common life.” When we read about a character we always find similarities between him/her and us. Whether it’s being annoyed with your sister, having no parents, or being frustrated with school. We relate to that character and look for what the author is trying to tell us. What’s so amazing about this is that every character is different but every one of them will have something in common with you, no matter how big or small.
Another very interesting opinion is that every section and chapter is unique which is why one is supposed to read them differently. Each chapter has a different goal from the other. For example, in a paragraph where an author is describing a house, the readers must read slowly and imagine what that house would look like. By reading slowly you pay attention to the small details and it makes you’re image of the house more precise. However, if one were to read a chase scene then it’s meant to be read fast and impatiently. By doing so, we feel the same excitement and suspense as the characters who are in the book. This brings up another great point; it shows the correlation between the reader and the author. Surely, when a good author writes a chase scene he or she does not ponder upon every word and come up with a sentence after 1 hour. When writing a chase scene the author is just as exited as the reader, which is why it is probably written fast and full of suspense. Of course the author will go back and re-phrase his sentences.
Connections, thrills, and imaginations are the reasons for why we get so attached to books. A book can take us away from our boring lives and take us to any place we covet. There are so many varieties of great authors that you can choose exactly where you want to go. Whether it’s in a scary jungle with zombies, or up in heaven, or in a magical place. The options are limitless! Thank goodness for books, our escape to wherever we want.
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