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The below is some thoughts on reading, inspired by the weekend's marathon Harry Potter read, but containing no spoilers. I promise.
This weekend, like half my f-list probably, I sat down and read the last HP. In fact, I only got 137 pages read on Saturday so most of it was read in a huge, marathon session yesterday.
It's been a while since I had a big read like that. Probably not since I sat down with Lois McMaster Bujold's first Sharing Knife book at the beginning of the year. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to immerse myself in a book like that. I get so caught up in it that nothing exists outside the book. After a few pages, I'm not aware than I'm reading anymore because I can see and feel it happening around me. It's better than watching a film because I'm not just an observer, I'm right in there with the characters, you're in their head and it feels real for a while. Even when I'm not reading - getting a drink or a snack - my head is still in the book world and it takes a huge effort to free myself.
I think that's the key to why I enjoy the kind of fantasy, escapist books that are the core of my reading habits. It's much harder to get that kind of connection and absorption from contemporary, clever sorts of literature. When I'm writing, I'm remembering what it feels like to get caught up in a book like that and it's what I want to do for my readers. Reading, for me, at its best is something that can catch me up and take me away to live another life for a while and a really good book refuses to let go of me until the last page.
The down side is the post-book hangover where I haven't quite managed to extract myself even though I've read the last page. That might take a day or two to wear off :-)
As a courtesy to other HP fans, can people avoid putting spoilers for The Deathly Hallows into comments on this post? I'll be posting a spoiler-filled, HP thoughts post later.
This weekend, like half my f-list probably, I sat down and read the last HP. In fact, I only got 137 pages read on Saturday so most of it was read in a huge, marathon session yesterday.
It's been a while since I had a big read like that. Probably not since I sat down with Lois McMaster Bujold's first Sharing Knife book at the beginning of the year. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to immerse myself in a book like that. I get so caught up in it that nothing exists outside the book. After a few pages, I'm not aware than I'm reading anymore because I can see and feel it happening around me. It's better than watching a film because I'm not just an observer, I'm right in there with the characters, you're in their head and it feels real for a while. Even when I'm not reading - getting a drink or a snack - my head is still in the book world and it takes a huge effort to free myself.
I think that's the key to why I enjoy the kind of fantasy, escapist books that are the core of my reading habits. It's much harder to get that kind of connection and absorption from contemporary, clever sorts of literature. When I'm writing, I'm remembering what it feels like to get caught up in a book like that and it's what I want to do for my readers. Reading, for me, at its best is something that can catch me up and take me away to live another life for a while and a really good book refuses to let go of me until the last page.
The down side is the post-book hangover where I haven't quite managed to extract myself even though I've read the last page. That might take a day or two to wear off :-)
As a courtesy to other HP fans, can people avoid putting spoilers for The Deathly Hallows into comments on this post? I'll be posting a spoiler-filled, HP thoughts post later.
