I read for the story. I read for the images created by words. I read because if I wanted to have somebody tell me what I'm seeing, I'd watch television instead.
Some people rate a good story by the heft of the book in their hand--as if using a pages of words to create an image is better than one powerful sentence packed with everything life offers. I weigh stories by the economy of words which won't leave me long after I've stopped reading; an image which haunts me day and night, daylight and darkness, awake or dreaming; a story I'm compelled to read because it is that good.
I read to escape. Pure and simple. A book can suck me in and the world goes away until I emerge from the story. I suspect for this to happen, I need to have characters who are sympathetic enough and worlds vivid enough to capture me. Although sheer good writing can make up for a lot. Iain Pears' latest, The Portrait grabbed me and didn't let me go although I didn't much like the protagonist.
Escape yes. And good writing can sure help...though it doesn't always save a book for me. William Gaddis a great example--a fine writer, but I loathe his characters and stories, or at least as far as I've gotten.
I was really surprised that Iain Pears dragged me in. Because the main character was, well, unappetizing. But the writing was so seductive that I kept on reading, all the while exclaiming "I despise this character!".
I don't think I'll actually spend money for the book, but I'll recommend it to others.
There isn't a necessary 'list' of what I find pleasurable within a novel, and even if there is, that 'list' would not prove true *all the time*. There are elements that I've found myself liking in all my favorite novels, but, as you said, they aren't elements where I know half the book before I even begin reading. However, books that I inevitably enjoy are those that I can lose myself in, not reading the adventures of the characters anymore but living in them, and sometimes even walking in the protagonist's shoes. These books might be different in many points, but on this one point, they must be the same. Even if I will happily read a book that is superbly written with believable plot, I still much enjoy books where I can't put down, worrying over the characters and what happen to them next (of course, these are usually the same books, so...).
I very much agree with your sentiments, especially the concept of transparent prose, and those expressed in the paragraph beginning, "I want to live in another world for a time," but I'd add a couple things more.
I have read books I liked very much even though there were things I didn't like about the characters. Loren Estleman's Peeper (not a SF/F book, I should add) is a good example of a story in which the main character is a terrible person, but it's so well done and so funny that I just don't care. It's kind of like the evil characters in The Princess Bride, to return to the fantasy genre-- Fezzini, Prince Humperdink and Count Rugen. Why do people like them
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Yes indeed. Readability. But how to define it? E.F. Benson's Lucia and Mapp stories are mostly about petty characters who I wouldn't want to either meet or be...yet I love them. I guess because they are safe, nothing worse happens than food falling out of a cupboard...
Rereadability. But I have no better definition of that than I do of readability. Sorta like what they say about Art Deco and porn-- I know it when I see it.
I haven't read the Lucia and Mapp stories...yet another to add to the ever-growing list.
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Some people rate a good story by the heft of the book in their hand--as if using a pages of words to create an image is better than one powerful sentence packed with everything life offers. I weigh stories by the economy of words which won't leave me long after I've stopped reading; an image which haunts me day and night, daylight and darkness, awake or dreaming; a story I'm compelled to read because it is that good.
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I don't think I'll actually spend money for the book, but I'll recommend it to others.
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I have read books I liked very much even though there were things I didn't like about the characters. Loren Estleman's Peeper (not a SF/F book, I should add) is a good example of a story in which the main character is a terrible person, but it's so well done and so funny that I just don't care. It's kind of like the evil characters in The Princess Bride, to return to the fantasy genre-- Fezzini, Prince Humperdink and Count Rugen. Why do people like them ( ... )
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stories are mostly about petty characters who I wouldn't want to either meet or be...yet I love them. I guess because they are safe, nothing worse happens than food falling out of a cupboard...
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I haven't read the Lucia and Mapp stories...yet another to add to the ever-growing list.
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I want that CD.
(Hope you got my e-mail. No rush.)
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