I recently read an article on BookRiot about how we often love books even though we have forgotten everything about them. While I was sharing the post on Facebook I realized that I’m even worse than the author of the article, because at least it takes her years to forget things. You give me a few days and I may forget the entire book! In fact, I’ve forgotten books while still reading them! (Oh, Crooked Heart… you had so much potential)
This made me really consider my own reading style. It seems that when I’m looking at the page of a book, I’m not really reading every word. I don’t lavishing attention on each phrase like some people seem to. This is probably why I prefer books with more action and dialogue over those with long descriptions. I see the word, process it’s meaning, and move on to the next one without spending too much time in contemplation. Unfortunately, this also means that I rarely remember the names of characters or places. I can describe a character’s personality, but I often only have a vague idea of what their name actually is. It’s just another word to me… another descriptor that helps me move through the book.
It makes me feel a little sad for all the authors who struggle so mightily to name their characters. It’s unlikely that I will care if your male lead is called Ethan or Humphrey, as long as it makes sense to the story and isn’t so ridiculous that I can’t help but pay attention to it. Your “unique” character name needs to have a personality attached to it that is worth remembering.
Overly descriptive settings are equally as lost on me. I’ll remember the idea of a city, but asking me to recall which one is a lost cause. I recently had someone comment on a review asking if I had “actually read the book” because I made the mistake of saying a character came from New York when in fact it was Detroit. Both cities were in the book, I just chose the wrong one when I wrote my review. The setting was less important to me than what was happening to the characters. Not knowing which city they were from took nothing away from the actual story for me, but that reader was obviously upset that I had it wrong.
So, what’s your reading style? Do you remember names and places? Do the details make it a better story for you?
The Literary Counsellor 
We have the same reading style. I can’t even name the main characters in some of my favourite books, even if I’ve read them multiple times. I’m a skimmer. I get the point and move on or if there are huge blocks of flowery language, I read the first sentence and skim the rest.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, now I feel even worse, because despite the fact I am such a slow reader and make sure I try and understand every single word, the fact is this also happens to me. I am not sure if it’s because English is not my mother tongue and some names are awkward for me to remember, but the fact is this happens to me all the time. I rarely remember characters or settings or anything, really, other than the feeling the book left me with.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No need to feel bad, Ana! The very fact that you can read and write fluently in a second language is so amazing to me!
Even when I’m reading at a slower pace during difficult books I tend to forget the words and just remember how I felt about it. You are not alone! Long and overly wordy descriptions are just totally lost on me. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, those are definitely the worst. But it kind of saddens me that it also happens with books I really enjoyed.
This is a great post, I had actually never thought about this!!
LikeLike