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UndeadToaster
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29 Sep 2013, 3:39 pm

I enjoy some fiction, but I prefer it to have more to it than just a story. I got a lot more out of Dune and a lot of sci fi for example than I did Harry Potter. Unrealistic stories tend to bother me in the back of my mind even if I enjoy reading it (Eragon for example). I really like TLOTR though, largely because of the complexity and extent of the world it takes place in despite it being unrealistic. I've enjoyed a lot of the essays in this Norton Reader thing we have in English class. I don't read as much as I used to, but I'm planning on finishing the Dune Chronicles and reading 1984 when I get a chance.



auntblabby
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29 Sep 2013, 3:48 pm

I generally tend to eschew fiction, unless it touches my imagination which is hard to do.



auf_ehre
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16 Oct 2013, 8:03 am

Unless it's related to something I find interesting, I haven't read a fiction book in 25 years.

I don't even go to the movies and except for the Red Green Show, I don't watch TV. The last movie I saw in a theater was Lawrence of Arabia.


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mikassyna
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16 Oct 2013, 8:26 am

alexi wrote:
I do not enjoy reading fiction, mostly because it is hard work. The reasons that I have worked out mostly stem from my lack of visual imagination and my low boredom threshold.
1. The descriptive writing drives me crazy. I am just always thinking "get to the point already!". Because I'm not able to picture what they are describing it is all just wasted on me. The characters are blank, the spaces they are in are blank.
2. It is very hard for me to follow each of the character's storylines because I don't establish an image of who they are and it takes me most of a book to stop getting them confused with each other.
3. It is hard for me to determine the characters intentions. I have this trouble with films too, but there is far more information to use in a film than in a book.
4. I find sitting to read anything fairly tortuous. There is just not enough stimulation looking at a black and white page.


I am in the same boat with #1 and #2. I lose track of characters and get frustrated trying to figure out who is who and their relations to others in the book. If I cannot picture the actual people, places or objects that are involved, I am totally lost and feel like I am treading water until I actually get it all straight in my head. I cannot even focus on the dynamics of the story (#3) until I figure out who the hell is who because I don't know then who is actually doing what and why it's even important. I find the same things frustrating when I watch a movie, especially historical or period movies. I think in #4, the word you actually meant was "torturous", although a confusing story can be described as "tortuous" if it is in fact loopy and winding in its structure. However, I really do love fiction. But the fewer characters, the better LOL



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16 Oct 2013, 9:36 am

1401b wrote:
Before I knew I was ASD I usually just assumed the author got it wrong in areas I was confused.
Some times I knew they were wrong for real, some times I simply guessed they were wrong.
In hindsight I kinda wonder about the "guesses".


I think for the most part that I can suspend my disbelief and assume the fiction is right if it's a subject matter I'm not familiar with and can't very well scrutinize. If I don't know about it and it may be confusing, I don't know enough to say it's correct or wrong, so I just assume the Author knew what they were doing and go with it.

But if I am familiar with the subject matter, it makes it difficult to suspend my disbelief and it's easy to see if the author got it right or wrong, and this can make or break a story.

I enjoy fiction greatly as a way to escape. I like imagining I'm whoever the character is without all my problems.


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