This is for REAL books, not manga. Manga you have no need to enter its world because its world is already on the page.

ANYWAY. I was wondering if anyone else did this thing I do.. what thing? You'll find out in the following.

So, when I read, a strange thing happens. I pick up the tidbits or long sentences about the surrounding, and in a matter of seconds, I am IN that world that the book describes. I can see all the details surrounding me; my mind takes the raw information the book has and adds to it. Its almost more real then the real world, but at the same time surreal, with minute differences in details and looks of certain objects that tell me it can not be real. If it is in third person, I'm a fly, an ant, observing the characters from afar, but at the same time are close enough that I see, hear, and know whatever they are seeing, hearing or know. First person is a totally different experience though. I become the character in every way possible. There is one difference though; my senses of touch and smell are gone. I no longer have them.

Yet, even if I am unaware of it, so deeply am I embedded in this world, my hands turn the pages, and my eyes read, all the while processing the information and morphing the world I am in to what is going on in the book. Its truly amazing, and this keeps on making me come back to the worlds of the books I read.

I thank my vivid imagination for this, for without it, this wouldn't be possible.

Anyway, the main point of this thread;

Does this happen to you, or am I the only one?

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Sounds like you're insane. GG

yah but i know what you mean but its not so vivid for me usually.

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Can't read >_<

not really while i read a book, but when i go to sleep all i dream about is what I just read.

That happens for me too, its usually why I cant put good books down. Some books I dont care enough to even try to put myself in it and understand better (like Little Women, i could NOT get through that) but with good books, its like I'm really experiencing it with the characters! Is that what you mean?

lol... what he said

My imagination is not that vivid, although depending on the writer's skill I can get immersed in the book to some extent. I can get a feel of what the scenery looks like (well my interpretation of it anyway) but I am not so good with actually being able to smell the food a character eats for example.

Little Women eh? I remember in one episode of "Friends", quite awhile back they were talking about it and it was supposed to be really good. Never got around to reading it though... (I wasnt into Friends that much, but since a few of my family members always used to watch it I did see a few episodes)

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XDDD -Shifty Eyes- Maybe I am insane.


Sorta, but not just simply 'Put myself in it'. I'm NOT doing that.

My mind just builds the world of the book around me, so that I am no longer on earth; I am in the world of the book. I no longer can see, hear, smell, or feel anything going on around my body. All my senses are inside the world my imagination has created based on the descriptions from the book.

I don't even tell my mind to do it.. it just does it automatically.


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i easily get into the stage created by the author of the books i read, but it's more similar to dreams in my case, while i'm on it, it can get intense, but once i'm out it's like it never happened and can remember it only vaguely.
Happened to me in the case of Lord of the Rings, i had seen first the movie and then read the books, when reading i visualized the characters of the books as the characters of the movie ôÔ.
Main reason i'm not into books as much as before: it sucks when you finish the book and you find yourself in the real world again (as you spent too much time reading and have postponed your obligations.)

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This week's favorites:

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ççççççç[Ô .Ô] tsutopodus© will eat your manga and steal your cats!

Same for me, but not to such a great extent
I can see the world, with all kinds of details, but when I want to focus on it and draw it, I can't seem to focus on that image, although I've got it well-etched in my brain (it's really frustrating >.<)
However it also depends on the skill of the author and on how focused I am (4 a.m. reading=>nono).

For Brian Aldiss (The long afternoon of the Earth,also called the Greenhouse and Helliconia) I've always been able to jump straight into the "world". He's such an amazing writer, I recommend him to everyone

Another great one is Frank Herbert, Dune was amazing and the description of the desert and the worms was amazing, 'nuff said.

As for authors that don't manage to make me feel like that it's Ursula K. Le Guin(The left hand of darkness) I've never been able to get into her scenery and her story, that's why I'm not a big fan of hers. Also no matter how much I love Anne Rice's books, her style is too flowery and her characters take a step forward, and the description ends up on a second place.
Same with Koji Suzuki (Ring trilogy and Rasen, Dark Water etc.). He might not be too keen on the descriptions but it's his characters that pull me in. I can "feel" the characters near me.

....Sandra Brown is self-explanatory. *shudders*. Her books are like smut-dialogue-smut-some-more-dialogue-rinseandrepeat.

I know exactly what you people mean, I have always been able to lose myself in a book and be completely happy and satisfied in that world no matter how worrying the real world gets Coming out of it's like waking up after about 2 hours sleep. I remember reading Lord of the Rings when I was 9/10 and my parents said it changed my personality completely while I was reading it (was probably the darkest thing I'd read up till then)

It might be because I didnt discover comics/manga till I was 18ish, but it's a great skill to have, especially when your train gets delayed for 3 hours..

HeavennevaeH, have you read any of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books? Their world is much better described visually than her science fiction books, although the sci-fi ones have more original ideas.. The Ghibli film didn't do them justice.

China Mieville is a great author for describing worlds that make you want to draw them.. Im almost surprised he's not an artist, the visual imagination in his books is so good. You see everything right down to the cracks in the buildings. He also knows when not to describe things fully, so you sometimes just imagine the most appalling thing you can think of, like in the best horror films. Everyone should read Perdido Street Station.

Yeah, this happens for me too, especially with books I really am into. I can read for hours on end and never realize the time is passing in the real world. I think my record was losing about 12 hours while I was going through the world the author created. I feel it's the mark of a truly good author if they can make you forget about time passing in your own reality.

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Yeah. When you finally leave the book(either because you REALLY have to pee, or are done), it doesn't feel like any time has passed at all, has it?

Dune WAS amazing. I read it when I was 11. It was wonderful. I've been wanting to read it again, but my big sister took it to college. >.<

Another thing amazing?


Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Its AMAZING. The authors style of writing is how I think. Compared to... say, The Last Unicorn, which is almost the exact opposite style of how I think.
I also suggest Ender's Shadow, which is just the same story told from a different characters perspective. Its awesome though.



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Ooooh snap, forgot Orson Scott Card >.<'''. That guy is pure genius
I read the entire Ender's saga (Xenocide ftw) and Ender's shadow was amazing up until Shadow Puppets, from where it all turned downhill and into weird plot zone. I've yet to read Shadow of the Giant, I'm still thinking whether to buy that one or not <_<.

Original Dune ftw (read it at 13 tho`) . Dune's Children and Dune Messiah was damn good too, but the rest simply didn't have the same magic original Dune had. Still an excellent read tho`

And as we're still on the subject of holy SF, Roger Zelazny(sp?) (The 9 princes of Amber) and teh almightee Tolkien had excellent scenery as well . Tolkien is a bit difficult for me, considering I've got the book in English, old English is sometimes a pain in the rear.
@centzon totochtin: I think I've got them...I'll look around...I have to try out Rocannon's world (...I hope that's the title...) I had that lying around for ages ....The Ghibli movies are based on her books? *faints*

Howl's Moving Castle is actually based on a book by Diana Wynne Jones. I THINK Castle in the Sky might be as well, because she has a book named 'Castle in the Air' , but I never read it, so I'm not sure. Anyway, the book of Howl's Moving Castle is MUCH better then the movie (My sister took this book as well. The annoying part is, this one is actually MINE). Actually, Diana Wynne Jones has great books in general. I particuarly like her Chrestomanci books. Very well thought out, they are.


OH. I thought of something else that is great. The Abhorsen series by Garth Nix. I've read the first one at least ten times, the second one at least 20. I only read the last one once, but that was because it sucked.




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not so much as sucked in as becoming a limited observer in the scene

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Star Trek XI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZiR-NETDr0

when i read i get into the "world" but a lot of times its like im a character that is ignored but im the one who knos everything. its hard for me to get out of the world the author creates. people usually have to yell in my ear a couple times. if i needed to put down a book for any reason i try to go back to the world as soon as possible. there have been a few times where it was like i lived in that world in stead of here

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