I'm not in the mood tonight to gather coherent thoughts about any of the lovely books I have recently read so, instead, I thought I would tell you about something weird that happens when I read and see what you all think.
I am a mental-picture type of reader. I build up a visual construct of the world in my head as I go along, especially if it's a quest/travel-type story. And, most/almost all of the time, it will end up being the mirror image of what the author intended. I will spend many chapters with the world oriented in one direction in my head and then the author will give a directional clue, such as seeing a sunset over the water, and I will realize that I'm facing the wrong way in my head. I have no idea why this happens and it's super weird. But, what's even stranger, is that every once in a while I get it right. I will hit a directional clue and it will actually be the way I have constructed the world in my head. This could obviously be total chance but then it seems that it would happen near fifty percent one way and fifty the other. It's not. If I had to guess I would say I get it right about ten to twenty percent of the time at most. So what, you say? Well, I have a theory. I have yet to try and prove it (mostly because I forget which authors it happens with) but here it is. I think the times I get it right is when the author is left-handed like me. Is that the strangest theory ever? Does an author's handedness come through in their world layout?
Tell me, do you have any reading quirks? If you have a theory to accompany it, let me know! And, please, feel free to weigh in on my quirk.
Looking at it differently,
K
Hmmm, I don't usually "see" things in my head when I'm reading, so I can't say if your theory is valid, but I find it very intriguing! I think that would make an awesome topic for a research paper.
ReplyDeleteI usually hear what I'm reading instead of visualizing it (although sometimes, especially if I've been to the place in the book, I do). This reminds me of a personality test my dad told me about where you imagine you're in a dark limo and you open the door and suddenly you're at the beach. The sensation/feeling you first associate as being beach-like indicates your personality. For example, you might immediately think of the smell of the ocean, or the feel of the sand on your toes, of the sound of waves. Idr what all this indicated about your personality, but I think people do tend to favor certain senses over the other when they're forming memories or interpreting art
I only hear what I'm reading if it's Neil Gaiman because I know his voice so well that I imagine him reading to me.
DeleteAnd it's definitely smell for me at the beach. Doesn't relate to reading at all! Of course, I can't read old, cheap books comfortably because the smell makes me gag.
!!! I have this exact same thing! I almost always imagine things in mirror image and the whole directional cues turns me around. But I'm right-handed, so I don't think it's that. I have no idea WHY this happens, but I've noticed it for years and years. I'm kinda excited to hear someone else has this too!
ReplyDeleteReally?! That's cool that you have it too! I'm intrigued that it's not handedness now too. I'll have to come up with a new list of theories and run them by you and see where we overlap!
DeleteHm, fascinating. But if it was me I'd wonder whether it has to do with where I live, and where the author lives. In my head, I mostly know where west is and tend to orient myself (ha!) by that -- where I know the ocean is. I suppose it's leftover from the 15 years or so of my life I spent near the coast, ages 11-26. Pretty formative years. A New York writer would perhaps have a different orientation?
ReplyDeleteI am not that detailed when I read; I seem to imagine the book in movement more than in concrete world-building. I also have a very hard time remembering the difference between right and left. I have to think about it every time, and am right-handed but slightly left-dominant....
I have wondered that too, especially because I read a lot of British authors who are probably sunrise-over-the-ocean type people whereas I'm definitely a sunset-over-the-ocean person.
DeleteAnd I can create detailed settings when I read that stay with me (I could mentally walk back through The Night Circus right now) but yet I can't remember character names within a few days after I finish a book and plot details go shortly after that. This is why I'm a good re-reader!