Most people seem to conjure up characters in their head quite easily. They have a very haunting image of the person, almost as vivid as someone in real life. They know exactly what Elizabeth Bennet or Jay Gatsby or Jane Eyre look like, while I have no such image.
If I have a vivid picture of someone, it's only because I've seen them in drawings or films - like Miss Marple, Frankenstein's Monster, Oliver Twist or Winnie the Pooh. I may know what they look like even if I haven't read the book - like Harry Potter.
It's frustrating because I feel I'm not really enjoying a book fully, I'm not totally immersed in it, if I can't picture the characters in my head. I can follow the plot and know what's going on, but there's something missing. It's like being in a very bare room with only a few sticks of furniture.
I guess I just have an inability to translate words into a visual image. They remain words and for some reason don't fire up my imagination as they should.
I'd love to see novels that have illustrations of all the main characters. I seem to remember that being a common practice when I was young (in Dickens for instance), but somewhere along the line they got dropped.
I had a misread moment. I read the opening sentence of this post and wondered why you'd have a problem with novels that other people don't own. Oops. At least you don't have my misreading problem - although my misreads make me laugh!
ReplyDeleteOkay, now that I've understood what your problem really is I'm at a loss, so I'm no help at all. I think reading kind of happens in the sub-conscious - it all sort of sinks in. I don't really dwell on what the characters look like - not consciously - they just come alive in my mind somehow. I love the experience of reading - just enjoy it, Nick!
Sx
Ms Scarlet: Ha, interesting misreading! So the problem might be in my sub-conscious. If only I had access to it! Don't worry, I enjoy reading immensely, even if I can't fully picture the characters.
DeleteI don't think you need to see them to recognise them or identify with them. Or not identify! I don't get clear images but I know characters well.
ReplyDeleteLiz: Oh, I can identify with them, but I feel I'm missing something if I can't also picture them.
DeleteIt does seem like book jackets and covers no longer have illustrations of characters like when I was growing up. I tend to imagine book characters as reality tv persons that I watch, though it’s more based on personality than appearance.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: That's interesting, that you imagine reality TV stars. I might try using characters from my favourite TV series.
DeleteI've never thought about this. I form vague pictures of the characters, nothing concrete. I tried to visualize the central characters of the novel I'm reading at the moment and they're quite vague. I know she has ringlets and he has auburn hair and eyes.
ReplyDeleteI don't need much obviously. :)
XO
WWW
www: It sounds as if you don't get much further than me in visualising the characters! But ringlets and auburn hair is a good start....
DeleteI get completely immersed in a book, the characters, the setting, the places, they're all there in my imagination.
ReplyDeletePolly: That's brilliant. I wish I had that ability!
DeleteI guess personality is more important than looks to me since I simply don't bother to try to imagine how book characters look but I do care how they behave.
ReplyDeleteLinda: I agree that how the characters behave is the most important thing, but I'd still like to have an idea of what they look like.
Deletewhat an intriguing post! I've never thought about it.
ReplyDeletebut I learned at an early age to 'visualize.' I do it easily. never have thought about it. but I wonder if it was a form of entertainment for a lonely child. we were always Moving! that's why the characters in books took on such a vivid importance.
who knows really. I think your life hasn't been the less for it! you seem to be very happy and well adjusted. XO
Tammy: Fascinating. I wonder how you learned to visualise? Perhaps you picked it up from someone else, like a sibling or parent?
DeleteHappy and well adjusted? I guess I am. Thanks!
I don't 'see' the characters except in the most vague of ways as in how P.G. Wodehouse describes them...but i must do more than I think as I was most offended by the TV depiction of the Earl of Emsworth.
ReplyDeleteFly: Interesting twist that your visual image clashes with other people's!
DeleteI also have no ability to form and visualize the written character. However, it's not important. The story is about what happens, why and how.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: Indeed, it's the characters' behaviour that really matters. But as I said earlier, I'd like to have an idea of what they look like.
DeleteI don't imagine you are alone with visualizing characters. It gives me an idea about describing people in the stories I write. I tend to not go into detail about appearances. But maybe, I'll describe what I see when I write them more.
ReplyDeleteAnn: I don't think you need a lot of detail to conjure up a character. I think you just need a few vivid and arresting phrases that stick in the mind. "He had hair like a haystack".
DeleteI have no problem visualising characters in fiction. In fact, I was very disappointed with the choice of Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher as, Lee Child's description of the latter was vastly different from how Tom Cruise appears in the movie.
ReplyDeleteRamana: I guess that's the downside of vivid imaginings. If a film version comes along, you're likely to be disappointed by the on-screen character.
DeleteYeah Tom didn’t quite “measure up” for that role.
DeleteI don't know the Jack Reacher novels so I can't comment!
DeleteVery large man = Jack Reacher in novels
DeleteSmaller than average man = Tom Cruise as Reacher in movies (Thus the not “measure up”)
Mike: That looks like a pretty inept bit of casting!
DeleteI'm not sure how good I am visualizing characters in my head. Reading a novel, for me, isn't like seeing a movie in my head. And when I try to picture characters I usually think of a well known actor or actress that fits their description--which I guess is a lazy way to go about it!
ReplyDeleteJennifer: That's a good idea, picturing a well-known actor. Unless later on there's a film of the book with a totally different actor!
DeleteOk, I've heard of this. I didn't know that people had this problem until my daughter told me that it was happening to her.
ReplyDeleteFrom Google..
"Aphantasia is the inability to voluntarily create a mental picture in your head. People with aphantasia are unable to picture a scene, person, or object, even if it's very familiar. ... The phenomenon didn't receive a name until cognitive neurologist Adam Zeman coined the term aphantasia in 2015."
Mary: I'm not actually unable to create mental pictures. I can do it in my dreams, and I can picture scenes from holidays or my old workplaces. I just find it hard to picture characters in novels. But aphantasia is interesting, I hadn't heard of that.
DeleteI've not really literally envisioned novel characters in my mind, or even thought about doing so before. I do seem to formulate some distinct perceptions in my mind's eye separating one from another. I don't always find an actor who creates a book's character for a movie to be one that matches whatever has formulated in my mind, though I don't really see a picture of the person. I'm not sure what that's about. Next time I read a novel I'll have to pay more attention to that aspect of my reading.
ReplyDeleteJoared: It's something I hadn't thought about myself until a few days ago! I'm not sure I would be satisfied with a well-known actor standing in for a fictitious character. They would seem somehow incongruous.
DeleteI create a vivid image in my mind of characters and then if the book gets turned into a movie, it's sometimes a little disconcerting when it doesn't align!
ReplyDeleteAgent: Absolutely. You keep thinking, that's not right, urgent replacement needed!
Delete