Quote:
Originally Posted by 4691mls
I suppose people who live in big cities such as New York or London are used to reading books set in their hometowns. I live someplace much smaller and just recently, for the first time, I came across a book set where I live. I found I did not enjoy it as much as I had expected.
Early in the book, the main character passed Point A and drove "a few miles" to Point B. In reality, the distance is less than a mile (and there was no reason to stretch it for storyline purposes). After that, I found myself constantly on the lookout for similar errors. There were only a few, but I still found them annoying.
In addition, every time an actual local restaurant, landmark, etc. was mentioned, it jerked my mind out of the story.
When I read a book set in a city I've never been to, I have no idea if distances given are accurate or whether the restaurants named really exist or are fictitious, so I don't worry about it and just enjoy the story. I'm fine with books set in fictitious locations.
Am I the only one?
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You are not the only one. I live in a relatively out of the way place and I once found a book that was set here. The choices the characters made, geographically, boggled my mind and pulled me out of the story. For example, the main character went to one of the further away and lesser acclaimed hospitals when, geographically, it would have made more sense to go to the nationally recognized teaching hospital located 15 minutes from the character.