Do you picture what you're reading?

[hildea]

The discussion about the differences in how people feel about characters in books made me curious about other differences in how we experience reading.

When I read, I see in my mind's eye what's happening. It's blurry, like an impressionist painting or like seeing through fogged-up glasses. It's not a film, but a series of still images. It's not something I choose to do or makes an effort to do -- I read about the protagonist waiting on a bleak, cold beach, and there's an image in my mind of what it looks like.

A lot of the time I recycle locations. If I'm reading about a contemporary hotel room it will look mostly the same each time, the flat of Kim Secretan has the same layout as the flat of Bertie Wooster (both are rich bachelors living with a single manservant in London in the 1920s-1930s, but the books they appear in are very different), and the street where the retired orc warrior opens her coffee shop in "Legends and Lattes" looks like the street in Ankh Morpork where the Night Watch has their headquarters.

Do you visualize anything when reading? What about other senses -- do you hear, smell, taste or experience anything else when the words on the page make their way to your brain?

[DiapDealer]

Not really. I used to wish like heck I was IN some of the places I was reading about, but I can't say I've ever pictured what I was reading about. Ditto for the other senses.

[Sirtel]

Yes. Not as sharply as in real life; it's all kind of blurred. But yeah, I do visualize. Taste, too. Smelling and hearing, possibly a little.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Not really. I used to wish like heck I was IN some of the places I was reading about, but I can't say I've ever pictured what I was reading about. Ditto for the other senses.

Hmm. I've never wished to be in the places I'm reading about, no matter how lovely. I don't really understand the urge to travel in real life either.

[ZodWallop]

Yeah, I do have a faint movie playing out in my mind. But it's stage-y, if you see what I mean. Like the beach in Contact or the OK Corral in the original Star Trek series.

[arjaybe]

Yes, I definitely see things. There are brief periods of motion. How light or dark it is. Sounds are more abstract. Taste and smell very rare, and the only "feel" I get is visceral or proprioceptive. I can get a surge of vertigo with dangerous heights, for instance. I hate when they do that.-)

[haertig]

This is what distinguishes a good author from a poor author for me. If I can picture the location and characters, that's a good author. If I can't, that's a poor one.

[graycyn]

I would say it varies. If the author writes good description, yes, I do visualize the setting and/or characters. If the book is primarily dialog and story action, not always so much.

I am a primarily visual person, so smelling and hearing doesn't happen as often. Sometimes, I hear, very rarely do I smell anything described while reading. Taste occasionally, perhaps!

[Karellen]

I do picture the action, the scene and the characters.

It is also easier if there is a movie related to the book, then picturing the characters is pretty sharp and easy as I just picture the actors and the locations from the movie.

On a rare occassion I become bogged down in a fast paced scene and I have to read and re-read sections so its clear where all the characters are and what they are doing, before I can move on.

If I am not really enjoying the book, then I move on pretty quickly and don't worry about placing every character and imagining the scene.

Sometimes for certain scenes I create a little side narrative that I feel should have happened in the book. (yea, yea, I know, seek professional help )

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Karellen

I do picture the action, the scene and the characters.

It is also easier if there is a movie related to the book, then picturing the characters is pretty sharp and easy as I just picture the actors and the locations from the movie.

No, no, no! You must read the book first. It’s an unalterable law of the universe.

To answer the question: I’m mostly about the words and the language, but I do get snapshots. Rather blurry snapshots. When the text is about imagery, I make an effort to slow down and picture it, rather than bang through. The other senses aren’t in play — except that when I listen to an audiobook, I’ll identify some voices as “wrong.”

[theducks]

I'm with Issybird...Read the original book, not the novelization or movie version.

I rate the Movie on how well the director conveyed the book.

OK There are exceptions. I could never finish JRR's LOR,, but Peter Jackson made it entertaining (no clue how far adrift it went).

As to visualize... Sometimes . Like a certain VW Mechanic leaving 1 wheel off just to annoy the Neighbor.

[Catlady]

Nope. I don't picture the action, and I don't picture the characters or settings. I just read/hear the words.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Not really. I used to wish like heck I was IN some of the places I was reading about, but I can't say I've ever pictured what I was reading about. Ditto for the other senses.

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Hmm. I've never wished to be in the places I'm reading about, no matter how lovely. I don't really understand the urge to travel in real life either.

To be perfectly clear, I was referring to my youth. Like the island Where the Wild Things "Were", Neverland, Oz, the secret headquarters (under the junk pile) of Hitchcock's Three Investigators, on the deck of the Dawn Treader, Hobbiton, down a certain rabbit hole, the planet Uriel, under water in the Nautilus, etc...

[icallaci]

When I was a child, I had very poor eyesight, which wasn't caught until I was about 10 or 11 years old. Consequently, my visual skills are poor, although I have managed to improve them as I get older. (I probably learned to love reading because the printed page was the only thing I could see clearly if I held it up to my nose.) Anyway, to answer your question, no, I don't visualize when I read. I DO find myself inside the heads of the characters, so their thoughts and motives are as clear as day to me. But the surrounding environment? Not really.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by hildea

Do you visualize anything when reading? What about other senses -- do you hear, smell, taste or experience anything else when the words on the page make their way to your brain?

Yes, I do. The images are clearer when the writing is more visual but (like the others have mentioned) never quite like reality.