picturing yourself in the book

[Tonya1000]

Do you imagine yourself in the book that your reading?

 

[Fantasy Moon]

I did that when I read Lord of the Rings for the first time. I've done it for other books, but that's the instance where I remember most vividly my dream of being in the story as I read it.

 

[Peder]

I don't generally picture myself in the book. The characters and situations usually seem too remote for that.

I do somehow tend to feel that I am actually in the presence of the author and I am listening carefully to a story he or she is telling me.

It is the author whom I have extreme difficulty imagining is not in the book.

But sometimes a book or character, or only a paragraph, will speak exactly and directly to my life experiences or beliefs and make me pause for a while in thought. That's a spooky experience when it happens.

 

[Cenere]

I picture myself as the characters. It is quite an odd perspective, I suppose; I imagine the characters through their aspect: their sights, feelings, and thoughts are all in first-person as the character speaks or acts. If it is dialogue between more than one character, after one character speaks and it switches to another, I shift my perspective to that other individual.
This works the best for me, but it may becloud the judgment of other readers. I enjoy this sort of mindset because it allows me to easily interpret the story that is revolving around each and every character. Should the story come to a standstill and be describing a location or object, I just imagine the object or scenery sprawled before me.

 

[knitnweed]

If the book is a really well written, I'm an entity looking over the character's shoulder. Some times muttering to myself about the actions just taken.
There have been occasions when I was so involved in the story, it was disorienting when returning to reality.

 

[Lincoln Rhyme]

Nope, I usually just put my favorite actors who are the closest to matching the characters personality, and looks.

 

[pontalba]

Nope, I usually just put my favorite actors who are the closest to matching the characters personality, and looks.

If I've made the mistake of seeing a film of the book first, that is unavoidable for me. I can't seem to shake the actor's out of the book at that point.

But, for the most part, I don't even have a very clear facial picture of a character. Only a vague aura, if you will, of the ambiance of said character. Most authors, it seems to me, don't sketch out an exact picture of their characters. They create with only a few touches, and I go with that. Height, general build, hair [or lack of it] style. Definite facial features are immaterial, for me at least.

 

[anu]

While reading a good book, I am completely immersed in author's world, and when my entire existence has been reduced to a visualizer, how can I ever imagine myself as some character. Though, I often feel a part of the story as a spectator and can see the drama unfold.

But,the above is true only for well written books, a case in instance is Stephen King's Under the Dome. In most of the cases, though I am uninvolved and just interested in listening to the storywriter without any bias.