BOOK-A-HOLICS discussion

Hiya just a thought thats interested me for a while. Do u think having a good imagination is key to be a avid reader? I say that one of the reasons i love to read is because i can travel the globe without ever having left my comfy chair (or bus, or garden, or street or just anywhere i can lol and sometimes if a book doesnt capture my imagination o just cannot continue with it. Take The Lord Of the Rings for example, I had started The Fellowship Of the Ring and just couldnt get in to it at all so i gave my boxset away. Now after having seen the 3 movies im itching to read the books and kicking myself for giving them away!!! What do U think???

I think imagination is what's needed to be a good writer. Not necessarily a reader. Whether one reads or not is based on if that is an interest of theirs and if it is, then its just based on what genre they like.

I think with fantasy type books where a new world is being created like "the lord of the rings", it helps to have a vivid imagination to be able to visualize the words into motion. If you take sci-fi and fantasy seriously and don't use your imagination then you cannot break the barrier of reality versus make believe. Then the fiction becomes silly and uninteresting.

Nice subject Ani thanks

That's a fascinating question, Ani, and I don't know if I have a good answer. I almost wonder if the more you read and immerse yourself in stories the better your imagination (however you choose to define that term) becomes. In other words, I don't think imagination is a static concept; I think one's imagination can grow or diminish over time. Reading can only help:)

I've always felt that reading helped improve your immagination.

I think that if I am reading a well written book then the writers words provide everything I need to become a part of the story as if I were there with them. It helps to be interested in the subject of the book first so that it will hold my attention long enough to get into it. With books that are made into movies you don't need much imagination, as my son tells me, because he says he has no imagination, and he needs to see the story in front of him to get into it. Maybe that is why those who love to read don't, for the most part, like the movie as well as the book. We like to develop our own immpressions, see the characters in our own mind's eye.

That's true L, we readers like to see things with our own "eyes".

I think imagination definately helps, but a well written story will show the world to you without your imagination having to go into overtime. I've just finished a book I've been trying to read for YEARS. It just couldn't keep me interested for more than a few weeks at a time because I was always having to think out and imagine the whole world. That made reading it when I was in the fifth through tenth grade nigh on impossible. So a well written story with plenty of imagery helps.
I've also noticed something interesting, alot of my freinds who read or play video games alot have a more vivid imagination than those who don't read/play video games alot. Has anyone else seen this?

Hmmmmm............interesting topic.
Though imagination is a definite must-have as a writer, I think its something all book lovers have; no matter how small and whether they know it or not.
Think about it. What happens when you start reading a book? We let the author take a us on a ride, be the book fiction or nonfiction. Wherever we may be, when reading, we become absorbed into the writers world. We see what the writer saw and think what they thought.
Imagination doesn't neccessarily mean being able to visualise dragons and aliens and such.....rather I think imagination is the capabilty of visualising and 'living' through eyes that are not our own. If you find yourself TRYING to read, then it probably because the writer is unable to hold on to your attention or the topic doesn't interest you.
As for writing, just imagination doesn't make the cut. You have to have 'a way' with words. Like, you have to be able to express yourself in words. Imagination comes later.

I think you have to have an imagination to be a reader. Without an imagination, you have to rely on movies to see books and only see paper and words in front of you. With an imagination, you can transform the words into a movie into your head. To make a book come alive is two parts; the writer only does one part of it. The writer's part is writing the book with such passion that it is able to be made into a movie inside the reader's head. The second part is the reader's imagination bringing everything to life. Without the reader's imagination, books would just be that; pages filled with words. It depends on the reader to bring it alive. With an imagination, a book comes alive.

(sorry I've been very repetitive)

A good reading comprehension strategy we teach to our students is making images or movies in their mind because it is easier to remember a picture than a string of words. I am amazed at how many of them don't do this automatically or struggle to do it at all - and I would have to say that those who struggle with it are the kids I would say have the least imagination. Imagination means different things to different people, but thinking about it as the ability to image things in your mind that are not in front of you, I would say that imagination is vital to being a good reader (or writer).

well, yeah, you know "suspension of disbelief". You have to have an imagination to enjoy reading. If you read a book and you're constantly saying, "I don't believe that!" or "That couldn't happen!" then what's the point? You have to believe a story to a certain extent to enjoy it. I mean, I'm not saying that if you read a book about talking animals, you actually believe that animals can talk. But as you're reading it, you temporarily have to throw what you know aside and just let the book take over. You have to willingly give yourself over to imagination.

I think that it is essential to have a good imagination to enjoy reading, and the more that you read, the stronger you imagination becomes. It is also nessicary to have a good imagination to write well, as well as have a way with words, as it was said before.

I know I have a good imagination because I'm good at writing fictional stories. Also, when I read, even if the book is poorly writen, I can see everything as though it is a movie in my head. I will remember the scenes years later even, long after I have forgotton the title of the book.(Not that I always forget the title, just sometimes.) For instance, I can still picture a boy standing stock still, terrified to move because there is a bear that he would rather not disturb. I'm not sure, but I think this was from A Week in the Woods.

I think it depends on the type person. My mom says she can't read certain books because she doesn't have a large imagination. So it stops and prevents her from reading some things. She says she will never read the Lord of the Rings. She once said that about Harry Potter but because a large group of us went to see the movies she joined in and she says now that she has seen the world which would be in your imagination she can now read the books. So it just depends on the person.

I think imagination is vital. There are those I know who read no books at all, but live a fabulous reality, and those I know who cannot imagine their own scenes and characters so they focus on fanfiction (like my little sister). She writes and is great at it, but it's always fanfiction,when I try to give her another book she says she just can't 'see it'. There is nothing wrong with that though, there are plenty of people who have made great books from other initial ideas - like Gregory Maguire for instance - but to really enjoy a book, you need imagination to flesh it out.