Characters! (Post 10)

The last time I really fell deep into the world of a book was over the summer. I was reading, for the second time, a book called Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (which, by the way, is my #1 favorite book ever). There are some specific things I look for in a book, but the thing that really makes me loose myself in a book is how relatable the characters are. When I read fiction, I'm constantly (but sort of subconsciously) searching for ways that the main character(s) relates to my own self, or my own life. I don't think it's because it makes it easier to put myself in the twisting and turning plot that the character interacts with, but more because having a relatable character helps me to learn more about myself as I read. It's as if I'm reading a story about myself and watching the moves I make as I go along. I often find myself paying closer attention to the details of a character than I do to the plot of the book. I also tend to like books that are more heavy on character study than plot (Catcher in the Rye, A Separate Peace, to name a few). So for me, it's the characters that really make me loose myself in reading--trying to figure out their world with them and letting them tell me things about mine.