Welcome to another bookish event: Booking Through Thursday. We explore bookish topics and share our thoughts.
Today’s prompt:
How much do you visualize when you read? Do you imagine faces for the characters? Can you see the locations in your mind’s eye? Or do you just plunge ahead with the story, letting the imagery fall to the wayside?
***
I consider myself a “visual” person, so imagery is what I love best about a book. Sure, intense plots in the thrillers I read carry me along, but when the author—whether the book is a mystery or not—shows me the settings through visual images, I am a fan. And what the author doesn’t show me through her word pictures, I can imagine and love to do so.
In a recent read, Accused, by Lisa Scottoline (click title for my review), I enjoyed the mystery…but also visualizing the world that surrounded the characters. As in this excerpt:
“Mary, Judy, Anthony, The Tonys, and her father crowded around the tiny kitchen table, eating, drinking, chattering away, and sitting hip-to-replacement-hip in the cramped DiNunzio kitchen. Fresh basil and garlic scented the air, and steam rose from hot plates of homemade ravioli and peppery sausage. Everyone sweated into his food, but it would never occur to Mary’s parents to eat anything cooler, even in a Philadelphia summer, and Mary wouldn’t have it any other way. Whoever said you can’t go home again wasn’t Italian.
She tuned out the merry chatter and let her loving eyes travel around the kitchen. The cabinets and counter were clean, white, and simple, and on the walls hung an ancient church calendar with Jesus Christ, next to faded newspaper photos of John F. Kennedy and Pope John, the three Lifetime MVPs in the DiNunzio Hall-of-Fame. Nothing ever changed at her parents’, who were like the Amish, but with better food….”
See what I mean? Visual…and the story, while full of suspense and mystery, continues to surround the reader with visual settings like this one. Images that draw me in and make me part of the story. That’s why I love imagery!
What about you? What floats your boat?
AN INTERIOR JOURNEY 
What a great excerpt! In addition to activating the visual imaginatio, it stirs the taste buds and olfactory sense. I do like to create visuals for characters and places in my mind’s eye, but I also enjoy stories set in places I’ve already visited. For me, that’s an enjoyable way of returning and feeling like an insider.
LikeLike
Yes, I think that the imagery the author brings out triggers more visualizations (and sensory experiences) as we read….And definitely all the senses are activated. Thanks for stopping by, Catherine.
LikeLike
Yep, I’m a visual person too. I love it when authors are able to make it “real” for the readers!
LikeLike
Me, too, Kristin…and I will purposely add books by those authors to my stacks. Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
What a great example! I’m right there in the kitchen with them . . .
LikeLike
Thanks, Book Mammal…that’s how I feel when I read scenes like this one. I do savor books that offer these little extras. Thanks for stopping by.
LikeLike
A great answer.
http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/09/booking-through-thursday.html
LikeLike
Thanks, Mary Ann…glad you could stop by.
LikeLike
I’m with you, I visualize everything! Thanks for commenting on my BTT!
LikeLike
You are welcome, Shannon, and the visualizations are the best part of the story for me. Thanks for visiting.
LikeLike
I do agree that it how rich in detail the imagery is that the author provides.
http://dawntreader-island2.blogspot.se/2013/09/booking-through-thursday-imagery.html
LikeLike
Definitely! Thanks for stopping by, Dawn, and enjoy your reading.
LikeLike
I don’t think I always visualize the setting but I do visualize the characters.
LikeLike
Yes, it’s hard to engage with a character we can’t visualize, IMO. Thanks for stopping by, Kathy.
LikeLike
I really never thought about this before but I do believe I am a visual kind of reader, too!
LikeLike
I love being swept up into the characters’ worlds by visualizing them in their settings….Thanks for stopping by, Patty, and enjoy your reading.
LikeLike
What a great example. And the way she describes her parents’ kitchen decor gives me a sense of who they are and therefore an image of what I think they look like. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
Thanks, Jennifer…I believe that “seeing” the characters’ surroundings adds another dimension to them. And you’re right….it helps us have an image of them, too.
LikeLike
I love the visual imagery as you pointed out. The author is describing the smells, the decor, the temperature in the room..wonderful bit of writing! When I read books whose descriptions are sparingly given, with short sentences and abrupt chapters, I am turned off.
By the way, I am a fan of Scottoline’s stand-alones. I should check out this series of hers also.
LikeLike
I love her memoirs as well…and the descriptions in a book make me feel as if the character (author) has invited me into her world. Thanks for stopping by, Rita, and enjoy your weekend.
LikeLike
Wow, that’s great! Haven’t yet read one of her books, but must check them out.
LikeLike
Oh, I think you’d enjoy the variety, from mysteries to memoirs. Thanks for stopping by, Sam.
LikeLike