On reading

As someone who really loves to read/listen to books I do some thinking about fiction and the way the story is presented. Not at any real literary level, but as also a geek I also think along those lines.

Now I have wondered if there is a technical term for the time it takes a book to suck you into the story. Sometimes a book gets you going from the first pages and sometimes much more is required to be setup before you really enter the story. I wouldn’t say that a good book always grabs you from the beginning, but often this is true. I have also found enjoyable stories that took much more to setup, especially in Science Fiction where sometimes a lot of history in this universe must be explained first.

Now whether there is a technical term or not for this – I call it a books “Event Horizon”, this is where the escape velocity exceeds you’re wanting to leave the book. Once you have entered the Event Horizon you are sucked into the book and can not leave it. Up to this point you could put the book down and maybe not even pick it up again. Now every book does not have a Event Horizon that suck you into the story, some just plain suck – and live you empty at the end. Unfortunately I have a high tolerance for fictional pain and rarely stop reading a book just because I didn’t like the story. Though when it comes to theology I won’t bear much silliness before the book hits the event horizon of my trashcan.

In the “When life gives you Lemons” category, this year I have a much longer commute to work that tripled the time I spend to drive. To demonstrate what a book lover I am, my first thoughts were “Wow, this gives me more time with audiobooks.” Thankful for sites like Librivox, Podiobooks, and book-reading podcasts like Forgotten Classics I have a steady diet of free audiobooks.