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Do you tend to read more books that are about people like you or different from you?
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I don't read many books about people like me; we're really not that interesting.I can't choose a book by the author because I don't usually know anything about the author. I just know the name on the spine. I can usually tell if it's a man or a woman, but even there they can trip me up by using just initials or a pseudonym.
I'll go with, "I like to read novels about people somewhat different from myself."
This is an interesting question, but I'm comfortable with a couple points:1) I don't actively try to read books that are either about people like me or about people different than me.
2) I think the phrase "like me" can be interpreted in different ways. For example, is an eighty year old woman "like" me because she has PTSD? Or is a 41 year old guy like me because we're the same age?
3) I work under the assumption that most people are "like" each other in some ways and the insight associated with reading about a myriad of people and expanding my own worldview is important, although that statement might be too broad, I'll have to think about it more. When I look at my 2010 booklist, though, I see few books about people "like" me. In fact, if a book is advertised as about 41 year old guys, the hard-sell, I'm probably turned off.
I think the Franzen issue is a bit more complex, though, and tied into the hype...the idea that Freedom was a big important novel could lead to the implication that people like the characters are big and important, too.
Okay, so first I have to answer...what is a person like me?I'm black, overweight, female, college sophomore, lower-middle class....I haven't read many books about "people like me"
But I have identified with tons of different types of characters, but they didn't have to look like me. I hate it when black people only read those "black novels," and I'm not talking you know, Hughes or Baldwin, or Hurston,or Walker, no, they're reading those stupid Zane Sex novels and Steve Harvey self-help books that are placed in the same bookstore section as those other BRILLIANT, CLASSIC writers, and it's not fair.
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Maybe it was a silly question. I don't really know what I was going for. Just provoking conversation, I guess. I love to read books set in Africa and India because I am fascinated with their myriad and diverse cultures. I like reading literary short fiction, but I get bored out of my mind reading novel-length contemporary American lit fic unless it is truly revelatory.
Honestly, if I see an award-winning novel that seems to focus almost exclusively on its setting in another culture, I'm likely to pass. Not my thing...I'd rather read nonfiction about other cultures, I guess.
I have a tendency to stay away from fictions about other cultures mainly because I'm not familiar enough with world history/contemporary society to know whether the author is "getting it right" or being shallow and/or patronizing toward that culture . Even an American writing about their own local/hometown can be way off base . when reading about your own culture its easy to decide whether the author's story is worth ignoring the bad representation , but for other cultures you need some knowledge of its real life to make that decision .
I'm right in the middle. Reading a book about someone exactly like me would be boring, reading a book about someone utterly different would be too confusing, so I like to be able to find at least a few things in common with at least one character.
It's a hard question because it's hard to make a generalization - for me, those things have gone in stages. When I was a kid, I definitely enjoyed books about other girls, but I also liked it when they were set in other times, so there was something sort of foreign. As I've grown older, being more adventurous in that way comes with learning more about the world. Yes, I often am attracted to a book by a different setting, but in terms of character, the outward trappings don't seem that significant. If a character is written about well enough, the common humanity is always there to connect with, and at the same time, a 48-year-old woman from Kentucky is not going to be "me" any more than any of my friends are.Does that make sense?
It's definitely true for me,though, that reading great stories with great characters has helped me gain a curiosity and learn about other kinds of people and cultures. And learn to have compassion for others as well.
Jammies wrote: "I'm right in the middle. Reading a book about someone exactly like me would be boring, reading a book about someone utterly different would be too confusing, so I like to be able to find at least ..."Yes, I agree that they do need some points in common, but for me there are certain human traits that supersede lesser commonalities. I can fully empathize with the desire for safety or security, so the characters of Say You're One of Them spoke to me even when they had little else in common with me (or with each other for that matter).
I often have trouble with books that are removed in both time and geography, though. A novel set in 12th century Japan has to really work to keep me, since there are so many levels of remove.
i read books with all kinds of different characters, some of which are more like me than others. identifying with a character is not very important to me. i'd rather read about interesting characters, or read a well-written book.
My favorite books do tend to be ones with characters I can strongly identify with. I love Jane Eyre, for example, with Jane's love of reading and strong sense of self.But when I'm choosing a book to read, I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for a good story, and a character I can enjoy spending time with, regardless of sex, color, country, planet.
I'm not an artistic Jewish boy growing up in New York City, dealing with the conflict between his faith and the symbolism used in painting, but I loved My Name Is Asher Lev, and learned a lot about both art and Judaism, and family relations, reading that book.
I'm not a hermaphrodite descended from an Armenian (I think?) family that emigrated to America, but I found his/her family history fascinating, all those eras they went through, in Middlesex.
Yes, I want to be able to understand the main characters' motivations, so they have to be like me enough for that. But as some of you have already said, as humans we all have more in common than not.
Both like me and not like me. I’ll lap up anything with dense yummy language. I think most readers read in part because they intensely curious about other people, and reading is still more socially acceptable than peering through window blinds, although less acceptable than reality television mysteriously.
At the same time, I admit to being particularly drawn to eccentric characters, in life and in print. I suppose the very distinction of eccentricity precludes a certain amount of similarity, however.
And then there is the Jungian shadow self idea that I really am like everyone, including really terrible vile types somewhere deep down inside.
Spooky.
At the same time, I admit to being particularly drawn to eccentric characters, in life and in print. I suppose the very distinction of eccentricity precludes a certain amount of similarity, however.
And then there is the Jungian shadow self idea that I really am like everyone, including really terrible vile types somewhere deep down inside.
Spooky.
The thought of reading about someone like myself is a little off-putting. I'm such a normal, boring person. It never occurs to me to look for stories that are about people similar to me.I'm way more interested in what the story is about and where it's going. For example, when I picked up Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith at the bookstore, I didn't want to read it because it was about a couple of cowboy brothers, but because one of the cowboys was obsessed with Sherlock Holmes. I read Spin by Robert Charles Wilson because the plot looked interesting: one day all the stars go out, and we eventually discover that the Earth has been enshrouded by a weird membrane that has slowed the passing of time... Cool, huh? But the characters turned out to be beyond dull.
Occasionally I'll read a book just because I'm into one of the characters, ie Elvis Cole or Special Agent Pendergast. But that's rare.
I enjoy reading about different cultures and people. For a while I couldn't get enough of the King Arthur legend. Then I moved on to historical fiction of England during Henry VIII reign.Over the last couple of years, I've noticed a trend towards Oriental settings.
My life is pretty ordinary and I can live vicariously through reading.
I read to escape. I already know how boring I am, why would I want to read about it?
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for me, it depends on my mood. Sometimes I want a big adventure and sometimes I want to know that I am not alone in my struggles. and really it isn't so much that I want to read about someone like me, but rather, someone who has faced the same adversity, challenges, or joy as me, the decisions they made, and the resulting consequences. I guess that is why I like reading memoirs and biographies.
i just finished reading nice work by david lodge, which was excellent. i chose to read it because i liked small world and found a copy of nice work for 60 cents. part of the reason i enjoyed it (apart from david lodge being a genius and all) was because i could identify with the main character, who works at a university in the english department and will very likely not have a job there the next year. per some idea from up above (the VC not JC) she has to shadow someone in the industry world. this has her thinking about the usefulness of her university knowledge and skills and the place of universities in society. characters like this are a bonus that will make a great book even better.
I don't know that a character's similarities to me is a factor in reading the book. To me, the character is an agent. Depending on the book, they can be an agent of any varying functions of a story: escapism, moral lesson, social commentary, satire, comedy, etc.
It's the function that draws me in I think, and then maybe by extension, the character. Don't get me wrong. Characters are the most essential part of any good story. But to me, the quality of the story is determined by how they're used. Not their likeness to me.
janine wrote: "i just finished reading nice work by david lodge, which was excellent. i chose to read it because i liked small world and found a copy of nice work for 60 cents. part of the reason i enjoyed it (ap..."Now, based on Janine's description, I will mark Nice Work as TBR.
I need a book that has at least one likable character (boo Kite Runner.) Then I can imagine what I'd do in the same situation. Maybe I get an insight, or a feeling of validation along the way.
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Terminalcoffee
Books mentioned in this topic
Middlesex (other topics)My Name Is Asher Lev (other topics)
Say You're One of Them (other topics)
Do you like to read novels set in other cultures? Do you prefer a protagonist you can identify with, or one who gives you a new world view?
Is there any work of fiction that really changed your view of another group?
Big questions, I know.