Reading Novels Like A Professor: Preface—Novel Possibilities, or All Animals Aren’t...

Reading Novels Like A Professor: Preface—Novel Possibilities, or All Animals Aren’t...: "Foster writes, “The novels we read allow us to encounter possible persons, versions of ourselves we would never see, never permit ourselves ..."

I can honestly say that I am not a huge fan of casual reading. I never really read novels on my own. My only real motivation for reading books in their entirety is simply from an educational standpoint during the school year or for summer reading. Although I am not a, “book worm”, I still enjoy reading the books that are assigned to me. One book that I enjoyed reading was Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. Through annotating the symbols and characters within the book I am able to intellectually understand the contents and the meaning of passages in the novel. I am able to comprehend what moral lessons and life explanations that Hugo wants the reader to with drawl from the novel. Another reason why I enjoyed Les Miserable’s so much is because of the very attractive plot and characters. The plot is definitely not spoon fed to the reader and that is what I enjoy most. It takes concentration and patience to understand the main story entirely. The plot of Les Miserables is split up into several different and smaller subplots. By the end of the book, each sub plot ties into the main plot of the story very smoothly. Also the characters are not simply black and white but are distinct shades of gray. The book really did a marvelous job of allowing the reader to understand each character‘s motives and personalities as well as understand the somewhat complex plot. That is what I truly care about most in a novel, the characters and plot. It is also the book that has opened me up to annotating novels, therefore learning all that I can from each book that I read. I enjoy reading books that are intellectual and clever, that do not point out every little detail, but allow the reader to unfold the story by themselves to some extent. A mysterious and unknown origin as well as destination always attracts my attention when it comes to novels.
Conner Furr