my life in words and pictures

I’ve just finished reading the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. I loved them, they were really good and very easy to get into. They were so detailed but they had a really good plot, too.

I love books and I love reading them. If it’s a good book like the ones I’ve already mentioned, I’ll want to finish it as soon as possible so that I’ll find out what happens. I have a very strong sense of curiosity that only finishing a book can sate.

But, with the ending of a book comes the end of a unique kind of relationship. In books such as this, you start to empathise with the characters, feel the emotions that they are feeling. You start to like them and start to live your life parallel to theirs. They don’t know who you are, but you know everything about them, you know their background, their story and what makes them tick. You’re living their life at the same time as they are, and you don’t know what’s going to happen any more than they do.

When you read the final word of a book that you’ve gotten really engrossed in, you lose all that. It’s almost like losing a friend. You’re never going to have the same sort of relationship with them. Re-reading isn’t the same, you know what’s going to happen and the excitement isn’t there. There’s no surprises.

Finishing a book for me is both good and bad. My curiosity has been rewarded, but I lose that little piece of fantasy that kept me company for as long as I’ve been reading the book. And I can never tell if finishing the story is an accomplishment or a time to say goodbye.