After a book is read, I’ll give myself a break–about a day or two. I often find myself unable to leave that literary space–that world I was immersed in, unable to put aside everything that I’ve experienced. Reading is as much an experience as a visiting a new place or watching a movie. It’s full of moments and scenes that stay with you, and when you can empathize with the characters, it’s like meeting people who are sharing their experiences and thoughts candidly.
Each book is different for me, in which some books linger longer than others, but they all remain in the back of my mind. Often times I learn something from them, see things from a new point of view. It’s kind of like hearing someone share their story about a trip or a topsy-turvy day they had, and finding out things that haven’t been talked about or discussed before.
But books can also impress quotes upon your mind, passages that stay with you because they describe something so clearly and unequivocally in which you had a hard time putting into words. It is those parts in the book that stir up new modes of thinking, new modes of analysis, and make you appreciate what you’ve read and learned.
Fallton Havenstonne 