#18 – What Makes a Great Book

I have just finished reading ‘I Still Dream’ by the English author James Smythe, and it got me thinking about what makes a great book. Of course, the answers will vary from one person to another, influenced by preferred genre, personal interests, hobbies, and maybe even our upbringing or careers. However, I suspect that there are key ingredients which, if present, will give it a much greater chance of rising above the average novel which is forgotten once the final page has been turned.

I enjoyed ‘I Still Dream’ immensely. There were times when I wanted to keep reading but just had to pause and savour the moment. I often get carried away by music; I can feel it suffuse my entire being, like a potion that can transport me to the world of the lyrics. It’s rare for me to have that same experience from a book. Often when reading, there is a delay while our brain interprets the meaning of the text before passing it to our mind, through which we may then experience a physical reaction to what we have just read. Last year I read ‘Himself’ by Jess Kidd. It was lyrical in the way it was written and strange as this may sound, I think my brain processed the words differently, more like music, which created an entirely different and rewarding experience.

Like myself, many of you reading this post will be both readers and writers. For us, I feel it’s important to become aware of books that reach beyond our intellectual space to permeate our physical being. If we can identify the key ingredients within these stories, maybe we can create something similar ourselves. Imagine the pleasure of writing a book you know will provide such an experience for your readers. Surely the hard work we endure in the stages of writing would be eased, knowing that the outcome had the potential to create magic, to take readers somewhere special, causing them to sit back mid-chapter and say ‘wow’.

What key ingredients can make a book extraordinary?

I think our experiences are enriched when we feel a connection, when someone ‘gets’ us and understands what we are going through without us having to verbalise that which, often, cannot be accurately described. Frequently the books that have an impact on us are those that reflect our own circumstances, those where the protagonist is experiencing a similar challenge to us, at that time in our life. We invest in that character, eager to see how they navigate the obstacles that we have encountered, hopeful that they succeed so that we might learn from them. Even though the characters are fictional, we feel a connection to them and can be inspired to take action ourselves.

This relationship will be greatly enhanced if we can make other connections with the character, beyond the challenges they have. In ‘I Still Dream’, the main character Laura Bow, is a computer programmer, born in 1980. She loves music and spends time making her own mixtapes, including artists like Kate Bush and Radiohead. The title of the book is taken from the first line of the Kate Bush song Cloudbusting, which appears on her Hounds of Love album. The story leaps forward ten years at a time and cleverly includes references to life during the period without it seeming forced. As it moves to 2027 and beyond, we get a glimpse into what the future may be like, with an emphasis on the role of artificial intelligence. All of these ingredients established new connections for me, especially the references to Kate Bush, Cloudbusting, computer programming and AI.

Maybe the books we choose and enjoy most, are those that reflect our own deep questions about life, purpose and adversity. This might explain why a book we loved five years ago and vowed to keep and reread, holds no interest when we revisit it. We have moved on and no longer have the same questions.

I like books that change my perceptions and evolve my understanding of myself and others, through the experiences of their characters. Participation through fiction and movies, though passive, can be more empowering than any self-help guide or friendly advice. They can help me understand myself better and navigate my way through life, especially in how I see myself & how I interact with other people. These are the books that I keep after I’ve read them, that I dip into now and again to revisit the characters that I connected with, and where I hope to find a previously undiscovered nugget of wisdom.

Happy Writing,
Harry

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