this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2025
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It blows my mind that some people can't visualize things in their mind. I can see anything I'd like to in remarkable detail, and often explore old places or properties from my childhood when I'm trying to fall asleep. I would be kind of crushed if I suddenly couldn't.
I wonder if those people read fiction. How could you possibly read for fun if you can't picture what's happening? For me, a book is as good as a movie.
Probably better than people who need to visualise stuff.
There's much more in books than just the visuals. There's the story, there's the characters' thoughts and personality, there's the author's style, and influences... they're infinitely more detailed and nuanced than film or TV.
Limiting them to the visual aspect seems like a disservice to both reader and author.
And, anyway, I know what's happening, it's written right there on the page, why would I need to visualise it?
And what if I imagined it a certain way, and later the author describes it differently than I imagined it, or adds some new detail that was missing in my mental image? Personally (if I experienced books like I do films) that kind of thing would completely pull me off from the story...
And what if the book is set somewhere alien to our senses? How do you visualise Flatland? Or the other universe in Asimov's The God's Themselves?
Frankly, needing to visualise books seems more like a handicap to me.
For me, it's a balancing act which depends on book I'm reading. Sometimes, depending on the book/passage/etc, authors like to write in a visually evocative where being able to picture the environment feels important.
Other times, the emotion or sensation is much more important so the world is described in far less detail.