Yes! Who on earth likes to be 'told' anything? We want our own thoughts and experiences to be kicked up and kindled by what we read. Then what we read feels real to us. Maybe empathy is a requirement of a truly deep reading experience.
I don't know that I have anything to hand that so neatly encapsulates what you're writing about, but I'm quite pleased with this little passage from my short story 'Lethe':
"She stood in dismay. The tray began to tremble, the crockery to rattle."
This is from the first of the three chapters. A simple domestic act – an aged woman bringing her husband a cup of tea in the garden – turns into something dreadful: the realisation that she is losing her mind. The story is about an old couple's coping strategies in the face of the slow annihilation of their memory – and the lengths they will go to in support of each other.
Yes! Who on earth likes to be 'told' anything? We want our own thoughts and experiences to be kicked up and kindled by what we read. Then what we read feels real to us. Maybe empathy is a requirement of a truly deep reading experience.
I don't know that I have anything to hand that so neatly encapsulates what you're writing about, but I'm quite pleased with this little passage from my short story 'Lethe':
"She stood in dismay. The tray began to tremble, the crockery to rattle."
This is from the first of the three chapters. A simple domestic act – an aged woman bringing her husband a cup of tea in the garden – turns into something dreadful: the realisation that she is losing her mind. The story is about an old couple's coping strategies in the face of the slow annihilation of their memory – and the lengths they will go to in support of each other.
Oh,I love this! I am early for a doctor's appointment, with time to read, and you opened my whole day. Thank you!