Viva La Difference!

I was reading Carole Knits this morning.  Don't run off; I'm not going to talk about knitting.

Carole said, " I went to a library conference a few years ago and attended a lecture by Nancy Pearl. She is a well known reader’s advisory expert and she said that people read for 4 major things: character, language, story or setting."  She explained that she reads books for the setting -- she wants to feel as if she is in the book.

What draws you to a book?  Is it setting?  Character? Language? Or story?  I'm not sure.  I think language, for me, is a gateway.  And maybe this statement isn't really about language, but more about skill, but if a book is written poorly, I won't read it.  Awkward writing, where the use of words becomes a distraction, will turn me off a book.  And I love clever writing, where the words of the characters pull you in -- either through laughter or just plain cleverness.

Story is important to me, but perhaps most important as it relates to relationships.   I want to care about the character, and I want to see how the characters care about each other. 

And I want a happy ending.  So there -- I said it.  It's fiction, and it can end well.

I feel the same way about movies, and I am convinced that even though the first (produced) Star Wars had a much smaller budget than the last three, the earlier ones did well because we cared about the characters, and they cared about each other.

I have a friend who hears only the notes (or mainly the "notes" -- meaning the sound of the music itself) when he listens to music.  I hear the lyrics.

If we all are attracted to books, movie, music by different components, and we don't have an issue with that difference, then how is it that we become so close-minded about other issues?  Don't we realize yet how differently we were created?  And how great that is?