Perception, Interpretation and Imagination

In my free time, I tend to do a lot of different things like playing computer games, reading, modelling gundams or aircrafts, cycling, travelling etc. As for reading, I read about 4 books each week. These books are borrowed from the National Library so it's a cheap hobby for me. Most of my friends are puzzled as to how I could finish so many books in a week and would I remember or know what the book is about if I read them so fast. I always carry a book with me all the time and that allows me to read when travelling to and fro from work, although most of the time, I'm just lazing on my bed reading.

To me, reading is exactly like watching a movie. I perceive the words on each paragraph of the book, then according to my interpretation, my brain will imagine the things that happen in the book. However, details are not exactly that important to me as who exactly remember little details when they are watching a movie??!! I tend to be sucked into another reality while reading a book which allows me an escape from my current reality. However, it must be noted that even though I can picture the scenes from the book, I am unable to "feel" how the characters are feeling as I'm still detached even though I'm immersed in the environment. The only feeling I get is only based on the perception of the imagined environment I find myself in and that probably explains why I don't like romance novels as I'm unable to feel any love or sadness from the position of the main leads (characters) as I'm still detached.

This is probably also why I sometimes prefer to borrow a book from the library rather than watch a movie adaptation. It might also be interesting to note that for a movie, time is fairly short to tell a whole story and so, some details might be left out (Like character development). For a book, different people might interpret the script differently leading to multiple imagined environments and actions, but for a movie, an environment and the actions are already set in place by the movie director.

Similar to the aftermath of watching a movie, I might not be able to remember everything about the plot after reading, but the gist of what the story is about and the interesting highlights of the book I would still be able to remember them.