When reading a novel, what most keeps you interested?

Question

plot? characters? and who do you like to read?

Answer 1

An interesting novel is the one that makes me forget I am reading a novel. (Otherwise, reading is a complete waste of time.) It draws me into the pages and involves me with the twisting plot and the characters on a deeply personal level. Often it deals with issues that are very relevant to my life and enables me to gain that vital information that helps me to understand the world in which I live and others that I share that world with. Any author that has that gift are on my reading list.

Answer 2

Usually interesting characters, themes that resonate with me, or an interesting style of writing. Writers who can describe settings and characters in a few words tend to get me hooked. It means you get the detail without it taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R. and drawing you out of the world of the story. I also tend to like books that use fantasy and symbolism rather than everything being literal.
I mostly like individual books rather than authors. The exeptions would be Stephen King and Charles Dickens. Off the top of my head some favourite books by other authors are Angela's Ashes, Frankenstein, Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, Phantom of the Opera, Girl Interrupted, To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, Heart of Darkness, A Clockwork Orange and heaps more but I'm having a bad brain day.

Answer 3

I'll use Harry Potter as an example, because once I start reading that (usually on the first day it comes out), I can't put it down...

Both the plot and the characters keep me interested. Readers of Harry Potter often develop a sort of bond to the characters, and when you are reading, you forget that they are not real. This is why when a character dies, I usually cry... a lot. But the characters keep me reading, because I care about what will happen to them. I want to find out "Who lives, who dies, and who falls in love" (this is the beginning of the title of a book of theories that Mugglenet.com wrote). I really care whether Ginny and Harry get back together. I care about whether or not Ron and Hermione live to the end.

The plot also keeps me reading. As the end of the Mugglenet.com book title states, I also want to find out "How The Adventure Ends", because the book has so many different mysteries, and I want to find out the solution to them. What are the missing horcruxes? Why did Dumbledore get the invisibility cloak? Who in the world was at Godric's Hollow that night? Mysteries like this keep me going not only from page to page and chapter to chapter, but from book to book. =)

Answer 4

I read all genre's except Romances(I can never understand what appeals to the people that read them).
The plot and characters are germaine to the story and that is good, but what appeals to me is does the book flow? Does the writing mesh with the story? If it is too disjointed or wordy it is not flowing. When I read it is like a movie in my mind. Everything has to flow and mesh to make it a good read. I can truthfully say that Matthew Reilly's, James Rollins and Steve Berry's books do that, they flow. And a lot of Sci-fi/fantasies do that also. I also like good mysteries that actually have a conclusive plot and the characters that seem to be just like you and me(more real as opposed to cartoonish like Stephanie Plum). Hope that answers your questions?

Answer 5

For me, it is compelling characters who I can understand and empathize with. I have read books which had incredibly interesting plot twists, however I never cared what happened to any of the characters. It leaves me with a feeling of "so what?"

I like to read anything I can get my hands on!

Answer 6

Ideas mostly. Also, if I can relate to the psychology of the characters.
I've read a lot of Herman Hesse and Charles Dickens novels.

Answer 7

The characters - especially the way they behave , the way they react to different situations [ if the situations are similar to our experiences , much better ]

My favourites : Dostoyevsky , James Joyce , Somerset
maughm , O'Henry ,Victoria Holt , Irwing Wallace ,
Arthur Hailey , Jeffrey Archer ,Stuart Cloete ....to name a few .

Answer 8

The character and the essence of the novel, "how many ages hence shall Shakespeare bewitch us with his words."

Answer 9

Detail Exp- I ran through the garden bare foot and felt to cool breeze on my face and the wet mu dd through my toes. Any book

Answer 10

both of coarse but mostly the way the writer writes meaning form , language , humor so on.
i myself like agatha chriistie, Dickens, Faulkner, and Grisham