Reading experience curiosity
Hello community,
In struggling to read a book, I suspected my aphantasia was most probably the barrier keeping me from entering the (highly descriptive) storyline.
I’m on Goodreads, so I posted there with a question looking for other Aphants and how they had fared with this book. But it’s seems unlikely any Aphants will even come across the post there. So as there are quite a few of us here, I hoped to maybe find a response (or connect to readers:) here!
Also, even if you haven’t read this particular book, It would be great to hear some more aphants book experiences, favourites and failures!
(Following is the Goodreads post text, therefore my attempt to explain my own Aphantasia experience as not all might have encountered it before there;)
Has anyone with aphantasia given ‘Nausea’ by Sartre a try?
It proved too inaccessible for me… I have aphantasia, meaning I cannot visualise. Instead of mental images, I simply have a blank quiet when I close my eyes. Where I cannot visualise, I can sense/think/feel my way through experiences. Normally, the way my mind works feels just fine and normal to me and I experience life deeply my way. Yet, sometimes a too strong demand on visualisation catches me off guard and frustratingly confronts me with my lack of inner-eye - and saddens me with this inability…
Nausea relies so heavily on endless detailed descriptions to transport you through the story and calls for inner-eye to unlock its philosophy, that I felt left at the gate without a key.
Many (most) books fortunately are also accessible with aphantasia, you just connect through different paths (characters journeys, plot, concepts, dialogue, emotions etc.). But with this one, it took me some time to realise my non-visual brain might be the reason that I was struggling. And then it hit me why the story felt so plotless, meaningless and inaccessible: If you cannot convert those continuous descriptions of how things look into a mental movie, you are left with nothing but page after page of tedious data. I didn’t catch the experience or emotional weight of it.
So even though I started out curious about the experience and Sartre's ideas, I abandoned my unviable, futile struggle half way through.
But it did leave me wondering how others who are like me and cannot visualise have experienced it?
I’d love to hear!
Mary-Ann
Wondered this too?
Have a question of your own?
Ask the community what you wonder about, or share what it’s like for you.
Guidelines
- Be kind, and assume good faith.
- Share what it’s like for you.
- Ask anything you wonder about.
- Help newcomers feel welcome.
Image-Free Insights
A short note from our founder, Tom Ebeyer, every other week, plus occasional news and invitations to take part in studies. Change what you get from any email.