---
title: "Fiction"
url: https://perrotta.dev/2025/01/fiction/
last_updated: 2025-01-02
---


**Immersion**.

You know you are reading a great book[^1] when you feel immersed, constantly pausing
and deliberating, like having a daydream about its characters and overarching
plot.

You know you are reading a great book when you constantly stop and identify
yourself with one of the characters, or perhaps with all of them,
understanding their unique personality traits, intimate thoughts, deep wishes
and ongoing struggles.

You know you are reading a great book when you momentarily disappear – even
if only for a tiny bit – underneath your own thoughts and experiences.

[^1]: Replace
    _boo[k](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow)_
    with _videogam[e](https://store.steampowered.com/app/383870/Firewatch/)_:
    the impact is comparable, if not even more.