Has any book ever evoked an emotional empathy within you that

only anime does this to me, a visceral response requires appeal to multiple senses rather than perhaps the impression of the senses.

Thereby a visual medium will have more impact than a written medium, however both are still below experiencing the heights of both and this realization readily leads to Weltschmerz.

What I want to feel cannot match what I imagine I want.

Every time someone asks for a book that will change their life or give them a new point of view- you really can't predict that kind of thing. No book is guaranteed to give you catharsis. Books that changed or had a great effect on one reader may have no effect on you at all. It may be that someone picked up a certain book at just the right time in their life, but who is to say it will have the same impact on you? The only solution is to read constantly or as often as you can, so that you can come across the book that will leave its mark on you.

>>8535777
>Has any book ever evoked an emotional empathy within you that is as profoundly affectionate as they are seemingly personal?

It might be that English isn't your first language, but this is confusing. What is the "they (are personal)" referring to? You've switched from the second person to the third.


>Also why do you read books in the first place?
Because I enjoy reading. I can't give a simpler reason than that.

>>8535833
This post reminds me of Montaigne's Essays.
I agree.

>>8535801
I feel like all produced mediums lack the inherent reciprocal, and therefore feedback-loop qualities of real life interactions. Where the intensity of the impressions are all sourced from within the individual, some may have more than others but its fundamentally limited, or you could say isolated in nature.
Whereas the dynamic nature of real interaction can seemingly make up an infinite array of emotions and impressions just through the interaction itslef.

>>8535777

Yes, there have been some, and maybe one in particular, but if I mentioned it /lit/ would sprain its collective typing finger pouncing on it as >muh meme

Saunders! Especially things that aren't Civalwarland In Bad Decline. The Tenth of December is filled with stories like this. I think he more than any other author fulfills me emotionally in the way you describe.

>>8535849
Nah, Montaigne knew what catharsis meant

>>8535861
I'm interested in hearing what it is if you'll share it.

>>8535878

The one I'm thinking of had a (minor) character who invited the reader to see the world as described in OP, which was probably more striking because of his physical disability
I think the disability is a distinctive personal touch that makes the effect (empathy and so on) stronger
To me he's the emotional and moral core of the book

>>8535875
Please explain how it was misused.

>>8535833
Those weren't my intentions for the questions anyhow.

The important thing to stress is that empathy, the difficult nature of placing oneself in others shoes, without getting conscious about ones own reflection in that mental image, is something that needs attention and care, moreso i reckon than any other intellectual humbug.

I asked about your personal experiences, what I got instead was a not so condescending remark about why the question you thought I had asked was of no avail.

But I should thank you for exemplifying that discrepancy right from the get go.

>>8535777
OP, read What Men Live By by Tolstoy

>>8535911
Lemme guess. Tiny Tim?

>>8535846
It was a reference not to the books but of the empathy generated by them.
And yeah English isnt my native language

>>8535946

That's not the one I was thinking of, although Scrooge's transformation in that is very affecting to me

>>8535939
Reading in general will enhance your ability to feel empathy with others. Sometimes people here request books which will invoke specific feelings, so I was trying to explain why that is difficult to do.

>>8535777
Honestly, this book evoked the opposite of empathy in me. I felt hostility towards both of them and their petite, privileged (yes, I said it), rich white people problems. I was completely unable to put myself in their position, which I guess was a failure of mine, but it cost me as I failed a lit course over it.

>>8535777
Whitman. Especially song of myself.

>>8535777

only two, both by Jews

Night by Elie Wiesel because I'm a stupid memer

and Enemies, A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

The latter is one of my favorite novels of all time, would definitely recommend to anyone who likes contemporary jewish lit

File: vladimir-nabokovs-quotes-6.jpg (242KB, 946x632px) Image search: [Google]

242KB, 946x632px

Diary of Anne Frank
Magic Mountain
Ein Mann will nach Oben
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I read because I like stories and language.
Reading comforts me, gives me ideas and feels, and at time motivates me.

>>8535777
Agapē Agape
The Blood Oranges
Gravity's Rainbow (the ending fucked my shit up)
The Recognitions
Ulysses (towards the end mostly)