Deborah Adelaide

completely the opposite experience.

And it's always been my experience of reading and it doesn't ever, ever destroy the mystery of the text, delving into it deeply, you know, as you suggest.

You're risking asking me about reading.

I could just dominate the entire conversation.

So Belinda, you'd better jump in there.

Well, I think relatability is one of my most loathed terms.

It's very common to read on reading blogs, for instance, you know, relatability.

I really related to this novel, and I just cringe at that because I –

I don't want to read about my life or me or I want to escape all the time.

I want to read about something that I haven't experienced before.

That's, to me, one of the many joys of reading is that it enables you to do that.

So I confess that I find it puzzling when people...

say they loved a book because they related to the characters or the story or whatever.

I'm a very harsh critic, I know.

But I love it when I don't relate to a character at all, when they're totally unlike me and my lived experience.

Often, that means they're unlikable because they're so much more interesting.

It comes back to this question of what Belinda was just talking about, about how reading provides you with ways of thinking through things.

It offers you possibilities.

It doesn't provide answers to problems, but it helps you frame the right questions.

I feel better when I'm watching over you