How does one detach themselves from a piece of fiction that
they are reading? Does it even make sense to do that?
I am currently reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, and while
that book is beautifully written, it is intense. Blunt and glaring descriptions
of slavery and violence, often times this book is hard to digest. But as I am
reading it, I can feel that it is something important. That I should not shy away
from it because this is not just fiction based in non-reality, but actual
reality for people who were living at that time. I should not shy away from
understanding what they went through, if only to appreciate how far along we
have come as humans and how far along we still have to go.
So I am wondering now, should I even try to detach myself
from the characters, or open myself to an experience like never before? Just
raw and real emotions which will quite possible make me a changed person. For
now, I am just going with the flow and dropping the book whenever it gets too intense,
and reading something else. I highly recommend it to everyone though. It’s a work
of art, and if it makes you check your privilege, then that is just an
introspective experience you cannot miss.
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