by Lisa Asanuma

Created on: April 18, 2008

Truthfully I could never choose a single book to live inside. Not because I don't think that there are books that contain worlds which I would enjoy living in, because that's not true at all, but simply because I can't imagine any book that I love to have space for an entity such as myself. If I fall in love with a book, it is usually because I've fallen in love with a character in that book, and if I've fallen in love with a character in that book, quite honestly it's usually because they are in love with someone else. Sentimentalist? Yes, indeed I am, but my argument remains.

For example, the first world that came to mind when I considered the subject, was that of L.M. Montgomery's Avonlea, idyll and charmed and full of characters that I adore. If I were to insert myself into that world, though, I would be dooming myself to a lifetime of unrequited love, as I can't imagine living in that world and loving anyone but Gilbert Blythe, and subsequently I can't imagine falling in love with Gilbert Blythe and attempting in any way shape or form to take him away from Anne Shirley. The same is true for almost every other book I could think of that I particularly love, even many that aren't necessarily deemed romances, and I simply couldn't do that to myself. Maybe if I didn't love the female characters as much as I loved their male counterparts, but I'm hard-pressed to find a fictional character I love without wanting them to have the love that they desire in return, and if I'm to be restricted to the role of voyeur, I'd just as soon do it from without the confines of the fictional world, thank you very much.

A book I would love to visit, on the other hand... that I'd be much more willing to answer, and in that case, as kitschy as the answer may be, I'd probably choose something the likes of the Harry Potter universe, simply because it's magical and so fully realized. I'd prefer to be able to pop in and out of any book I wanted, though. Can you imagine? Joining Rochester's party at Thornfield, sipping tea with Jane and Lizzie Bennet, maybe playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts, so long as you keep on her good side. To have to choose just one book would be a travesty! I'll take them all, thanks.

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