People are being superficial about books now too?!?

Question

Okay so, am I the only person that's noticed some people talking about 'hot people' in books? If I'm not, does it bother you too?

It really bothers me. Come on now, people, you've never seen book characters, so you really don't have the right to call them 'hot' or judge them by their looks. I've heard of a person that only read a certain book because their friend thought the main character was goodlooking. So I have another question, how can someone have good looks if they don't even have any looks?

Answer 1

If you use your imagination while you read you can imagine the character however you want to.

Answer 2

People are always going to imagine that the characters look in a way that is pleasing to them. What i consider to be good looking is probably vastly different to your concept. So therefore how are people being superficial exactly?

And h**l, give me the choice of imagining someone I consider 'hot' or imagining someone fugly i know which way I'm going.

Answer 3

If you're referring specifically to Edward Cullen, I totally agree. I mean, it is true - Stephenie explains him with such great quality and beauty that its hard to resist - but it gets so annoying. Plus, his personality is so messed up.

And I believe the proper term for me to use in this case would be "imagination." NOTHING in a book is real... even if it is based on a true story. None of it is real; real in the sense that it has happening right in front of you. Which brings me to my conclusion, people can like books and characters from books. There is seriously nothing wrong with that.

Imagination. That's all it takes. As long as its not an obsessive kind of love, then I find it alright.

Answer 4

True. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Read the "Uglies" series. It's good and hits on this issue perfectly.

Answer 5

idk

Answer 6

it all is in how you paint the picture in your mind, and how deep you connect to the characters.....books are easy to get involved with, the words enter the crevices of your mind, get you thinking, stay with you longer than say, a movie.....they can be mind-eye-candy

Answer 7

When it comes to books it's mainly about personality...I've read stories where the male lead is not specifically described as hot (not ugly or fat either though) but the way he interacts with the characters, and the way he's intelligent and kind makes me fall in love with him. It's different in real life or when you watch a movie, in which your first impression comes from looks. In novels it's what they do and say that makes you like or dislike them. There is also something called imagination in which the author describes what the person looks like, and how people act around him/her.

Answer 8

Haha yeah, I always wondered that too, but if you think about it the other way, people have never seen the characters so they really think they're hot based on their personality. So maybe it's really a good thing, and maybe makes people less superficial. I'm not sure. I know a girl who swears Mr. Darcy is the hottest person on Earth, though

Answer 9

That's pretty much the point of descriptions. You know, those adjectives that authors use to paint a picture of a person or place in the readers' minds so that they may see the characters move throughout the story. You know what characters look like from those kinds of sentences. Then there are book covers, or illustrations at the beginnings of the chapters too.

No, it doesn't bother me that much that people call characters good-looking. I hear it all the time.

As to your second question, just because there is no picture doesn't mean that we can never know what a character looks like. Use your imagination; even if the author doesn't say outright that so-and-so has brown hair and green eyes, is medium height, and average weight doesn't mean you can't know what she looks like. You can guess from other details, like the way she acts, what she eats, how she lives, how people see her, etc. Imagination.  

Answer 10

I blame Edward Cullen.