--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...the experience of reading a novel has…" description: "\"“...the experience of reading a novel has certain qualities that remind us of the traditional apprehension of mythology. It can be seen as a form of me..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/karen-armstrong-1053_another-world_the-experience-of-reading-a-novel-has-ce_3191267.jpg" --- # ...the experience of reading a novel has certain qualities… ![“...the experience of reading a novel has certain qualities that remind us of the traditional apprehension of mythology. It can be seen as a form of meditation. Readers have to live with a novel for days or even weeks. It projects them into another world, parallel to but apart from their ordinary…” quote by Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/karen-armstrong-1053_another-world_the-experience-of-reading-a-novel-has-ce_3191267.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/karen-armstrong-1053_another-world_the-experience-of-reading-a-novel-has-ce_3191267.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/61a/karen-armstrong-1053_another-world_the-experience-of-reading-a-novel-has-ce_3191267.jpg) > ““...the experience of reading a novel has certain qualities that remind us of the traditional apprehension of mythology. It can be seen as a form of meditation. Readers have to live with a novel for days or even weeks. It projects them into another world, parallel to but apart from their ordinary lives. They know perfectly well that this fictional realm is not 'real' and yet while they are reading it becomes compelling. A powerful novel becomes part of the backdrop of our lives, long after we have laid the book asie. It is an exercise of make-believe that, like yoga or a religious festival, breaks down barriers of space and time and extends our sympathies, so that we are able to empathise with others lives and sorrows. It teaches compassion, the ability to 'feel with' others. And, like mythology, an important novel is transformative. If we allow it to do so, it can change us forever.”” [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reading novels acts like meditation, immersing us in alternate worlds that foster empathy and lasting personal transformation. **In simple terms:** Novels deepen empathy and can change us. Key Takeaway Read regularly to expand compassion and self‑growth. Themes empathy fiction meditation transformation Mood thoughtful inspired Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - book clubs - creative writing workshops - personal development Key Concepts narrative immersion psychological insight cultural myth Questions to Reflect On - What novel has shifted your perspective? - How can you apply a story’s lesson in daily life? A Different Perspective Reading alone may not guarantee change without active reflection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Another world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-world/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Space and time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-and-time/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“We have seen that a myth could never approached in a purely profane setting. It was only comprehensible in a liturgical context that set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/we-have-seen-that-a-myth-could-never-approached-in-a-purely-profane/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [The experience of reading a novel and watching a television show are quite different. You can't let your audience get ahead of you, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-fairley/the-experience-of-reading-a-novel-and-watching-a-television-show-are/) [Michelle Fairley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-fairley/) > [“My ideal state as a reader when I’m reading other people is feeling I’m vaguely wasting my time when I’m not reading that novel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/my-ideal-state-as-a-reader-when-i-m-reading-other-people-is-feeling-i/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It's great to imagine and visualise while reading a novel. It doesn't always work for a film. 'Pavithra' had a good script executed badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shriya-saran/it-s-great-to-imagine-and-visualise-while-reading-a-novel-it-doesn-t/) [Shriya Saran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shriya-saran/) > [Reading a novel is just a much more involving and intimate experience than the act of watching a film. I mean, you literally get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mcinerney/reading-a-novel-is-just-a-much-more-involving-and-intimate-experience/) [Jay McInerney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mcinerney/) > [In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/in-reading-a-novel-any-novel-we-have-to-know-perfectly-well-that-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“You’re different, and I know that’s probably the most cliché response ever given, but it’s the truth. When I look at you, it’s as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-george/you-re-different-and-i-know-that-s-probably-the-most-clich-response/) [Caroline George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-george/) > [One performs a very different act when reading a movie and when reading a novel. Your attention behaves differently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/one-performs-a-very-different-act-when-reading-a-movie-and-when/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [“Though a work of literature can be read in a number of ways, this number is finite and can be arranged in a hierarchical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden-3/though-a-work-of-literature-can-be-read-in-a-number-of-ways-this/) [W H Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden-3/) > [“Happiness is.. reading a novel with your Bestie.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrmn/happiness-is-reading-a-novel-with-your-bestie/) Vikrmn > [Reading a novel of a private experience, very, very different, the nature of it is very different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-pollack/reading-a-novel-of-a-private-experience-very-very-different-the/) [Sydney Pollack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-pollack/) > [“It is the form that allows a writer the greatest opportunity to explore human experience...For that reason, reading a novel is potentially a significant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/it-is-the-form-that-allows-a-writer-the-greatest-opportunity-to/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Reading a novel, War and Peace for example, is no Catnap. Because a novel is so long, reading one is like being married forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/reading-a-novel-war-and-peace-for-example-is-no-catnap-because-a/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I think reading a novel is almost next best to having something to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-oliphant/i-think-reading-a-novel-is-almost-next-best-to-having-something-to-do/) [Margaret Oliphant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-oliphant/) > [I've reread 'The Secret Garden' every year as an adult. I have a battered copy on my bookshelf - it's really quite a mess!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-potter/i-ve-reread-the-secret-garden-every-year-as-an-adult-i-have-a/) [Ellen Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-potter/) ## More by Karen Armstrong > [If it is written and read with serious attention, a novel, like a myth or any great work of art, can become an initiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-it-is-written-and-read-with-serious-attention-a-novel-like-a-myth/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [A gentleman is not born but crafted. He had to work on himself in the same way as a sculptor shaped a rough stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/a-gentleman-is-not-born-but-crafted-he-had-to-work-on-himself-in-the/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I was a lousy nun. I couldn't do it. I couldn't find God. It wasn't suitable for me. It is suitable for very few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-was-a-lousy-nun-i-couldn-t-do-it-i-couldn-t-find-god-it-wasn-t/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I have become convinced, through my studies, that the only way to achieve a safe, just and viable world is to live by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-have-become-convinced-through-my-studies-that-the-only-way-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [In the past some of the most influential Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians, such as Maimonides, Aquinas and Ibn Sina, made it clear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential-jewish-christian-and-muslim/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [The great task of our time is to build a global society, where people can live together in peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/the-great-task-of-our-time-is-to-build-a-global-society-where-people/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [We want to create, never mind the leaders or the bishops or chief rabbis or imams, or Popes. We want to create a grassroots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/we-want-to-create-never-mind-the-leaders-or-the-bishops-or-chief/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [If we don't manage to implement the Golden Rule globally, so that we treat all peoples, wherever and whoever they may be, as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-we-don-t-manage-to-implement-the-golden-rule-globally-so-that-we/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [After I left the convent, for 15 years I was worn out with religion, I wanted nothing whatever to do with it. I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/after-i-left-the-convent-for-15-years-i-was-worn-out-with-religion-i/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“As we have seen, so many of the things we once took for granted have proved unreliable that we may have to “forget” old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/as-we-have-seen-so-many-of-the-things-we-once-took-for-granted-have/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Yet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/yet-a-personal-god-can-become-a-grave-liability-he-can-be-a-mere-idol/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“I discovered that I felt at home and alive in the silence, which compelled me to enter my interior world and around there. Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-discovered-that-i-felt-at-home-and-alive-in-the-silence-which/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Each of the world religions has its own particular genius, its own special insight into the nature and requirements of compassion, and has something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/each-of-the-world-religions-has-its-own-particular-genius-its-own/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“all rightly guided religion that submitted wholly to God, refused to worship man-made deities and preached that justice and equality came from the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/all-rightly-guided-religion-that-submitted-wholly-to-god-refused-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“advocates of evolutionary theory since Thomas H. Huxley (1825–95) have found altruism problematic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/advocates-of-evolutionary-theory-since-thomas-h-huxley-1825-95-have/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) [Explore all 296 Karen Armstrong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ## More Another world quotes > [I identify with Superman. I am adopted, I am an only child, and I love the idea that he comes from another world, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-singer/i-identify-with-superman-i-am-adopted-i-am-an-only-child-and-i-love/) [Bryan Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-singer/) > [Every time you touch me I stop breathing, that's why I never have much to say. Every time I see you, my heart skips…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-time-you-touch-me-i-stop-breathing-that-s-why-i-never-have-much/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I had never done anything with blue screen before, or prosthetics, or anything like that. Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/i-had-never-done-anything-with-blue-screen-before-or-prosthetics-or/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [Remove from the history of the past all those actions which have either sprung directly from the religious nature of man, or been modified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hopkins/remove-from-the-history-of-the-past-all-those-actions-which-have/) [Mark Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hopkins/) > [“Here, in the garden at night, it is another world, strange and yet friendly and familiar, never frightening. There is such quietness, such sweetness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/here-in-the-garden-at-night-it-is-another-world-strange-and-yet/) [Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/) > [“A novel is not an allegory...it is a sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your breath with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/a-novel-is-not-an-allegory-it-is-a-sensual-experience-of-another/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [To try to really land a spacecraft really on another world is really difficult, and if we lose that ability, it's going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/to-try-to-really-land-a-spacecraft-really-on-another-world-is-really/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [“Story is a butterfly whose wings transport us to another world where we receive gifts that change who we are and who we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harley-king/story-is-a-butterfly-whose-wings-transport-us-to-another-world-where/) [Harley King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harley-king/) > [“And it was then that the things I've never liked to talk about began. Not that they were particularly terrible; I've no wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-it-was-then-that-the-things-i-ve-never-liked-to-talk-about-began/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The young man knows that he is irretrievably lost. This is no town of cats, he finally realizes. It is the place where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-young-man-knows-that-he-is-irretrievably-lost-this-is-no-town-of/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [ \[The Utopia of Rules\] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-tett/the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-challenge-to-us-all-should-we-just/) [Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-tett/) > [We are here to make another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-edwards-deming/we-are-here-to-make-another-world/) [W. Edwards Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-edwards-deming/) > [“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if she’d returned Richard's kiss on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/how-often-since-then-has-she-wondered-what-might-have-happened-if-she/) [Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/) > [“There is another world and it is in this one. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eluard/there-is-another-world-and-it-is-in-this-one/) [Paul Éluard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eluard/) > [“One late-autumn day I opened the back door to fetch some water, and there was a young hare sat on my back step. Save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-ansell/one-late-autumn-day-i-opened-the-back-door-to-fetch-some-water-and/) Neil Ansell [Browse all 707 Another world quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-world/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“...the experience of reading a novel has certain qualities that remind us of the traditional apprehension of mythology. It can be seen as a form of meditation. Readers have to live with a novel for days or even weeks. It projects them into another world, parallel to but apart from their ordinary lives. They know perfectly well that this fictional realm is not 'real' and yet while they are reading it becomes compelling. A powerful novel becomes part of the backdrop of our lives, long after we have laid the book asie. It is an exercise of make-believe that, like yoga or a religious festival, breaks down barriers of space and time and extends our sympathies, so that we are able to empathise with others lives and sorrows. It teaches compassion, the ability to 'feel with' others. And, like mythology, an important novel is transformative. 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