Do you have to Understand 100% of a Book to Enjoy it?
The short answer is no. Here’s why.
It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon filled with the heaviness of muggy air that has been plaguing the British summer season as of late. I was dressed in a thick jumper and curled up on the sofa with a blanket and my book. It could have been October. It could have been November. But it was Autumn in July and I loved it.
But more importantly, I had just finished The Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel and was scratching my head, trying to work out what just happened. I loved the book and adored the writing style and the ideas that were put forward. But all of this felt redundant as I realized I didn’t quite understand what was going on — or the final ending.
As I reluctantly gave The Sea of Tranquility a 3-star rating on Goodreads after finishing, I quickly leaped to various Redditt threads to try and understand what had happened. But I still didn’t, even though I had read through multiple theories. Eventually, I had to come to peace with the idea maybe I wasn’t clever enough to get to grips with the complex, science-fiction plot.
Which got me thinking. Do you have to fully understand the plot of a book, or what it’s trying to convey or tell the reader, to enjoy it?
