Connecting with Literature

There was a time when I read a book called Tithe and I connected with a character named Cornelius AKA Corny. His sister's friend is a changeling and so transformed into a pixie. He happened to be around when the change happened, and so he helped her and stuff. As he was deciding whether or not to help her, the thought that made up his mind was "When else am I going to be asked to be a part of something magical and out-of-this-world like I've always pretended there was?" There are some times, because I read so many fantasy books about vampires and faeries, SOME times I really wished there would actually be a world of fantasy creatures that lived among us or something... and that I would somehow become a part of it. When Corny had that thought, I was like "Man, you're lucky you're a character in a book and that's actually possible...!" The rest of Corny's character, and the way he thinks, is a lot unlike me. But that one thought made me connect with the character.

I think it's important, but not quite necessary to connect with literature. Of course, you get a better understanding of the characters and the plot of the story if you do connect with it, but you don't need to connect to enjoy a good book.