Overwhelming background information

[Kenna Ridzi]

In a rather existential fictional book like this, ample background knowledge was needed to ensure that the reader could fully comprehend the change in setting. I can understand how it could get monotonous, too much background information can definitely become overwhelming.

[Guda Lydia]

In my opinion, I found them necessary to clearly set up the picture. The universes are essentially similar, with minute details setting them apart. I believe if the author just dived in the story, it would have been confusing and difficult to distinguish the worlds.

[Kelyn]

Details set the scene. Through the author's descriptions, we can imagine each ever-so-slightly different reality and thus know 'where' we are and which versions of the characters are in that world. Without them, each world would look essentially the same as the first one in which Gary was described, and movement through the multiverses would be more confusing.

[yomide]

I don't think it is too much. Adam's detialed discription about those things actually reflect more on the characters than the event. In my opinion, Adam was only to creat an interaction in other to give us a peak of their lives.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I did notice that too, I feel like the author could have focused more on the story and how the plot progressed than describing things that didn't move the story forward. Maybe that would've worked if things were equally described to draw readers into the world.

That is true. A certain amount of details is necessary for the development of the story. But if it becomes distracting, it exerts a negative impact in the progression of the story. Balance is important in everything.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

The author has gone too far, as per my opinion, describing the background details when he took the reader to a new scenario. A few examples are the descriptions about the road in the scenario of Gary's nearly missed accident, the details about the campus cafeteria when Sinead took Gary to meet her boyfriend, the details about the train station when Gary went to London to get his girlfriend and the details about the local pub that Gary and Michelle had dinner.

Do you feel the same as me? Could it have been better if the details were a bit less? Did you find it distracting or did you prefer it the way it was?

I think the descriptions were necessary to soften the book a bit by using imagery. The description made the story seem realistic and provided prevented the book from being monotonous.

I do not think a fiction can be monotonous unless the author intended it to be so. Any fiction has various scenarios and actions. Some amount of background information is necessary to spice up the story and make it more realistic, but a distracting amount of background information is unnecessary.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I loved those descriptions. I was able to get into the new planet through those descriptions. For a fiction, I think those descriptions were very necessary.

For a dystopian novel or a fantasy novel the background information is necessary. The book Harry Potter could not have built up without prproviding adequate information about the magical world.

But this particular story has most of the ordinary setting. I do not see the necessity of explaining a coffee shop and its workers with extremely fine details unless it has a value to the story, like a Sherlock Holmes book.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I feel the same way as you do. As a reader, I don't appreciate too many details about background, or too mich details in general, for the matter. However, I think it differs from one reader to the other. Some top sellers are stacked with details and people love it.

I find it distracting and think the less the better. Concise and to the point is my preference.

Ofcourse, the preferences of readers vary. I am a one who prefers to see the progression, the end and the conclusion as soon as possible without haggling with background details and additional general information. It is a quality which can attract as well as avert the audience of the book.

[Alice Ngugi]

This was not really too much for me. The descriptions made the character development easy to grasp therefore I was able to picture each easily. It was just enough.

[fridamadrid]

I don't think the background information was overwhelming. I personally like having some details about the scenery to help create a more specific image of how everything is happening. Sometimes, there are too many details about everything and it can get boring but I didn't feel it was the case with this book.

[Sushan Ekanayake]

I think it's really a matter of preference. Some readers love having lots of details to set them in the scene and others don't. In this case, for the most part, I thought there were the right amount of descriptions and they were helpful.

If you personally felt though then that is okay. But describing the fine details about the carpet of the Coffee shop does not seem much relevant or going along with the general flow of the story. Could you read it through without getting distracted from the immense aamount of background information which were equally beautiful and much realistic?

[Sushan Ekanayake]

The detailed description didn't really bother me. Actually, I enjoyed reading these parts, and they helped me understand the characters better. Moreover, I didn't feel that the details were excessive or boring.

I can totally agree regarding one point. The descriptions or the story was never boring. Though there were repetitions in the plot, which were necessary as per the nature of the story, it was never boring. But I cannot agree with the relevance of the details. It is true that it gives a complete understanding to the reader, but I am a reader who prefer to see the main story rather than being accustomed to the background.

[Vidhi Adhikari]

I personally enjoyed those descriptions. They set the tone for the main plot of the story and reduce confusion for when the events relevant to the plot actually start happening.

[yomide]

I personally enjoyed those descriptions. They set the tone for the main plot of the story and reduce confusion for when the events relevant to the plot actually start happening.

There is no argument to that. Other than being neccessary, i find the details a bridge connecting the worldlines as was as a thin film of obstruction seperating them. In short, it is a good part of the book.

[SunVixen]

I usually like books with lengthy descriptions and background details. But there were too many of them in this book. Moreover, they were very monotonous. But then I realized that the author needs these details to show small differences in different worlds.