Leer la mente

What occurs in my brain when I read a novel or a story? How and when did they appear? Which side of our brain comes up with the happy anecdotes or the tragic outcomes? Why do we suffer or enjoy a story’s characters and how do we, as readers, become those characters? Is not the I, perchance, our mind’s greatest creation? In this brilliant and thought-provoking essay, Jorge Volpi banishes the old idea of fiction as entertainment and maintains, on the contrary, that novels and stories have been essential for the evolution of mankind.