Meanwhile...

Once again, about reading The Brothers Karamazov.

After reading an episode with Alyosha in it, I wondered: What is Dmitri up to? What is Ivan doing?

My questions struck me as curious, because this was fiction.

The idea that a character has a life going on at all in front of me is curious enough; but the thought that even while I am not reading about him or her, he or she is "doing something" is, well, magical? Strange? I am looking for a pat adjective to make a point rather than exploring adequately.

And so what?

Perhaps I am awed by the power of fiction to create characters I can care about and learn from, as I would an historical figure, and that these characters are somewhere alive and doing things.

Borges should have insight on this. Who else can help?