The good builders, the really good builders, carry a vision out of the real world and transpose it into the City of Invention, and refresh and enlighten the reader, so that on his, or her, return to reality, that reality itself is changed, however minutely. (Weldon's "The City of Invention", p. 23)

What is Fay Weldon's essential belief about literature as seen in this quote from "City of Invention"? Does she effectively persuade you as to her belief? Why or why not? Your answer should be at least 250 words.

In this quote from "City of Invention", Fay Weldon expresses her opinion on what makes a good "builder" stand out from other authors. Weldon's belief is that reading a well-written piece of literature should change a person's world. These authors stand out from other types of authors, because they can create a space within their works in which a reader can be pulled out of reality and into a text, and can then pull the text back out into his or her reality. She believes that, not only should a reader feel that their worldview changes while they are in the process of reading a text (which can often happen to a reader if he or she gets consumed by the world created in a story), but that the reader should also feel that their world has changed after they have finished reading the text. Even if it is just by a small amount, Weldon explains that the mark of excellent world-building in literature is the ability to alter a reader's reality.

I find this to be a very persuasive argument, because while many books can be good, what makes a great book is one that a reader can think about after finishing it. As Weldon argues, if the ideas and the world of a text follow a reader into his or her day-to-day experience, and can have a lasting impact on them, it is far better than a book that simply gets closed and forgotten. "Good builders" know how to have this effect on their readers, and their work reflects this knowledge well.