Imagine being woken in the night by a sniff, a shuffle, a chair leg being dragged and the sound of a page being turned in a book. As your eyes slowly adjust to the dark, you notice the book has gone from your bedside table and gasp in alarm as a figure emerges from the gloom, sitting on a chair by a partially drawn curtain, reading by moonlight.
Something like this happened recently in an apartment in Rome when a burglar picked up a copy of Homer's Illiad from a bedside table and started reading, becoming so engrossed he was unaware the hitherto sleeping occupant had woken and had called the police.
The author in me laughed at this unusual news item. Readers who are drawn into a story so completely they shut out the world around them are the golden fleece authors seek. Well done Homer 👏
BBC News - Suspected burglar caught after sitting down with book
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