I wonder if aphantasia exists on a spectrum. The only visualizations I can do are of scenery- landscapes/buildings/streets. And it’s more like I can feel myself in the space and sense the dimensions of things.
If you ask me to picture an apple, I see: either whatever I’m looking at or the weird color of one’s eyelids.
I can picture the grounds of Hailsham from Never Let Me Go, for example. Kinda. If I try to bring it into focus, it goes away entirely.
It feels like I’m lying if I say I have 0 visualizations while reading, but I have no concept of a character’s looks, ever.
Other things I can see a bit: the Battle School corridors from Ender’s Game, the weird blocked-off alley in The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, the grounds and gardens of Misselthwaite Manor in The Secret Garden.
Life of Pi. Not to defend the book (apparently everyone hates it and I get it, even though I LOVED it as a child) but they left out some of the most critically important parts of the story. It’s almost pointless without the deadly algae island and the end with the interview. The movie wasn’t even entertaining in its own right, imo. Like at least Howl’s Moving Castle was beautiful and entertaining despite barely following the source material.