familiarity and strangeness

The preface to the 1818 edition of Frakenstein says this about the main event in the story - the animation of a corpse - 'It was recommended by the novelty of the situations which it develops; and, however impossible as a physical fact, affords a point of view to the imagination for the delineating of human passions more comprehensive and commanding than any which the ordinary relations of existing events can yield.' 

In other words, the portrayal of such contrived and unrealistic events strikes more of a chord with the reader than the portrayal of everyday events would. But the portrayal of extraordinary events needs to be able to accommodate aspects of the ordinary for the reader to relate to it. On the one hand, if the story was pure fantasy, with no recognisable human feelings and developments portrayed, it wouldn't resonate with us as it does. On the other hand, if it was just about normal events that one would encounter in everyday life, it wouldn't interest us. The story moves us because we relate to the experience of the characters and it interests us because it portrays events outside our experience.

I'm reading a book at the moment which also embodies that dynamic: Invincible (2019) by Suman Rao. I think it's always the case with good novels....there's some kind of real connection with the characters and the situations...we recognise ourselves in them, and that comfortable familiarity is heightened by the tension between it and the strange or unreal aspects of the story.