There’s a difference between knowing what’s on the page in a history book and actually feeling that page have curves and valleys.

Brooks contrasts abstract, secondhand knowledge (“what’s on the page”) with lived, embodied understanding (“feeling that page have curves and valleys”). The metaphor suggests that history—or any story—becomes meaningful when it is experienced as textured and dimensional rather than flat information. “Curves and valleys” evokes terrain, implying that the past is something you can traverse emotionally and imaginatively, with highs and lows that shape empathy. In this reading, Brooks is also defending art’s role (music, performance, storytelling) in making events feel real: not merely memorized facts, but human experiences that can be sensed, internalized, and carried forward.