MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - What exactly do you call "reading a book" ?

Harmon · 10-31-2011, 01:37 PM

I can't remember when I couldn't read. Of course, there a lot of things I can't remember...

I have a memory of being tested in reading comprehension in about the 6th grade. Turned out I was able to read 1200 words per minute with comprehension. Perhaps this memory is true, at least in terms of short burst reading.

Retention is another matter. A friend of mine says "I have a good memory, but it's short."

I've always envied those who have photographic memories, but I'm glad that I don't have eiditic memory, which oddly enough I remember how to spell correctly. Borges has a short story about that ability. Don't remember the name...but my external memory (Goodle) does: Funes the Memorious.

Anyway, I used to be able to knock off fat books in slim time frames.

But then I went to law school. My reading speed ground to a halt. I started arguing with the text, which rebelliously argued back, leading to side arguments with other texts. Eventually, I got to the point where every word I read was inherently ambiguous. (I don't understand why Borges didn't write a short story about this.)

For a long while, law school ruined me for reading fiction. I had to give up science fiction and fantasy entirely. I could still handle things like historical novels, but only if they were historically accurate. Most aren't. What was interesting is that I could still read mystery novels with pleasure. I could also read non-fiction, albeit slowly.

Over the years, I have largely recovered. At the same time, my attention span has diminished, so that I rarely read more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time. The result is that I don't do the immersive reading I did when I was a teenager.

For me, reading is not a word by word matter. It's more like I read in clumps - a phrase or sentence at a time. Sometimes a sentence or two at the beginning of a paragraph is sufficient to tell me if I want to read, skim, or skip the rest of the paragraph. This is not always a good strategy. I'm reading Hemmingway's short stories these days, & I've learned that I need to force myself to go word by word.

No discussion of reading is complete without a quotation from Dr. Johnson:

On advice that books, once started, should be read all the way through: "This is surely a strange advice; you may as well resolve that whatever men you happen to get acquainted with, you are to keep them for life. A book may be good for nothing; or there may be only one thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?"

10-31-2011, 01:37 PM	#83
Harmon King of the Bongo Drums Posts: 1,631 Karma: 5927225 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Excelsior! (Strange...)	I can't remember when I couldn't read. Of course, there a lot of things I can't remember... I have a memory of being tested in reading comprehension in about the 6th grade. Turned out I was able to read 1200 words per minute with comprehension. Perhaps this memory is true, at least in terms of short burst reading. Retention is another matter. A friend of mine says "I have a good memory, but it's short." I've always envied those who have photographic memories, but I'm glad that I don't have eiditic memory, which oddly enough I remember how to spell correctly. Borges has a short story about that ability. Don't remember the name...but my external memory (Goodle) does: Funes the Memorious. Anyway, I used to be able to knock off fat books in slim time frames. But then I went to law school. My reading speed ground to a halt. I started arguing with the text, which rebelliously argued back, leading to side arguments with other texts. Eventually, I got to the point where every word I read was inherently ambiguous. (I don't understand why Borges didn't write a short story about this.) For a long while, law school ruined me for reading fiction. I had to give up science fiction and fantasy entirely. I could still handle things like historical novels, but only if they were historically accurate. Most aren't. What was interesting is that I could still read mystery novels with pleasure. I could also read non-fiction, albeit slowly. Over the years, I have largely recovered. At the same time, my attention span has diminished, so that I rarely read more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time. The result is that I don't do the immersive reading I did when I was a teenager. For me, reading is not a word by word matter. It's more like I read in clumps - a phrase or sentence at a time. Sometimes a sentence or two at the beginning of a paragraph is sufficient to tell me if I want to read, skim, or skip the rest of the paragraph. This is not always a good strategy. I'm reading Hemmingway's short stories these days, & I've learned that I need to force myself to go word by word. No discussion of reading is complete without a quotation from Dr. Johnson: On advice that books, once started, should be read all the way through: "This is surely a strange advice; you may as well resolve that whatever men you happen to get acquainted with, you are to keep them for life. A book may be good for nothing; or there may be only one thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?"