Speed reading vs. Slow internalization

[empyrking]

What do you prefer? Why do you prefer one over the other? How long does it take you to finish a 300 page book?

[Apache]

I do not consider reading to be a race or contest. I read for enjoyment. The book and my brain sets the pace.
Apache

[empyrking]

Originally Posted by Apache

I do not consider reading to be a race or contest. I read for enjoyment. The book and my brain sets the pace.
Apache

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That's great! I myself read on a slower pace and sometimes even going back a few lines if I feel I have missed something in context. I was just curious to know the advantages/disadvantages of anyone who speedreads.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by empyrking

What do you prefer? Why do you prefer one over the other? How long does it take you to finish a 300 page book?

I just read at the pace I read at. I don't really understand the distinction you're trying to make.

A 300 page book takes me about 4 hours. (Worked out from on-line estimates of my reading speed at about 400wpm, and a page being about 300 words. It seems about right.)

[empyrking]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I just read at the pace I read at. I don't really understand the distinction you're trying to make.

A 300 page book takes me about 4 hours. (Worked out from on-line estimates of my reading speed at about 400wpm, and a page being about 300 words. It seems about right.)

I was just wondering if you lose anything by speed reading that's why I asked the question so I get input from experienced speed readers and the opposite alike. For example, I'm starting the Malazan series which I believe is about 10 books. It would be useful for me to read it faster but was just wondering if I lose something if I started to speed read it or if there was a certain technique to not lose that much. A 300 page book for me will take me around 6 hours to read because I tend to replay scenarios in my head which will take me a lot longer specially in fantasy books since I tend to take scenarios into a lot of consideration.

[barryem]

I took a speed reading class probably 50 years ago but I don't recall much about it. I've always been a slow reader but that never bothered me. Still, being in college reading faster would help so I took the course. I do remember that it did help with textbooks but I don't think I ever used the techniques for anything else.

Now I don't even recall what the techniques were. I read for pleasure and I don't dawdle but I don't rush either. Rushing, getting through it as fast as possible should be reserved for sex.

Barry

[empyrking]

Originally Posted by barryem

I took a speed reading class probably 50 years ago but I don't recall much about it. I've always been a slow reader but that never bothered me. Still, being in college reading faster would help so I took the course. I do remember that it did help with textbooks but I don't think I ever used the techniques for anything else.

Now I don't even recall what the techniques were. I read for pleasure and I don't dawdle but I don't rush either. Rushing, getting through it as fast as possible should be reserved for sex.

Barry

Thanks for your input, I tried some of the tips I read online but always end up re-reading again wasting my time. I have a long reading list and sometimes I just wondered if reading faster would be more beneficial. I've read a couple of books which was a let down in the end and made me reflect how much time I spent reading those books. That sex thing got me. my wife asked what was I laughing at and I said I just got a sagely advise. she ain't happy

[trocchietto]

beautiful post. Expert say that if you use speed reading your level of concentration increases. I would say not! I am reading the divine comedy because I am Italian mother tongue. I just read one row ( 5 words) in 4 minutes (as far as i think) and I gradually gain (or I think to gain) the meaning of the poet.(the Poet for Italians), other times when I read books super easy(Stephen King, Follet) I apply fast reading and I have to say is really cool. Also I apply fast reading when I have to review a technical document, before a second more slow lecture. Last but not least I have to say that if i TRAINING the speed reading, also my comprehension increases.

All in all, a real reader, like a real fighter have to have different weapons, a dagger but also a knife, the pace have to depend by what you want/feel to achieve

Another really interesting phonomena is the fact that when we read we hear inside our mind our voice, and with speed reading this phenomenon reduce, but I would stop hear

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by empyrking

What do you prefer?

My reading speed depends upon:

• What language I am reading;
• What writing system it uses;
• What the content is;
• Why I am reading;

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinyin, but a loathing relationship with BetaCode.

I don't know how many pages per hour I read, because the majority of my reading material is digital.

I can usually read an entire genre book, in English, in an hour. Genre books in Romance and Germanic languages take me roughly two hours to read.

It takes me at least a week to read a single volume of The Philokalia, partially becuase I tend to stop and reflect on what I'm reading.

Amber

[barryem]

Originally Posted by empyrking

I have a long reading list and sometimes I just wondered if reading faster would be more beneficial.

I guess it depends on your definition of beneficial. To me, reading for fun, beneficial means more fun. When I was in school, a slow reader who had to read a LOT, beneficial meant reading more, which meant reading faster. Now it means maximizing my enjoyment from what I read. Speed and quantity just don't have much to do with that.

Sartre's novel "Nausea" had a character who intended to read all the books in the library in alphabetical order. I don't remember much detail about that, having read it 30 or 40 years ago, but I think the guy finally made it into the B's before he realized there were more new books being written all the time starting with B than he could keep up with, let alone reading the older books or catching up with the new books starting with A. He needed speed reading.

I also have a long "to be read" list and, to make it worse, about half the books I read were never on that list. I have no intention or expectation of catching up. When I finish a book I look for something to read next. I look in my TBR list and I look on Amazon and I look in my Kindle and finally I pick one and then I take my time with it and enjoy it. You might almost say I milk it.

I guess there's nothing wrong with a productivity mindset where reading is concerned. I don't think it's for me, though.

Barry

[4691mls]

If I'm reading fiction for my own enjoyment, I don't try to rush it. How long it takes me to read a 300-page book would depend on the book - some just go more quickly than others.

[frahse]

Originally Posted by empyrking

What do you prefer? Why do you prefer one over the other? How long does it take you to finish a 300 page book?

Good topic.

After much practice (decades) I find that my reading rate varies according to:

1) the difficulty of the subject
2) and whether familiarity with that difficult subject helps me understand more quickly.
3) how the fiction or non-fiction is organized
4) how I feel. a) really interested or not, b) lots of energy or not, c) etc.

So I have in effect an automatic governor of my speed and don't really pay attention any more to how many pages OR books I read in a day.

[Atunah]

I can't control really how fast I read. Its just a natural thing for me. I read fairly fast I guess, but I do not speed read. I never speed read and wouldn't even know how to do that. So regular reading for me. I know it takes me from 2-4 hours to read a book. Regular sized book is anything from around 300 to say 450. I don't time myself, but my time left to read is pretty accurate at this point on my kindle.

Some days I think I am faster, others I am slower. My eyes also control how fast I read as they can be a bother sometimes.

I do not skip or skim when I read, I get inside the story and become kind of part of it in a way, so at that point its as fast as my brain decides. I am not in control anymore.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by frahse

After much practice (decades) I find that my reading rate varies according to:

1) the difficulty of the subject
2) and whether familiarity with that difficult subject helps me understand more quickly.
3) how the fiction or non-fiction is organized
4) how I feel. a) really interested or not, b) lots of energy or not, c) etc.

I'd add something to that list in my case: how well the writing flows. My previous book was "Tarzan of the Apes" and it's writing was very easy to follow because the language used was simple and it wasn't too full of adverbs and adjectives. I read it too quickly and I was sad when I was done.

My current book "The Unravelling of Mercy Lewis" is written in a more literary style, full of adverbs and adjectives and clever phrases with multiple meanings. I'm enjoying it a lot and it's taking me longer to read. They're both about the same length. Actually the Tarzan book was longer. But it's taking me nearly twice as long to read this one. The language doesn't flow as nicely but it packs a lot more information into each sentence.

Barry

[empyrking]

Originally Posted by trocchietto

All in all, a real reader, like a real fighter have to have different weapons, a dagger but also a knife, the pace have to depend by what you want/feel to achieve

That is one beautiful advise. I tend to read with a persisten voice in my head and although I love it specially when it comes to interpreting what is happening in the book I'd also love to pick up the pace from time to time. Sometimes after finishing the book I feel like I brought a sword in a pen fight.