What is your reading style?

[Lillifen]

I am a slow reader. I read at the pace I would read aloud and it is really important to me to be able to visualise the action as if I was present. If I have skim read a section then I feel uncomfortable and have to go back over it again, to 'watch' and savour the language. Does anyone else read like this? How do those of you who read very quickly experience a novel?

[Pompey Bum]

I read silently at a reasonable pace (I have some nystagmus, which slows me down a bit), but I love to read out loud, too, especially with gorgeous sounding English like Shakespeare's. If you're not a student (that is, if you don't have deadlines), I recommend it from time to time.

[Pike Bishop]

Anyone who reads a novel very quickly--even minimalist novels like Less Than Zero--isn't truly experiencing the novel. It's the equivalent of guzzling a glass of excellent wine, speeding past a brilliant painting or watching a movie at high speed.

[Lillifen]

Yes, I love to read aloud too. I have a secret wish someone would let me narrate an audiobook one day...

[Lillifen]

That's kind of how I feel, but some people who read fast do seem to get a lot out of it nonetheless, though it baffles me how.

[Pompey Bum]

If you read for pleasure, it doesn't matter how long it takes. I've been reading mostly 1000+ page books this year. I could care less how long it takes me, and I usually am sorry to see one end. Don't worry about how fast others read. Read what you love because you love it. Happy reading! :)

[Pike Bishop]

That's kind of how I feel, but some people who read fast do seem to get a lot out of it nonetheless, though it baffles me how.

Again, I have no idea how people who read good novels, or even bad novels, get something out of reading them fast. What exactly do those fast readers say they get out of reading novels fast? I'm truly intrigued.

[ennison]

I cannot read fast. As a child I did. The tale was everything. I read late into the night. I read between church services. I read two or three books a week. Then when I was thirteen I almost stopped except for school texts. When I began again I was slower. Sometimes I read a page twice. I go back over poems. I read aloud. I read in Gaelic to the dog. I think if you read slowly you not only get the sound and the weight but you start to experience the tactility of words. You become a bit more forensic too - less tolerant of some, more forgiving of others.

[Pompey Bum]

I read in Gaelic to the dog.

Sometimes you read the most wonderful things on this site. :)

[lichtrausch]

Normally I read at a moderate pace, but if a book is only mildly interesting I may double or triple the pace in order to reach a more interesting part or just finish the book. I don't skip entire parts unless I am reading for information. Of course if the book is terrible I'll just stop reading it.

[YesNo]

I read slowly. If I don't find something interesting, I will stop without regret and find something else. Some I read more than once. Some scenes or ideas I replay in my mind over and over again.

[Carmilla]

If you read for pleasure, it doesn't matter how long it takes. I've been reading mostly 1000+ page books this year. I could care less how long it takes me, and I usually am sorry to see one end. Don't worry about how fast others read. Read what you love because you love it. Happy reading! :)

Pompey Bum:

Now I know where your nickname comes from, I'm reading 'Measure for Measure.' :) And, yes, I read because I love it!!

[Pompey Bum]

Hello Carmilla! So nice to hear from you again! :) Yes, my secret is out. Pompey Bum is a Shakespearean pimp. Hope you are enjoying the play. Please let us know what you think about it. I would love to hear your thoughts, and I'm sure JonathanB (in any case) would have an intelligent response to them. :)

[Lillifen]

I cannot read fast. As a child I did. The tale was everything. I read late into the night. I read between church services. I read two or three books a week. Then when I was thirteen I almost stopped except for school texts. When I began again I was slower. Sometimes I read a page twice. I go back over poems. I read aloud. I read in Gaelic to the dog. I think if you read slowly you not only get the sound and the weight but you start to experience the tactility of words. You become a bit more forensic too - less tolerant of some, more forgiving of others.

I hope your dog appreciates it! You speak Gaelic - can you tell me the meaning of the Gaelic in the song Mary Mac's mither? Sounds like... Furim bay maheen, zanna vis me gorkas etc, unless by word of mouth the words got mixed up! I love what you say about tactility of words too; exactly expresses my feelings!

[kiki1982]

I'm terribly, slow, always have been. Now it's because my eye problems too. But anyway, I tend to want to take it all in, so if I can't do that, I'll stop. I read aloud too! I'm sure I freak my husband out about it. Somehow it seems to facilitate better concentration.

[tonywalt]

I read at a rate where I understand everything as best that I can. I prefer to read at night, but do read by the pool or elsewhere. I do not like to read multiple books, instead read one or two at a time.

[Pompey Bum]

I read aloud too! I'm sure I freak my husband out about it. Somehow it seems to facilitate better concentration.

Yeah, my wife thinks I'm nuts when I do it, too.

And I'm with Tony: serial monogamy where books are concerned.

[kiki1982]

And reading aloud brings out the life in a book too. Mind you, there are those that work better and those that work less well.

A serial monogamist here too. I abhor poligamy ;).

[tonywalt]

I tried reading books concurrently, but it can create some level of confusion. It is most pronounced when I read two books at the same time by the same author say.. Haruki Murakami, things got blurred.

[tailor STATELY]

I enjoy reading more than one book at a time... maybe I'm just wired weirdly, no? And then maybe I'll peruse forums and write at the drop of a hat. Yeah, I'm weird. Oh, and no polygamy here (lol).

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY

[Pompey Bum]

I tried reading books concurrently, but it can create some level of confusion. It is most pronounced when I read two books at the same time by the same author say.. Haruki Murakami, things got blurred.

I have the same problem, even with different authors. Mr. Darcy ends up picking pockets for Fagin. It can get ugly.

[Pike Bishop]

Studying for my qualifying exams taught me how to read many books at once. However, I usually limit myself to two novels and one theoretical/philosophical/critical book at a time. I never read two books by the same author at a time. It gets too "incestuous" and the texts often merge.

[Carmilla]

Hello Carmilla! So nice to hear from you again! :) Yes, my secret is out. Pompey Bum is a Shakespearean pimp. Hope you are enjoying the play. Please let us know what you think about it. I would love to hear your thoughts, and I'm sure JonathanB (in any case) would have an intelligent response to them. :)

Hello Pompey Bum!! :)

So far I'm loving 'Measure for Measure,' but I must tell you that I was utterly shocked when I read this line: 'More than our brother is our chastity' (Act II Scene4)

What do you think of the line in question?

[Pompey Bum]

Hello Pompey Bum!! :)

So far I'm loving 'Measure for Measure,' but I must tell you that I was utterly shocked when I read this line: 'More than our brother is our chastity' (Act II Scene4)

What do you think of the line in question?

Yes, it's a morally troubling line. You almost wonder if Shakespeare is intentionally teasing his audience with the paradox. There is a traditional pietistic view of what Isabella is doing; namely, that the principle of a woman's virtue is sacrosanct, even in the face of appalling sacrifice. There's also a modern feminist reading that Isabella's body is her own, and that Claudio is just going to have to save himself without compromising that "sacrosanct" principle. Personally I find both of those positions somewhat fanatical--perhaps because I am neither a woman nor a pietist! :) For me, Isabella is simply standing firm in the face of corruption and coercion, because in for a penny in for a pound is how Angelo's game works. But I admit my reading is not entirely satisfying either.

How do you see the line?

[Carmilla]

Yes, it's a morally troubling line. You almost wonder if Shakespeare is intentionally teasing his audience with the paradox. There is a traditional pietistic view of what Isabella is doing; namely, that the principle of a woman's virtue is sacrosanct, even in the face of appalling sacrifice. There's also a modern feminist reading that Isabella's body is her own, and that Claudio is just going to have to save himself without compromising that "sacrosanct" principle. Personally I find both of those positions somewhat fanatical--

I find them fanatical too. :)


perhaps because I am neither a woman nor a pietist! :) For me, Isabella is simply standing firm in the face of corruption and coercion, because in for a penny in for a pound is how Angelo's game works. But I admit my reading is not entirely satisfying either.

How do you see the line?

I see the line as selfish and feministic to an extreme degree. In any case, I think life is more important than virginity.

[Pompey Bum]

Yes, certainly. :) It makes me wonder if Shakespeare was being deliberately provocative or was maybe just having an off day. Or maybe he originally intended to write a tragedy about Isabella's choice, but was persuaded to rewrite it as a comedy for financial reasons. I don't think his source was a comedy--I think the forced happy ending was an addition. I haven't studied the play for many years, though, and don't remember the source history very well.

[Auddfoote]

Perusing can be great and awful. It permits you to perceive how other individuals compose; their styles, procedures, and so on. It will likewise help you to learn new words and, ideally, refine your meanings of those words. Be that as it may, in case you're seeming to be innovative, perusing can be an aggravation. I've regularly read a book, been enlivened and all of a sudden understood that I've tackled the same style as the writer and lost my own. To recover my style back, I free-compose. I compose as fast as I can about anything that comes into my head. This, I believe is one great approach to enhance your written work. It permits you to wind up free-er. Have you ever seen that when individuals expound on their own encounters, they have a tendency to let it know a mess better than when they expound on something that isn't genuine. Mostly, I feel that is on account of you know yourself exceptionally well so are unrealistic to pass up a great opportunity for something, additionally I find that when you expound on yourself you lose to some degree every one of the tightening influences that we and others put on ourselves unwittingly.

[mortalterror]

I am a slow reader. I read at the pace I would read aloud and it is really important to me to be able to visualise the action as if I was present. If I have skim read a section then I feel uncomfortable and have to go back over it again, to 'watch' and savour the language. Does anyone else read like this? How do those of you who read very quickly experience a novel?
I do the same. I have some slight reading disorder that slows my eye's movement over a page. Even though I tend to read at half the speed that other people do, and maybe a fifth as fast as some people in my family, I feel like the extra time helps me focus on what I'm reading and I get more out of a text than most. However, being a slow reader means I have to be vigilant when prioritizing what I read. I don't have time to read garbage. If I find myself not enjoying something, I don't finish it. And I usually don't even pick something up unless it has a solid reputation for being excellent.

[~Ji]

I find my reading style is usually determined by the book - The Moor's Last Sigh (Slaman Rushdie) - is a bit frenetic and demands a similar reading response.
Henry James on the the other hand evokes a sense of paddling down a river on a lazy summer afternoon and my reading meanders along in response.
Poetry needs to be 'chewed' slowly. Many recommend reading poetry aloud but I find my voice works better in my head than it does in stark reality.

[Ecurb]

I read very quickly, especially when reading most novels. I don't take any pride in reading quickly, it's just that I'm eager to find out what happens next. My speed-reading technique is to read all the dialogue, and skim the descriptive bits (I guess I intuitively feel that fiction is essentially dramatic).

Perhaps as a result, I reread almost every book I like, often several times. Heck, when you read fast, reading the book a second time is as good as reading it for the first time.

[Scheherazade]

I am a very slow reader in general but more so in English (being an ESOL speaker); I often myself going over the sentences (syntax and context) couple of times as I like looking into what the author aimed to achieve.

[Munshie]

Lillifen

Like you I like to read slowly. I'll skim large blocks of text that I find boring. I find dialogue easier to read. I do read quite a lot of non-fiction and I have no trouble with that. However with non-fiction I really have to be in the mood, otherwise I end up setting the book aside.

[UlyssesE]

Slow reader. I have been known to read out loud to my fiance, as well. Usually do all the voices :)

[LukeM]

I'm new here - considering how slow I read, I chose the worst possible degree.

I find it off-putting being a slow reader, I feel like there is something wrong with me. Having 16 books to read (of varying lengths) in a 13 week period alongside work and other classes and commitments is not for the feint of heart.

Some of them are as long as 400+ pages (Tskiolkas's "Dead Europe"), some are as little as 55 ("The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde").

[Eupalinos]

Yet another slow reader. Honestly, twenty to thirty pages an hour is decent for me. This degree of slowness frequently drives me to hopeless despair considering all that I'm interested in reading. But I do try different approaches, such as reading aloud into a voice recorder. I've read Paradise Lost and Regain'd that way. I would read for ten to twenty minutes, and then reread silently what I'd just read aloud while playing back the recording. Thought of trying this with The Faery Queene; however I detest the sound of my voice so I've lost the appetite for it! I do enjoy walking while reading when I can find a place to do it carefree. If someone is experiencing ADD symptoms they might find this helpful. Another thing that's helped, particularly with comprehension: keeping a steady pace even if at first I think some things are being lost on me, rather than getting into the habit of breaking the rhythm by constantly rereading. If I start rereading every sentence, I find I actually retain far less in the long run. And I realize it's not possible to get everything on one reading anyway (with the 'great' stuff particularly).

I'm curious if more people tend to have reading projects - sticking to one kind of literature or one author for long periods of time - or if more like to keep it mixed, and go for a different type of book each time.

[prendrelemick]

I am a fast reader, as someone else said on here, the tale is all. I have finished many a book and had no idea how to pronounce the names of the protagonists, or the places. I never sound out the words in my head, just recognise the shapes of them. If the style and beauty of the writing penetrates, it is usually because it is very good.

That said, I read a bit more carefully on a tablet, because it is difficult to look back through the text if I need to.

[Clopin]

I feel slow as well but I sort of doubt that everyone polling here is a slow reader. Thirty+ pages an hour is probably above average.

[Vota]

The speed at which I read depends on the book. Often it is predetermined by a quick skimming of the book's table of contents, whatever I know about the book, and the rear cover and inside blurbs. It doesn't always work out like that, though. I was prepared to take my time with War and Peace, but after about 120 pages it became a grand page turning tale, though serious moments would often inspire a re-read of particularly beautiful or deep passages.

If I'm reading science fiction or fantasy I tend to dial down the level of scrutinizing a notch, and try to absorb myself into the tale, losing myself in the main character. Sometimes it's a balance between deep reading and this sense of losing myself in the story. A good example to illustrate this would be The Iliad. When reading this epic poem I find myself trying to become a spectator within the ranks of the soldiers, experiencing the conflict and clash of battle as if I was there, but then beautiful similes appear and make me do a double take as I try to drink in the image or meaning being presented - to understand the themes behind the obvious conflict.

The best book I have ever read about books is Mortimer J. Adler's "How To Read A Book". In it he describes how best to read different kinds of books. Instructional mathematics texts, or deep philosophical treatises require an extremely high level of attention and association, as well as books full of allusions and symbology. These are the kinds of books that should be taken slow, with particular attention paid to fully understand what is being said/presented, and being willing to re-read and ponder until the message becomes clear. Obviously these are his opinions, but I tend to agree. Advanced texts, or books that have deep meaning require as much concentration as we can muster, and practically require multiple readings in full, and many more for particular sections to get the most out of them. I find poems require a high level of concentration, as well as plays. With poems I have to work hard to see the meaning if it isn't obvious, as this doesn't come naturally to me. As my education and knowledge has progressed, my ability to see symbology and allusion has greatly improved, but poetry does a great job of keeping me on my toes. Plays require a high degree of focus on my part, as I visualize the settings the scenes occur in.

Ecurb mentioned reading dialogue and skipping most of the the descriptive passages in books. I have never done this, nor would I recommend it because the visual imagery created in books can be a powerful aid to fully appreciating a book, BUT I understand where he's coming from. It is taxing for me to mentally visualize imagery in books. I'm not sure why. My theory is that when authors do not provide a lot of description, my own active imagination does the job for them, but when it's provided for me, I have to make an effort to see what they are describing, rather than unconsciously fill it in.

On average, I read at an average to slow rate, with sci-fi and fantasy being average to moderately fast.

[Number 34]

I'm a fast reader. On several occasions I've tried slowing down, but this doesn't create any visual images for me. I find myself trying to force them. Reading fast doesn't always produce images but when it clicks it's like I'm daydreaming.

[Methinks]

I read quickly, but do not speed read. Detail is important. My natural pace is just quick. If I really enjoy an adventure it gets even faster, until I am speeding through the pages not even reading the story, but inhaling it.

[duke-one]

I am also slow, slow, slow. My health and medications combine to close my eyes sometimes after two sentences. The harder the read the worse it is but I still manage to get through everything. I read one novel or other literature work and one of history or the like at the same time, trying to alternate evenly between the two. One thing that helps me is when the work has easy stopping points, short chapters or otherwise. The opposite, if I remember, was Sam Beckett where one paragraph went on for page after page. Just finished the first volume of Rabelais, quite an effort. I'll start volume 2 after some lighter stuff, rereading "Virtues of War" by Pressfield, a novel about Alexander the Great. KDM

[MANICHAEAN]

At university I used to gut books, as one had limited time to get the essence of the contents.

Now I sip them like a French cognac, vieux et superieur.

[Bicycle1711]

It all depends. I must finish ever book I start but if I am being bored by it I tend to read much quicker. If I am loving it, I want to savor it and at that point I actually will reread passages. If I break it up its probably 50% normal pace, 35% super slow, and 15% fast.

[New Secret]

I am often reading at "cognizance speed", whatever speed necessary to fully perceive what is written. Usually this requires a slow to medium gait. I can speed read much like I can speed type but I only speed read with magazine and newspaper articles that I don't really want to deeply focus in. I remember times when reading novels when my eyes would glaze over and I would mechanically read the words but their message wouldn't sink in. I would often find myself reading several pages and having to backtrack because like amnesia I didn't know what I read. Eventually I re-learned how to read every word so it enters my mind at talking speed without "glazing over".