Originally Posted by
Scharphedin2
Pensive -- Not specifically relating to Woolf, but also relevant here. I think you should just read the book. Read it like anything, and try to just let the words on the pages, the images carry you. If you do not catch absolutely everything, you will have your friends here in the forum to help clarify, and, in fact, there is a good chance you will actually "miss less" by reading it the way you would read any other book. By forcing yourself to read slowly, and treat the book like a course book, you will irritate yourself, and ruin what enjoyment you possibly could have from the book, and by doing so also take less with your from your reading.
Someone smart about reading once told me that it is better to read a book fast twice, than to read it slowly once. Personally, I still am not a fast reader, but I do try to pace myself, and, if anything, I do feel that I retain more of what I read.
(Pensive - I hope that did not sound smart or condescending; it was not meant to. Just sharing advise and practises that have been helpful to me)