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LOCAL LITERARY EVENT:

Friday, February 15, 2013

Speedreading: Good or Bad?

This morning, in my daily email of the column, A.Word.A.Day, from wordsmith.org, I noticed this quote: To read fast is as bad as to eat in a hurry. -Vilhelm Ekelund, poet (1880-1949). This struck me as a new sentiment to be appearing in a quote, old as it is. Mostly, it's a concept that isn't often discussed in the media. A typical quote given at the end of a blog post doesn't involve reading.

It does get mentioned in our book club, though, doesn't it? Reading our book for our meeting each month involves a deadline, which is not typical for pleasure reading, unless you consider the times when a library book is due and you want to finish it before returning it.

I have always been a proponent of speedreading. I think it's one of the most useful skills one can have. And yet, I often have sent a message about our monthly book, encouraging everyone to start a long or beautifully written book soon, so that you will be able to enjoy reading it slowly and not have to read it quickly.

In today's media of blanket statements and quick quotes that are taken as advice, with all the blatant statements that this or that is "good" or "bad," this quote would fit right in. I agree with the quote because it says reading fast is "as bad as" eating fast. This can be construed as implying that both are generally bad; but if one is sometimes good, then the other is sometimes good. I think both are sometimes good!

What do you think?

2 comments:

Atrox said...

If you saw the piles of unread books in my house, you would understand why I always read as fast as I can. (but probably would not understand why I keep bringing home more books) I pretty much pick books based on content now, and not on beautiful writing, which is sad, I suppose. But occasionally I find a book that I can't read fast, but savor instead. In such cases, I force myself to stop at the end of a chapter, so I can enjoy the writing (or setting, or character) a little longer before pressing on.

ClaudiaH said...

Thanks for the comment. I don't seem to be notified when comments appear. I almost missed this one. Hmm.. I should be able to be notified, unless that's still part of google reader, which they split from google +, and so I now use google + but rarely google reader. Anyway, I'm sure we could have a good group discussion about this. ..