in a hurry
I read fast. Not carefully, not thoroughly, but very fast. I skim the parts that look boring, ignore descriptions and sentences with too many adjectives, skip over names. I sometimes have to go back to see what I've missed, but afterwards I plunge ahead, reading as fast as I can. I finish almost every book in a single sitting. In fact, for a long time, I couldn't understand what people meant when they said they "were reading" a book, because, looking at them, I could see perfectly well that they weren't reading anything at all.
14 comments:
I also read very fast, not as fast as you but the more I read, the more I start to skim pages until eventually I get to a book that I can definitely read in one sitting and then I make a conscious effort to read every word and imagine the word pictures. It works for a couple of weeks until I pick up a thriller and start skimming again. It makes it very difficult to read anything other than thrillers and detective stories. Do you find that?
carlynn: I guess that I don't really ever try to slow down or read every word. My main goal is just to get to the end as fast as possible. Usually I don't really care if I'm missing something, because I figure that if I really like the book, I can always go back and read it again.
That's why I just can't bear to listen to books on tape. They go soooo slowly that they make me want to tear my hair out. (though I suppose I might feel differently if I had a long commute and needed to kill time)
I'm exactly like this. But for some reason in the past few months I've decided to trade extensive for intensive reading. Instead of picking new books with unknown events and endings, I'm going back to the comfortable ones I already know.
I read fast too, not as fast as you but fast enough that my husband doesn't believe I can possible be reading everything.
I read exactly like this. I skim and skip along, sometimes finding my way to the end, first, and, if the book is interesting enough, reading backwards to catch anything I might have missed. The whole process fascinates my husband who is dyslexic and reads very slowly, picking up and picking apart every single word.
I am a fast reader as well, and I think you have described exactly what makes a fast reader, fast. People often have asked me what I do to read so quickly, and it's hard to explain. When I tell them that I don't read every word, they look at me like I'm crazy and can't imagine how I can actually understand the story that way.
This is the way I read books for years -- very fast. But for some reason over the past five or six years, I've felt like I need to read books slowly and take in every word. I'm not very good at it, honestly. But it seems worth working at.
Now I read blogs very fast instead.
I read books quickly, but thoroughly and intently, often using a bookstand while my hands are wrapped in yarn so that I read the last paragraph several times before turning the page. I sacrifice large amounts of time and attention to them. Probably my life would be better if I didn't read at all.
I am a lot like that. I skip over things, and have to go back to figure out who is called what again, if I get lost. I don't necesserily finish things in one sitting, but I used to love being sick as a kid-- seriously, whole days to do nothing but read, while people bring you tasty stuff? Nothing better.
I haven't read much lately except blogs *grin*. I hope to start reading books again this summer.
I am excatly the same way. I skip paragraphs of lame (possibly beautiful - who knows?) descriptions in search of plot information or dialouge. I bet I have missed some great stuff. Don't care - need to know how story ends! No time for gratuitous words!
do you remember most of what you read? I feel as I get older, that I read more slowly, that I really hear the words in my head. This does mean I don't get through books as quickly, though, and sometimes I get frustrated by it. maybe it comes from so much play reading, and trying to hear the dialogue in my head. It's interesting what works for different people!
i to read books very quickly. I always have done, and from a very early age was a voracious reader. My Mum probably got me reading more adult novels slightly earlier than she ideally wanted as she didn't want me to loose my love of reading by getting bored!
I now read books very quickly, an dI love nothing better than re-reading one of my old favourites that I've read dozens of times before.
Yup me too, its a bad habit actually, it means i miss a lot of detail and have to re-read which means i didn't save much on time in the first place!
Part of what I used to do, but when it came to work i read slowly :)
I don't. I read every word. I'm afraid that if I miss a detail the entire meaning could be lost. If a paragraph or sentence is crucial to the plot, I reread it just to be sure I understood it correctly. Accuracy and detail are important to me.
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