Great speed in reading

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Great speed in reading is a dubious achievement; it is of value only if what you have to read is not really worth reading. A better formula is this: Every book should be read no more slowly than it deserves, and no more quickly than you can read it with satisfaction and comprehension.

Mortimer Adler

3 thoughts on “Great speed in reading”

  1. and if you can read fast with satisfaction and comprehension, you can read more.

    reading slowly is not a virtue. watch a kid who’s sounding out the words and see how much satisfaction and comprehension they get out of a story, then watch the same kid a year or two later when they are reading much faster, they get a lot more satisfaction and comprehension from what they read.

    learning to read fast and accurately is removing friction from your reading, and allows you to ignore the process of reading and become more involved with what you are reading

    (note, skimming where you look for key words and sentences is not the same things as reading fast, event though a very fast reader may go through material faster than a slow reader can skim)

    • Agreed, D.

      I tend to be a relatively fast reader when I’m reading for pleasure. I’ll increase or decrease speed as the material changes in a single book/article.

      When I’m reading a contract, it’s a whole different experience. Ditto when I’m reading a court opinion.

  2. PG, I’m the opposite. When I’m reading something I HAVE to, I read faster, sometimes settling for a semi-skim of the text.
    When I enjoy something, I SAVOR it, re-reading sections for the thrill of hearing the words in my head. I will pause, and think about the things I’ve just read.

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