In an update to my previous post on non-reading, there was an interesting article in the The Chronicle Review this week arguing for a more inclusive interpretation of reading. Lennard J. Davis writes:
An all too predictable moralism surrounds the reading of books. There is a prescribed way of reading: one page at a time, starting from the front of the book to the back, paying close attention to every single page in order, no skipping around. But the reality is that most of us graze – read a bit, put the book down, start up again. We may pay more attention to one part than another, skim boring parts, and even (heaven forfend) leap over long, dull tracts.
The article is only temporarily available online.
2 Comments
March 23, 2007 at 10:27 pm
there’s some truth in that quote. i read a whole lot, but often i don’t remember the key details in a novel because i don’t read to remember, i read for leisure. that’s why rereading is important to me, so that i can rediscover the pleasure that novel once gave me; some people think rereading is a waste of time when there are so many more books out there unread yet.
http://sulz.daria.be
March 26, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Hi Sulz, it sounds like you really enjoy the process of reading, not just being able to tick another book off the list as read; which is the way reading should be!
I like the quote because it allows for a less linear approach to reading which is much closer to reality.