I once read an entire Hallmark greeting card in one sitting. Not quite as impressive, but I was quite proud.
Plus, there was nothing else to read in the bathroom. On 12/23/11, James Young <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't max out my reading speed for things I want to enjoy. Reading at top > speed is like running > an engine on a red line. I can do it for a fair length of time, but there's > a limit and I'll pay a > price for it later, usually a splitting headache. Generally I won't do it > for more than about 3 or > 4 hours, enough to read an entire college text book (ugh, that was an awful > cellular biology text), > but no more. It's not for "pleasure", but for "purpose". > > My comprehension rate does drop some the closer I get to maximum speed, but > I'm still generally > between 75% and 85% depending on the technical difficulty. At top speed I'm > absorbing enough to > pass comprehensive exams with good marks or discourse on a subject that's > covered in the material, > but I'll lose a portion of the specifics particularly in cases where it the > writing isn't stellar. > I suffer the most drawback with the high end technical writing in scientific > journal articles since > the information density of those works is very, very high and often quite > specialized. > > I slow down to savor stuff that I want to enjoy, roughly 120 pages per hour. > My retention at that > level is remarkably good, to the point I basically commit entire books to > short term memory and > running a very high comprehension rate, in the 95% or better range. Since I > can reread items > regularly, I can commit longer and more complex works to long term memory. > I can probably quote you > half of Tolkien just off the top of my head, but I've also read it several > dozen times. As to my > enjoyment of the story, it's quite alive and well at any speed, in fact it's > the author's skill that > will set my pace more than anything. Really good, fluid authors like Ray* > will allow me to kick > into high gear and finish a book quite quickly because they have a flow that > other authors haven't > mastered. > > -James > > *Fantasy authors I read very quickly include A. Lee Martinez, Raymond E. > Feist, J.R.R. Tolkien, > Trudi Canavan, Tanith Lee, and Markus Heitz. Authors that I find more > jarring include J.K. Rowling, > Christopher Paolini, Fiona McIntosh, and David B. Coe. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Josh Hessel" <[email protected]> > To: "feistfans-l" <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, December 23, 2011 4:22 PM > Subject: Re: Possible answer > > >> Hey James, >> >> I know a couple of people that read very quickly. I can read quite >> quickly if I actively focus on the task, but I find that I don't >> absorb the story/content as well or enjoy the experience as much as if >> I am reading slower. >> >> Do you find this? At the speeds you mentioned, are you still able to >> absorb and enjoy the content as much as if you took more time? >> >> Josh >> >> On 24/12/2011, at 4:12, James Young <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> My official speed is 1,434 words per minute on paper; 1,076 words per >>> minute on a screen; with >>> comprehension. The average mass market has around 250 words per page, so >>> I'm just shy of 6 pages >>> per minute on paper. >>> >> > > > -- Sent from my mobile device
