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And of course the real title is "The big question: are books getting longer?". Re: article, it's disheartening that good books suffer from this as well. I've r
by mziel 11y ago
And of course the real title is "The big question: are books getting longer?".
Re: article, it's disheartening that good books suffer from this as well. I've recently read "The power of habit" and "Think fast and slow". Both are great, but both would be much better at the half of their size.
For most non-fiction content the magazine article is too short (3-8 pages) and only skims over the issue. It's evident when you read an article on something you're very familiar with. However book is too long (300 pages) and introduces filler and repetitions. I find that Special Reports from The Economist are quite good in size and depth (15-30 pages). My ideal would be around 100 pages, but those reports are still my go-to place if I want to read something.
- tedmiston 11y ago> Both are great, but both would be much better at the half of their size. This brings to mind a comment Jason Fried made in Rework: “Writers eliminate good pages to make a great book. We cut this book in half between the next-to-last and final drafts. From 57,000 words to about 27,000 words. Trust us, it’s better for it.”
- wslh 11y agoThis is more extreme now where our attention jumps from link to link. We can't separate this issue from the Internet era.
- RightWingRabble 11y agoWe subconsciously equate size with value. A physical book sitting on a shelf benefits from being (or looking) large, especially if it costs $15. Digital books don't suffer from the misconception and lots of independently written books are shorter than those intended for print. That's my perception, anyway. I'd be curious to see hard numbers comparing book sizes between those intended for print and those that are e-book only.
- dang 11y ago> And of course the real title is "The big question: are books getting longer?". But the body of the article contains nothing to the contrary, so it seems the submitter's edit was in keeping with the guidelines (i.e. change the title if it is misleading).
- EthanHeilman 11y agoSpaced repetition is good for memory[0]. When I read on a subject I will usually read several books in the same area spread out over 6-8 months to reinforce those memories. I felt the repetition in 'Thinking Fast and Slow' helped me soak up and retain the ideas much better, although I've probably forgotten much of that book by now. I read this policy paper on nuclear weapons that I found in the trash near my house. It consisted of five essays, each essay critiquing the prior essays. The repetition combined with argumentation had a powerful effect and forced me to engage in thinking about the issue under discussion. I wish more books would do that. It was around 80 pages which was a perfect length. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacing_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacing_effect
- GuiA 11y agoAny pointers to that nuclear policy paper? (ideally other than digging through my neighborhood's trash cans)
- EthanHeilman 11y agoI'm not sure it was ever widely published, but it is named: "Proposal for No First Use of Nuclear Weapons: Pros and Cons, Policy Memorandum no. 28 (Center of International Studies, Princeton University, September, 1963" More details can be found Google books[0]. I wrote a review of a related book which I found in the same pile: There Will be no Time[1]. [0]: https://books.google.com/books?id=sVq6jgEACAAJ&dq=Proposal+for+no+first+use+of+nuclear+weapons:+pros+and+cons.+Policy+Memorandum+no.+28&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjfwbSXmNnJAhWBMSYKHSRYD2wQ6AEIMjAE https://books.google.com/books?id=sVq6jgEACAAJ&dq=Proposal+f... [1]: http://ethanheilman.tumblr.com/post/29405762446/there-will-be-no-time-a-review http://ethanheilman.tumblr.com/post/29405762446/there-will-b...