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This is legitimately the most pretentious HN comment I've ever read, and that's a very high bar. I too dismiss things that people enjoy as "crap" because I hav

by qwsxyh 7y ago

This is legitimately the most pretentious HN comment I've ever read, and that's a very high bar. I too dismiss things that people enjoy as "crap" because I have such a gigantic brain from reading philosophy and looking down everyone else, and belittle them for believing that they read and understand fast in the wrong type of book.

saberience 7y ago
I actually read and enjoy Stephen King and JK Rowling, but I don't tell myself it's fine art and I'm super "smart" for speed reading it. I don't try and speed read anything because I don't think it's useful or meaningful. I'm trying to rally against the crowd you always find in any thread on speed-reading who love to talk about how great they are for reading 10 books a day and gaining nothing from it.
techer 7y ago
One can legitimately spend 20 minutes reading a single page...sometimes it depends on the thought, craft and skill of the author but relies on the reader to actually give a damn - enjoying reading for the sake of reading... One authors view - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/07/howard-jacobson-says-the-novel-is-not-dead https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/07/howard-jacobso...
buttcoinslol 7y ago
It's not really up for debate that it takes more concentration and time to read Ulysses or Hegel than it does to read the Dark Tower or Harry Potter series. Edit: And I like all of the above books/authors
pessimizer 7y ago
Being difficult to read definitely isn't a mark of quality, but all books aren't written at the same difficulty (vocabulary, ideas, information density) level, even if the idea that some things are harder than others strikes you as elitist.
watwut 7y ago
I like King and can confirm that I can read it much faster then books he mentions. Some books are quick to read, others slow. Ulysses was intentionally written to be difficult and Stephen King put great effort in making his books easy to read.
nilkn 7y ago
The post could have been written with a different tone, but I think it makes a good point that can't be purely dismissed as simple snobbery or belittling. I think the reason some folks get defensive on this topic is that it's somewhat common for someone to claim to be an incredibly fast reader, but on closer inspection it is (almost always) revealed that they are reading very straightforward and simple fiction that is about as close to being designed for speed reading as possible. This makes the claim of speed reading feel disingenuous. There can be truly dramatic differences between novels in terms of the complexity of the language used and the nuance of characters and events. I don't think one should expect a particularly celebratory response if one is making other folks feel like slow readers when they actually have been reading far more complicated material.
coldtea 7y ago
>This is legitimately the most pretentious HN comment I've ever read, and that's a very high bar. Or just one that tells it like it is. Not everything is of the same level (e.g. Bach and Nicky Minaj or Coltrane and Vanilla Ice), and not everything is equally "subjective". The same that goes for music, goes for literature, cinema, and so on. Sure, USA was founded on a populist ideology, where no individual's tastes and cultural development is lesser than another's. Well, not all cultures agree with that. >I too dismiss things that people enjoy as "crap" because I have such a gigantic brain from reading philosophy and looking down everyone else, and belittle them for believing that they read and understand fast in the wrong type of book. Well, at some point someone has to belittle if not the people, surely the wrong type of book -- in other words, put it in perspective, not everything is a diamond -- else there's no art and no culture, just an indistinguishable blob of different works.
bdavis__ 7y ago
Ever read a Tom Clancy book? Absolute crap. In about 3 dimensions. But, entertaining. Have read them all. Quickly.

by qwsxyh 7y ago

saberience 7y ago

I actually read and enjoy Stephen King and JK Rowling, but I don't tell myself it's fine art and I'm super "smart" for speed reading it. I don't try and speed read anything because I don't think it's useful or meaningful. I'm trying to rally against the crowd you always find in any thread on speed-reading who love to talk about how great they are for reading 10 books a day and gaining nothing from it.

techer 7y ago

One can legitimately spend 20 minutes reading a single page...sometimes it depends on the thought, craft and skill of the author but relies on the reader to actually give a damn - enjoying reading for the sake of reading... One authors view - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/07/howard-jacobson-says-the-novel-is-not-dead https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/07/howard-jacobso...

buttcoinslol 7y ago

It's not really up for debate that it takes more concentration and time to read Ulysses or Hegel than it does to read the Dark Tower or Harry Potter series. Edit: And I like all of the above books/authors

pessimizer 7y ago

Being difficult to read definitely isn't a mark of quality, but all books aren't written at the same difficulty (vocabulary, ideas, information density) level, even if the idea that some things are harder than others strikes you as elitist.

watwut 7y ago

I like King and can confirm that I can read it much faster then books he mentions. Some books are quick to read, others slow. Ulysses was intentionally written to be difficult and Stephen King put great effort in making his books easy to read.

nilkn 7y ago

The post could have been written with a different tone, but I think it makes a good point that can't be purely dismissed as simple snobbery or belittling. I think the reason some folks get defensive on this topic is that it's somewhat common for someone to claim to be an incredibly fast reader, but on closer inspection it is (almost always) revealed that they are reading very straightforward and simple fiction that is about as close to being designed for speed reading as possible. This makes the claim of speed reading feel disingenuous. There can be truly dramatic differences between novels in terms of the complexity of the language used and the nuance of characters and events. I don't think one should expect a particularly celebratory response if one is making other folks feel like slow readers when they actually have been reading far more complicated material.

coldtea 7y ago

>This is legitimately the most pretentious HN comment I've ever read, and that's a very high bar. Or just one that tells it like it is. Not everything is of the same level (e.g. Bach and Nicky Minaj or Coltrane and Vanilla Ice), and not everything is equally "subjective". The same that goes for music, goes for literature, cinema, and so on. Sure, USA was founded on a populist ideology, where no individual's tastes and cultural development is lesser than another's. Well, not all cultures agree with that. >I too dismiss things that people enjoy as "crap" because I have such a gigantic brain from reading philosophy and looking down everyone else, and belittle them for believing that they read and understand fast in the wrong type of book. Well, at some point someone has to belittle if not the people, surely the wrong type of book -- in other words, put it in perspective, not everything is a diamond -- else there's no art and no culture, just an indistinguishable blob of different works.

bdavis__ 7y ago

Ever read a Tom Clancy book? Absolute crap. In about 3 dimensions. But, entertaining. Have read them all. Quickly.