4 ms·

The whole thing is an incoherent mess. Is there even an argument here? > With a nearly photographic memory and a reading speed of 1,000 pages per hour (at his

The whole thing is an incoherent mess. Is there even an argument here? > With a nearly photographic memory and a reading speed of 1,000 pages per hour (at his peak), Harold Bloom was the single most impressive literary critic of the late twentieth century. 16 pages per minute? Quarter of a page per second, like 5-6 sentences per second? The only thing you can "read" at this speed is perhaps low-end newspapers where you essentially skim through paragraphs. Moreover the view of "reading" expressed in this article is quite unsophisticated. Higher-level reading is not about consumption at all, it is a creative process. The book is merely a trigger and guide to one's own thoughts. It is an input to think in a different way, to see the world with new eyes, and to transform one's life. To really understand what higher-order reading means, one can study the biographies of Newton. The man really knew what are books good for and how to use them. His is the finest example of scholarship aided thinking. Another insightful view into the process of "reading" comes from Alan Kay [1]. [1]: https://docs.huihoo.com/smalltalk/The-Future-of-Reading-Depends-on-the-Future-of-Learning-Difficult-to-Learn-Things.pdf https://docs.huihoo.com/smalltalk/The-Future-of-Reading-Depe...

kazinator 3y ago
> It is an input to think in a different way, to see the world with new eyes, and to transform one's life. I.e. to do what most of the unwashed, non-reading masses aren't doing (elitism), absorb into onself (anti-social) and focus on self improvement (selfish).
kstrauser 3y ago
The notion of speed reading kind of horrifies me. One of my favorite pleasures is slowing down to savor every phrase in a beautifully written chapter. To me, "speed reading" is right up there with "speed sex" on the list of skills I have zero desire to acquire.
- bawolff 3y ago
  I personally am not really into reading for savouring the prose, but even still speed reading seems dumb. I still need time to contemplate the ideas that the words are symbollically representing. Otherwise what is the point?
  - 1letterunixname 3y ago
    But, but, but how will you claim you read Moby Dick in under 55 minutes? If one considers "reading" glancing at every 30th word for a blink of the eye, it seems a completely wasted effort if one doesn't stop to smell the roses and build a vision in their mind's eye by reading thoughtfully (no pun intended). It's like the people who are always so busy yet have no time, and miss most details and skip enjoying the simple minutia that give sometimes authentic and believable depth to character, plot, and prose development. It's why most movies are bad: it's not the acting, but the script either lacks character development by not building the character as someone good to love or a dastardly villain, and real by specific foibles, idiosyncrasies and habits unrelated to the central plot. A spy movie where the main character flies a kite on the weekend without being on a stakeout, but then shares it with the kids and gives it to them as they're having so much fun. Movies, books, and readers mission focused to skip to the end are as boring as people who make love like it's a race or a perfunctory ritual.
peanutcrisis 3y ago
I wonder how that guy will manage an introductory calculus textbook, let alone subsequent topics like analysis. Talk about a difference in rigour.
omnimus 3y ago
Your first two sentences kinda describe the author i am afraid. People who read to check item in their checklist probably care about reading speed. They are also missing the point tragically.
kaba0 3y ago
Do you per chance have some recommendations on where to start with Newton’s biography? The aspect you mentioned really interests me, but I may not be into reading through all his life.
baerrie 3y ago
There are more people than you think who can read close to that fast and it doesn’t mean you are skipping things. For some, reading creates a full immersion in an interior world that subsumes the words themselves. Also, in the mind, time scales can vary, like in a dream, and although you are reading quickly, your imagining does not feel that way. To focus solely on the holiness of the words themselves is often not the point or aim of a lot of great authors. They are a means to an end not the end itself.

kazinator 3y ago

> It is an input to think in a different way, to see the world with new eyes, and to transform one's life. I.e. to do what most of the unwashed, non-reading masses aren't doing (elitism), absorb into onself (anti-social) and focus on self improvement (selfish).

kstrauser 3y ago

The notion of speed reading kind of horrifies me. One of my favorite pleasures is slowing down to savor every phrase in a beautifully written chapter. To me, "speed reading" is right up there with "speed sex" on the list of skills I have zero desire to acquire.

bawolff 3y ago
I personally am not really into reading for savouring the prose, but even still speed reading seems dumb. I still need time to contemplate the ideas that the words are symbollically representing. Otherwise what is the point?
- 1letterunixname 3y ago
  But, but, but how will you claim you read Moby Dick in under 55 minutes? If one considers "reading" glancing at every 30th word for a blink of the eye, it seems a completely wasted effort if one doesn't stop to smell the roses and build a vision in their mind's eye by reading thoughtfully (no pun intended). It's like the people who are always so busy yet have no time, and miss most details and skip enjoying the simple minutia that give sometimes authentic and believable depth to character, plot, and prose development. It's why most movies are bad: it's not the acting, but the script either lacks character development by not building the character as someone good to love or a dastardly villain, and real by specific foibles, idiosyncrasies and habits unrelated to the central plot. A spy movie where the main character flies a kite on the weekend without being on a stakeout, but then shares it with the kids and gives it to them as they're having so much fun. Movies, books, and readers mission focused to skip to the end are as boring as people who make love like it's a race or a perfunctory ritual.

peanutcrisis 3y ago

I wonder how that guy will manage an introductory calculus textbook, let alone subsequent topics like analysis. Talk about a difference in rigour.

omnimus 3y ago

Your first two sentences kinda describe the author i am afraid. People who read to check item in their checklist probably care about reading speed. They are also missing the point tragically.

kaba0 3y ago

Do you per chance have some recommendations on where to start with Newton’s biography? The aspect you mentioned really interests me, but I may not be into reading through all his life.

baerrie 3y ago

There are more people than you think who can read close to that fast and it doesn’t mean you are skipping things. For some, reading creates a full immersion in an interior world that subsumes the words themselves. Also, in the mind, time scales can vary, like in a dream, and although you are reading quickly, your imagining does not feel that way. To focus solely on the holiness of the words themselves is often not the point or aim of a lot of great authors. They are a means to an end not the end itself.