The Art of Slow Reading

I am not surprised by the comments on my post from the other day on "Theodore Roosevelt and Speed Reading". No one responded that they read to Get Things Done. We are members of the Slow Reading Movement.

If this were a business blog or a blog that wanted to help one rush through life, then speed reading would be de rigueur. If we were all having to read professional journals (horrors) and 20 newspapers per day (more horrors), we would need to be reading in the Fast Lane. 

But, reading for pleasure and reading for speed seem to be the antithesis of each another. We Slow Readers want to savor the words, think about what we have read, and even - good grief - reread passages.

All to the good, I say.

I discovered that the average adult reads 250 words per minute and I found a reading-speed calculator online. Here is the formula:

--Open a book.

--Count the number of words in three lines and divide by three. This figure is your WPL or Words Per Line

--Count the number of lines on a page. This figure is your LPP or Lines Per Page.

--Multiply the WPL by the LPP. This figure is your WPP or Words Per Page.

--Read for a set amount of time, say 15 minutes.

--Count the number of full, half, and quarter pages you read.  (I would just make sure you read at a spot in the book that contained full pages of text. Why complicate matters with more math!)

--Multiply the number of pages you read in that time by the WPP. This figure is your Total Number of Words.

--Divide the number of minutes you read into the Total Number of Words. This figure is your WPM or Words Per Minute.

So, if you read 10 pages each containing 400 words per page (which would equal 4000 words) in 15 minutes, your WPM would be 267. 

Or you could just practice the Art of Slow Reading, enjoy the book, and forget about the math. Plan on it.

Theodore Roosevelt and Speed Reading

Bookplate used by Theodore Roosevelt

for his personal library

"My library has been the greatest possible pleasure to me, [Theodore Roosevelt] wrote to his parents during his freshman year [at Harvard], "as whenever I have any spare time I can immediately take up a book." 
             ---from The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin

It is said that Mr. Roosevelt read a book a day...before breakfast! In the evenings, when things in the White House (where he lived from 1901 to 1909) were quiet, he read another book or two plus magazines and newspapers. 

Speed reading, anyone?

I once took a class in speed reading. It ruined me. It made reading too much like work, gave me a headache, and I had absolutely zero comprehension of what I had read. I soon went back to my normal pace. I am the type of reader who Reads Every Word. It is my one weakness (as Candleford's Postmistress Dorcas Lane would say).

As much as I like the idea of gobbling up books, I find that forcing my eyes to tear across lines of text takes away all the enjoyment of reading for me. 

In 2009, the blog "The Art of Manliness" (which has some great information that is not only for men) had a post on Mr. Roosevelt's reading habits and some tips on increasing one's reading speed. You can read the entry, slowly or quickly, here: Speed Reading.

What about you, dear reader. Have you tried speed reading? Did you have any success? Do you consider yourself a slow reader or a fast reader?  Have you ever calculated the number of words you read per minute? Does your reading speed matter to you? 

Comments, anyone?