Iwas midway writing this piece during a chillout session when I read
’s essay ‘Who Reads a Novel in a Single Sitting?’ The questions he asked which included — Are you a plodder or a speed reader? — reminded me of a few incidents where I was teased for being a slow reader. Yes, I am a plodder. But there are salient reasons for that.
“We read to know we’re not alone.” ??? William Nicholson, ‘Shadowlands: A Play’
At university I had a compulsory module called Effective Reading. I know it sounds ridiculous considering we made it to tertiary level education and suddenly, we’re forced to examine how efficient we are at reading and comprehension. I was wrong. It was a good subject. It was a game changer.
I’d forgotten the lecturer who taught me (sorry, sir/madam) but I remember what I had to do in that course for the entire semester. Reading was a fraction of it. Strategizing your thoughts was the bulk of it.
It raised a few useful questions that had long-term benefits. Before that, allow me to ask you: If you could only keep one book in your library, what book would it be?
The course then taught us how to deep dive into a book, make annotations, how to challenge the author, its historicism, and your very own thoughts. The process can be distilled to three rules: