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Speed reading is a blessing and a curse. I naturally read by glancing at chunks and absorbing as well, and it had me reading at a college level in 5th grade. It's great for summary terrible for absorbtion. Trying to read line by line has done a lot for enjoyment of beautiful writing. Which is why I like highlighting words in Gene Wolfe and in general. It forces me to slow 
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Dec 18, 2021 16:15
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Great, now even reading has been gamified and people are counting their wpm stats and poo poo. Can anything go without being optimized?
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Dec 18, 2021 16:40
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I speed/scan read sometimes, but only when it's a book that I'm not enjoying very much and for whatever reason I need to finish and can't just drop. Definitely never retain anything but broad strokes doing that, though. Unrelated to that, I recently read You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo, which has an incredibly bizarre title (it's the name of a sentient space ship that's a main character in the book, turns out!) but was pretty enjoyable. It felt like a combination of the kind of rag-tag, doing-their-best crew you'd find a Becky Chambers book but with a good amount more violence and space pirates. Currently I'm about a fifth of the way through Too Like the Lightning and liking it a lot! I picked it up a while ago based on all the recs here, but only just got around to reading it. I was about to ask how the sequel is, but apparently, the fourth one in the series came out last month (I thought there were only two, hah). Has anyone read them all?
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Dec 18, 2021 16:49
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packetmantis posted:Great, now even reading has been gamified and people are counting their wpm stats and poo poo. Can anything go without being optimized? People are just talking about and sharing their experiences of reading in different ways. I think as long as we don't stray into 'people with smaller vocabularies / people who read more slowly are stupid and lesser' territory, which is always a danger when nerds get together, it's just folk chatting about how they go. I like hearing about how different people can be. Aphantasia, for example - I hadn't considered but of course you'd read faster if you're not taking time to visualise. That's interesting and I thank that goon for mentioning it.
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Dec 18, 2021 16:51
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packetmantis posted:Great, now even reading has been gamified and people are counting their wpm stats and poo poo. Can anything go without being optimized? People have been going glassy eyed since the days of pharaohs: "Cat cat Ibis leaning man cat...fml I wish Ibrahim could come up with something better than starting every romance with CatCatIbisLeaningManfuckingCat, talk about predictable. You know what I mean Aram?"
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Dec 18, 2021 16:53
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there was a brief couple years where I couldn't visualize and scan but now that I'm used to it, it's the same. sometimes I'm too tired to do both because I love reading in bed but my pace slows down until my brain catches up and it's all good. if you're good enough at it you'll automatically slow down for details/etc without slowing your overall reading much. if you lose detail or emotion when scanning it's because you're a noob basically.
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Dec 18, 2021 17:58
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Big random fantasy/sci fi sale today. The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GJQFFDX/ Feet of Clay (Discworld #19) by Terry Pratchett - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TU16OU/ The Magician King (Magicians #2) by Lev Grossman - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XFZ8X2/ American Gods by Neil Gaiman - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YW4L5K/ The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC11GA/ The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K Le Guin - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087X6Z1GS/ Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088DPRZPJ/ The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MZN2B2/ King Bullet (Sandman Slim #12) by Richard Kadrey - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NPYGPYY/ Artifact Space by Miles Cameron - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092DV697H/ The Burning God (Poppy War #3) by RF Kuang - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084VP8KNB/ Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XG6MG3Y/ Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XD75HGV/ The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson - $1.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PI181JI/ The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Volume One: Swords and Deviltry, Swords Against Death, and Swords in the Mist by Fritz Leiber - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0741VJC4D/ Lilith's Brood: The Complete Xenogenesis Trilogy by Octavia E Butler - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008HALOMI/ Seed to Harvest: The Complete Patternist Series by Octavia E Butler - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008HALOVO/ Here's the full list if you want to check yourself https://www.amazon.com/s?i=digital-text&bbn=6165851011&rh=n%3A6165851011%2Cn%3A668010011&dc&fst=as%3Aoff
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Dec 18, 2021 18:09
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DurianGray posted:I speed/scan read sometimes, but only when it's a book that I'm not enjoying very much and for whatever reason I need to finish and can't just drop. Definitely never retain anything but broad strokes doing that, though. The sequel is basically just part two of the book (like i had forgotten that it was book two on the reread until suddenly "end of book one of the history of the world" before we had even gotten to things i 'remembered' from the first book) Reading the first three and then diving into 4th here, bit of the way into book two. I remember the first time i read this, at this point i hated all the characters and wanted them all to fail. Enjoying it a lot more on second read through now that i have a bit more context.
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Dec 18, 2021 18:10
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I needed to learn to read for detail, and slowly, in college. Reading plot-driven fiction is early different than reading Kierkegaard. Very often , most recently with Harrow the Ninth, if I find myself barreling forwards, I back up and reread pages slowly, luxuriant in the language.
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Dec 18, 2021 18:13
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I use my tongue to take a thin impression of the words off the page or screen (my tongue is highly photosensitive) then I flick my tongue out and paint a film across my left or right eyeball, depending on which side of my brain I want to receive the information. I basically experience the words as 'floaters' on my vision. I can do this about once a second, it's just down to how fast I can lick and whether I'm able to keep my tongue wet. I find that sentences 'taste' different depending on their entropy and the writer's skill at prosody. Sometimes it's like I'm kissing the author's brain directly, lapping up the secretions of cerebrospinal fluid. It's very intimate and emotionally fulfilling.
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Dec 18, 2021 18:29
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Is there a similar technique for writing. Asking for a friend.
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Dec 18, 2021 18:34
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withak posted:Is there a similar technique for writing. Asking for a friend. Stenography?
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Dec 18, 2021 18:43
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OddObserver posted:Stenography? Reverse Phrenology.
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Dec 18, 2021 18:54
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HopperUK posted:People are just talking about and sharing their experiences of reading in different ways. I think as long as we don't stray into 'people with smaller vocabularies / people who read more slowly are stupid and lesser' territory, which is always a danger when nerds get together, it's just folk chatting about how they go. I like hearing about how different people can be. Aphantasia, for example - I hadn't considered but of course you'd read faster if you're not taking time to visualise. That's interesting and I thank that goon for mentioning it. In one sense, reading slower would probably make me enjoy literature which is more flowery more. As it is now, poetry is just a waste of time for me. Looking at you Erikson. From a work and study perspective, reading fast is good. From a literature perspective, the answer is more ambiguous.
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Dec 18, 2021 18:58
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Sibling of TB posted:The sequel is basically just part two of the book (like i had forgotten that it was book two on the reread until suddenly "end of book one of the history of the world" before we had even gotten to things i 'remembered' from the first book) Oh, that's very good to know about the first two books especially - thank you!
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Dec 18, 2021 19:20
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shade and fraud
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Dec 18, 2021 19:51
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Collateral posted:Reverse Phrenology. feeling the bumps on the inside of the head?
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Dec 18, 2021 19:52
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The bumps on their head feeling and measuring you.
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Dec 18, 2021 19:54
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StrixNebulosa posted:Huh, saw this on Janny Wurts' twitter: A bit late, but some thoughts: 1:43 The Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb ---> Haven't read this, but I did read the Fritz books from Hobb and these were pretty good. 3:00 The Winnowing Flame Trilogy by Jen Williams ---> I read the first book, but I'm not going to read the rest. I didn't dislike it, but it didn't grab me. Wouldn't recommend. 4:19 The Poppy War Trilogy by R.F. Kuang ---> I read the first book and I'm certainly never going to read anything by this author. Didn't like it at all, and would have stopped earlier if I've had known how it would develop. 4:55 The Divine Cities Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett ---> Yes, certainly a series I'd recommend. I quite liked it. 8:32 The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie ---> I quite like Joe Abercrombie and have read lots of books. This trilogy is pretty decent, although I remember the middle book as pretty dissapointing. 10:16 The Licanius Trilogy by James Islington ---> I read the first 2 books. Uh, pretty generic. I don't like plotlines around "fate" and time travel so not something I'll continue or recommend. 12:04 Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson ---> I've read most stuff written by Sanderson and while I'm not the biggest fan at all, I think the mistborn series is still a pretty good recommendation, especially the first book. The middle book in the trilogy is quite bad. 13:33 The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee ---> I've read the first book and half of the second. Didn't like it to be honest, there's a complete lack of "mystery". Events happen and the protagonist reacts, there's no figuring out anything.
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Dec 18, 2021 22:14
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Bilirubin posted:feeling the bumps on the inside of the head? As per Pratchett, retrophrenology is when you alter someone's personality by changing the shape of their head. With a series of carefully graded metal hammers, in the case of Zorgo.
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Dec 18, 2021 22:26
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Books don't have user avatars next to each paragraph so I never know which paragraphs I should read and which I should skim. Hoping the publishing mods do something about this.
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Dec 18, 2021 22:39
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Different approaches to reading are cool and good. I read using text to speech, and can read that way astonishingly fast—probs 600-700wpm—but I’d never do lit that way. And I’ve dealt with some pretty gnarly attitudes from people about it, claiming what I’m doing isn’t really reading, but it’s that or Braille, and getting access to Braille is prohibitive for a lot of people. You either need highly expensive specialized hardware to convert digital text to Braille or actual Braille books that are so big they destroy backpacks from the inside out like some kind of literary Bruce Banner. I’m hesitant to give any credence to the listening isn’t reading people, but I can say that reading by ear, if you want to retain information, is much more arduous. I’d probably do Braille only, had I the choice. About Green Bone saga, after like fifty-ish pages of the first book, I lost interest. The world is fascinating, and the author doesn’t have the chops to deliver that information elegantly. Lots of clumsy exposition, and when your book is about warring factions with a lot of contextually relevent politics, clumsy exposition is the best way to make me not give a poo poo real fast. It’s too bad, because there’s not enough martial arts mysticism in fantasy. I’m not trying to start another progression/cultivation derail here.
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Dec 18, 2021 22:41
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Lol at 'not really reading'. Yeah and wheelchair athletes aren't really running either, let's all be lovely to them, I guess. I wonder what they think you should do, aside from growing new eyes.
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Dec 18, 2021 23:59
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Listening is not reading, but an audiobook is still a book, so it's a moot point.
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Dec 19, 2021 00:21
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Sham bam bamina! posted:Listening is not reading, but an audiobook is still a book, so it's a moot point. Its actually a speech, and or oratory story telling. Not that it really actually matters as one is not better than the other. Telsa Cola fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Dec 19, 2021 |
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Dec 19, 2021 00:39
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BurningBeard posted:Different approaches to reading are cool and good. Now I'm curious on how listening to information vs reading information maps to your brain. Does it activate the same areas for everyone? Do you get better at retention of information over time if you only do one?
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Dec 19, 2021 00:41
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There’s evidence for the brain’s potential to rewire and use the visual cortex to process text to speech. I don’t like the premise of the study, as it takes a pretty lovely ableist presumption about blind people—the notion that we inherently have superior non sight senses—but the conclusions are pretty cool. e: Not a neuroscientist by any measure, but I’d wager that the visual cortex works much faster than other bits of our brains, that’s a lot of processing power on the table to be reapplied. You could probs make some interesting inferences from that. unattended spaghetti fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Dec 19, 2021 |
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Dec 19, 2021 01:39
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Thread favorite Murderbot won the Hugos for Best Series and Best Novel for Network Effect. 
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Dec 19, 2021 05:11
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I sometimes skim text fast when reading automatically and don't realize it until several paragraphs later and usually have to go back if I missed something. Usually happens more in scenes with little to no dialogue (or science literature related to my work but that's usually just me skimming for keywords/concepts)pradmer posted:Big random fantasy/sci fi sale today. Drained my gift card balance down to 7 cents in this sale, luckily will have more Bing money in another day or so in case something else on my wishlist goes on sale (this sale did have something on my wishlist so at least that was good and Blacktongue Thief is now in the queue)
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Dec 19, 2021 05:38
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Teddybear posted:Thread favorite Murderbot won the Hugos for Best Series and Best Novel for Network Effect. Wow, drat! Beat harrow, City we became, piranesi
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Dec 19, 2021 05:44
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Dammit, Amazon. A while back, I ordered a package that included some sauce. The package got super busted up and the sauce bottles all broke in there, ruining everything. I put in a complaint, and got a string of customer service reps demanding I return the goods I not longer wanted. I maintained that they were now useless, nobody wanted some computer phone cases soaked in capsaicin, honey, and some shards of broken glass, and the only thing it would accomplish is making the person who opens the package back at Amazon HQ unhappy. Eventually, I got a CS person who said they'd replace the items, and I wouldn't have to return anything, and they'd give me ten bucks to boot. They never gave me the ten bucks. Whatever. A couple days ago, they charged my debit card for all the materials I 'failed to return,' and lowered my balance to less than a dollar. I had to go back to CS, they put in an order to return my money, blah blah. Of course, that means I'm waiting the 5-10 business days for it to go through, and NOW'S when they put on a huge SF&F sale? Bullshit! (They still didn't give me the ten dollars)
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Dec 19, 2021 05:50
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lol at Raytheon sponsoring the Hugos and Murderbot winning, corporate synergy, baby! https://twitter.com/worldcon2021/status/1472361395148648448
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Dec 19, 2021 06:20
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John Lee posted:
Lesson learned: just mail back the disgusting soiled items and busted glass if they want them so bad.
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Dec 19, 2021 06:28
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Tars Tarkas posted:lol at Raytheon sponsoring the Hugos and Murderbot winning, corporate synergy, baby! https://twitter.com/AlexBlechman/status/1457842724128833538 big vibes with Raytheon/Murderbot rn
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Dec 19, 2021 06:43
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Disgusting.
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Dec 19, 2021 06:54
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Network Effect beating Piranesi is just... Yeah, no, sorry. Network Effect was fun, Piranesi is an actual masterpiece that people will be marveling at decades from now.
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Dec 19, 2021 07:05
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I think we're going to see a lot of categories weren't won by the story that received the most first place votes but by a story everybody ranked second or third.
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Dec 19, 2021 07:52
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BurningBeard posted:There’s evidence for the brain’s potential to rewire and use the visual cortex to process text to speech. I don’t like the premise of the study, as it takes a pretty lovely ableist presumption about blind people—the notion that we inherently have superior non sight senses—but the conclusions are pretty cool.  that's good poo poo right there
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Dec 19, 2021 08:33
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The Hugos are a popularity contest and that's it. Nothing wrong with that, but if the best book on the list wins it's a coincidence more than anything else.
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Dec 19, 2021 09:05
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withak posted:Lesson learned: just mail back the disgusting soiled items and busted glass if they want them so bad. Eh, Amazon's not a person, and a person would have to deal with it.
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Dec 19, 2021 09:05
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