Read slowly

I read as slowly as a I need to and I am a slow reader in general.

Better to spend twenty minutes reading a page and understanding it than getting through 10 pages in the same time and forgetting the content or not fully understanding it.

IMO, don’t bother speed reading. I taught myself how to speed-read. Then I practised until I could read four (substantial) novels in an evening. This takes most of the enjoyment out of fiction, so it’s pointless. I was also told that I would need to learn to speed read to get through university – otherwise, there’s too much to get through. I tried that, and got nowhere because almost nothing goes in when speed-reading non-fiction. If it does go in your memory, it does not stay there.

Spending 3–4 hours reading each day is enough to be in the top of the class at university, even if you read ‘slower’ than your peers. The difference is in reading consistently. However ‘fast’ others might read, it’s a waste of time if it is inconsistent, unfocussed, and careless. Better to read carefully.

You do not have to read in the ‘right order’

It is okay to read just one chapter in a book, whether it is chapter 1 or chapter 12 – pick the chapter that interests you. When I first read Capital, I started with the chapter on bloody legislation, then a month later read the chapter on the working day, then a month later read other chapters on primitive accumulation.

Some time later (6 months?), I started at the beginning and read it from cover to cover. Having read the other chapters and some other Marxists in the meantime, I needed to know how Marx and Marxists gained their insights. From that point, you couldn’t have torn the book from my hands. I’m not suggesting this reading order; I’m just showing you that there is no ‘right way’ to read a text.

This is not a systematic approach, but it is how I read most things. It relies on reading enough material – over as long a time as it takes – to become interested in the subject. The more you learn about a subject, the more interesting it becomes, the more questions you have, and the more you want to know. The easier it gets to enter the flow state.

Knowing which parts of a text to read

There are some useful techniques for reading faster. Skim-reading (for the ‘gist’) and skipping paragraphs or sections as soon as you realise that you know the content already. Through practice and familiarity, you will learn that most (good!) writing will follow a certain structure.

Good writers tend to start by telling you what other people have said; only then do they tell you why the others are wrong, and finally they tell you the solution. If you already know the field and the arguments, you only need to read a few lines of the earlier sections. The important sections are where the writer tells you what they are adding to the subject. They summarise this in the introduction and explain its implications in the conclusion.

Some writers do this section my section (modern published academic papers tend to do this). Some writers may do this point-by-point (essays, books ‘for the public’, and older texts tend to do this).

1. Example 1

• Introduction (1 page)
• The state of the field (2 pages) (outline of arguments 1, 2, and 3)
• The problems with the state of the field (2 pages) (relating to arguments 1, 2, and 3)
• The new way of looking at the field (5 pages)
• Conclusion (1 page).

2. Example 2

• Introduction (1 page)
• Argument #1: the state of the field (1/2 paragraph)> the problems with the state of the field (1/2 paragraph) > the new way of looking at the field (2 paragraphs)
• Argument #2: the state of the field (1/2 paragraph) > the problems with the state of the field (1/2 paragraph) > the new way of looking at the field (2 paragraphs)
• Argument #3: the state of the field (1/2 paragraph) > the problems with the state of the field (1/2 paragraph) > the new way of looking at the field (2 paragraphs)
• Conclusion (1 page)

In example 1 or 2, once you know the area, you can jump to the text on ‘the new way of looking at the field’, whether that is all together in one section, or spread out at the end of several sections. You can skim the rest for keywords, just to see if anything jumps out at you.

When reading any text, start with the chapter and section headings to get an overview. If there is an abstract, read this next. Then read the introduction and the conclusion. (You could read the conclusion first.) Then read either the whole book or a selected chapter from start to finish. This way, it is easier to hold the pieces of the argument in your mind as you encounter each idea in the text, and you start with the overall argument as one ‘chunk/item’, to which you can slowly add the details.

It’s practically impossible to learn everything in a text the first time you read it. Fully understanding a text requires reading it 2–3+ times. Once to understand what the author is saying. Twice to understand how they are saying it. Third to understand whether they are persuasive and to decide what you think.

You do not need to fully understand everything you read. Often, it is enough to know the broad argument. And if that is all you need to know, you can often work this out from the introduction and conclusion, then move on to something more interesting and important.