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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

How to be a 'better' reader

  
 
semioticrobotic
02:53 / 29.11.05
At first I intended to start this thread as a discussion of ways to be a "better" reader of academic material (as I'm a graduate student and struggle with being an "effective" reader every day). I am always looking for suggestions on how to read well, read for longer periods of time without incurring the effects of fatigue, and retain more of what I read.

But then I thought this might be a little too exclusive, and I want other folks to be able to chat about how they enhance the reading experience of, say, a novel.

I'm one who needs to read in relative isolation. When reading academic texts, if the room I'm in is not deathly quiet, then I need to find a place that is. Also, when reading academic texts, I mark the hell out of them with penned notations and underlinings (something I have lately considered stopping for several reasons). These notations provide some benchmarks for further review, but at the same time, taking the time to make them detracts (and distracts) from the fluidity of experience I think I need for better overall retention.

Any help for me, Barbeloids?
 
 
This Sunday
06:28 / 29.11.05
I'm horrible at reading anything that isn't interesting to me in any way but I need(ed) for whatever: work, school, thing I got conned into doing for somebody else. Genres or types of writing don't turn me off, other than full-of-itself edutainment works, but even those are an ambience the writer instills and not the real material.
How do people read, say, Phillip Lopate or a science paper wiht someone who has much knowledge but no excitement (the anti-Feynman, basically) and (a) retain anything, while (b) not getting annoyed all to hell? Is there like a meditation and mental programming route I never learned?
It's like listening to washed out Ashlee Simpson seventh-gen clones, when God invented Goldfrapp and Lemmy (who, coincidentally, may have invented God, retroactively) for you to experience.
Maybe there's an excitement/pleasure in these works that turn me off, but it seriously seems like some people are just determined not to have any fun at all.
I have, however, noticed that finding a goofy angle to the material can take care of the driest affected tone and the shoddiest pacing.
 
 
MacDara
08:31 / 29.11.05
I think that making annotations is a good habit; you shouldn't give it up. It might slow down your progress in terms of page count, but it reflects a deeper thought process at work which will only serve to enhance your understanding of the text for now and in future.

It shows that you're really thinking about what you're reading, and looking back over your notes can act like a shortcut to these thoughts and ideas etched in your mind. That's how it was for me when I was writing my Master's dissertation during the summer, anyway.
 
 
Cat Chant
09:43 / 29.11.05
Derrida on his reading practice (from an as-yet-untranslated interview, shh)

I use a pencil to ill-treat the book, to scribble, to underline, to draw arrows... My sons don't want to use my books, they prefer to buy their own copies because they see the traces of my violence, the pencil stabs, exclamation marks, arrows, underlinings.
 
 
Kit-Cat Club
10:03 / 29.11.05
I don't like to make notes in the actual books (for academic reading in particular, but for any sort of reading really). I like reading other people's amrginalia, but not my own...

I learned this after deciding that I would become an annotatotor, and marking up my copy of The Great War and Modern Memory. I can hardly bear to open it now, as I can't read it afresh without seeing the traces of my former reading (and rather callow 'literary' comments, ugh, who did I think I was?). I don't like my former readings to be so explicit when I reread...

What I do with academic books is to make separate notes with a kind of 'crib to reel thorts', often in a different colour, so that I can track my thought processes while reading - these being often more important than the actual matter of the text, if you see what I mean. I probably do this each time I read something in anger, though it is a little time-consuming.
 
 
semioticrobotic
11:40 / 29.11.05
If Derrida and the 'Lithers take notes in their books, that's good enough for me. How about an activities before/during/after reading? Anyone take breaks? Force a recall? Jot a short outline or some such?
 
 
MacDara
12:23 / 29.11.05
How about an activities before/during/after reading? Anyone take breaks? Force a recall? Jot a short outline or some such?

When I was doing revision for my philosophy degree final exams, I distilled my course notes and texts onto A4 pages, separated by course strand, in my smallest block handwriting, step by step. Not exactly bullet-points, more like a series of abtracts on the key ideas so I could quickly go over them and test my own knowledge in my head.

The process of distilling all the information onto these pages was part of the revision itself, as it made me think about every possible aspect, deciding what was worthy to include and what I could infer from it, and so on. I did all of this in a pretty short timespan, too, and it helped a great deal when the pressure was on (University College Dublin doesn't have semsterised exams, so I had 11 papers to sit over 3 1/2 weeks).

It also meant that I didn't get lost in any given text, when all that was necessary was to extrat the key information and move on. That might be anathema to the 'immersive' reading experience, but it had to be done, under the circumstances.
 
 
semioticrobotic
18:34 / 01.12.05
It also meant that I didn't get lost in any given text, when all that was necessary was to extrat the key information and move on. That might be anathema to the 'immersive' reading experience, but it had to be done, under the circumstances.

I think this is a very good point. Part of me still clings to a very romantic notion of my reading habits in graduate school -- spending as much time as necessary in the library, thumbing through texts and soaking them up holistically, independently pursuing tangentially related texts when I'm through, etc.

But the reality is: I have students to grade, deadlines exist, I get tired, the library closes, I need to eat sometimes and I am just not the kind of person who remembers reading material without periodic reinforcement. So, a certain amount of distillation and extraction is necessary, as much as doing so might conflict with the romantic notions of the "immersive" reading experience I harbor.
 
 
Nomad93
18:19 / 04.12.05
My job is to read books and talk and write abou them, which means a lot of reading and never enough time for them. BUT .. I think that reading strategies really depend heavily on the purpose of your reading. If it's just for fun/ self-enlightenment I mark interesting passages with pencil on the margins. If, however, this is for something more serious like teaching, extended article etc obviously the notes are necessary. What I do is simple mark passages with short notes on the margins and then, once the book is finished, I type the notes into a file (reading in front of the computer and doing it on the fly is sort of a bother). Plus, typing things in, I think, grounds at least some of the material while the notes maybe slightly more extensive than short keywords that usually go on the margins of the book.

There's something else I started doing recently but haven't really got into it deep enough to really save time doing it. I got one of those handheld C-Pen-style scanners (they are getting cheaper by the month and if you make a lot of notes the investment is worth it) which can even work without a computer - you dump lines directly from the book into their memory (you can even do it straight in Word or RTF format)and then, once you connect to the comp, put everything on the disk. The learning curve connected with manual retyping of notes is obviously not there any more but on the other hand scanning like that is far more efficient.
 
 
Saltation
20:42 / 16.02.06
if i'm reading for academic/learning purposes, as you imply is your primary motivation for this thread's question, i find 3 tactics most beneficial, over and above whatever annotation/note-taking method you prefer.

1. skim then come back
2. keep the mind alert
3. 3 times' the charm


1. i read fast and floaty through an entire section (an article, a chapter, perhaps a group of chapters -- whatever constitutes a related unit), looking to get a general overview of the overarching thrust of any arguments or points made or process followed. this might take say 2-5 minutes for a big chapter. with an intimation of the whole, i then go back and read in detail.
what i see then fits into a logical whole, and i know what i can skip over, and i know what i'll need to dig into: what's relevant, what's not.

2. eat. sounds silly. it's not. peppermint and lily of the valley both dramatically increase concentration span, and the sugar in peppermints can act as a gentle dripfeed of topup energy when you're concentrating. tea's gentler caffeine is good for long methodical slogs, coffee's more insistent urge is better for attacking intense passages. and if you can find it, a blend of the amino acids L-Glutamine, L-Tyrosine, and L-Phenylalinine will DRAMATICALLY improve your ability to function at the top of your mental form: to concentrate and to comprehend.

oh, and take exercise breaks, away from where you're reading. even if it's just a stroll outside around the building.

3. the human brain's cells react physically differently the third time the same signal passes through them, the reason behind the scads of psych.studies showing that repeating a lesson/learning three times dramatically improves the ability to remember it. if you need to remember what you're reading, go over it three times (allowing a sleep between each reading if at all possible)

these work for me -- may work for you.
 
 
semioticrobotic
01:23 / 21.02.06
I got one of those handheld C-Pen-style scanners (they are getting cheaper by the month and if you make a lot of notes the investment is worth it) which can even work without a computer - you dump lines directly from the book into their memory (you can even do it straight in Word or RTF format)and then, once you connect to the comp, put everything on the disk.

It's funny you should mention this, because just the other day I was explaning this technology to a friend (who was coping large passages into a thesis chapter draft). I really think this would help me focus on reading, because it would provide the assurance of knowing -- and quickly -- that an important passage would be saved and isolated for later. I could whisk the C-pen over the text and keep right on chuggin'.

oh, and take exercise breaks, away from where you're reading. even if it's just a stroll outside around the building.

Gotcha covered with regular Dance Dance Revolution breaks!
 
 
Digital Hermes
01:12 / 22.02.06
I often find the trick is to be a 'sympathetic reader.' Rather then try to figure out the book on your terms, try to at least somewhat consider the author's voice while reading. I found that kind of 'listening' to the text to have been instrumental in me reading (and enjoying) Ulysses. Ditto for Paradise Lost.

The jury's still out on Finnegan's Wake.

Seriously, this technique, if I can even call it that, obviously won't work if you simply don't have the tools to sympathize with the work. Hardcore pure math papers explicating levels of theory I don't even have a context or a metaphor to attach to are insurmountable, but I think this thread presupposes you're reading something you at least have a minimal grounding/interest in.

Often, when I find myself reading the same page over and over again, it's because I'm sitting there trying to 'hear' it in my own rhythm, instead of the one already inside the text.
 
 
Cold Bacon
14:50 / 22.02.06
my trick to reading (eating was mentioned above) is to smoke cigars or a pipe while doing the deed. this gives me the pleasure i need to keep me in the same place for very long. tobacco will allow one to read just about anything, no matter how mundane. that said, i can still only read about one hour maximum at any one time. needless to say...i am not a graduate student...

but when i do read, i attack the text. i think the way to keep yourself interested is to be an active participant in the process. i buy cheap paperback versions of everything, so i feel no guilt in writing all over the pages. Nabokov has received his share of "whatever's" and "please's" in the margins. whole passages of Rowling have been crossed out. and some books have simply been "not even purchased."

as for scanning. indeed. that's always in my mind as part of being an active participant. as i read anything, i am thinking in terms of scanning the whole piece, and then incorporating (by that i mean clipping and pasting) relevant segments into my series of word files i keep on all subjects. of course, most of this never actually gets scanned. but that's not the point. the point is i am thinking of anything i read as if it were about to be scanned. and like the tobacco, this provides the lift, or as bush would say, "the alternative energy shorsh, energy bayshed on ethanol, which is made from corn..."

eh...better if i don't try 'n be funny--or topical...

best.


/cb
 
 
nyarlathotep's shoe horn
15:36 / 23.02.06
coffee and reading.

got an English Lit degree back in 1991 (fwiw).

I'm currently reading what I would dare to call the best fantasy tale ever written (well, about halfway written). The series the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson will be 10 novels, each about 1000 pages in length.

The story is elaborate, the characters well-developed and numerous, and the imagery, mythology, sociology etc etc intricate across levels of scale. And he doesn't really give you any direct exposition. You have to learn it from the characters' conversations and actions.

the best approach to this story is to dive in, accept that much of it will be opaque, and go with whatever grabs your attention. I've reread a few of the books, and there are numerous story lines upon which to focus, so every reading has a different flavour.

this particular story feels like it requires the reader to immerse themselves into this fictional world while the book is open, to revisit as inspiration dictates.

Although I did approach Ulysses, Gravity's Rainbow, and Trainspotting with a similar approach, none inspired quite the same level of immersion.

book 6 comes out in April.

ta
--not jack
 
 
nyarlathotep's shoe horn
15:36 / 23.02.06
coffee and reading.

got an English Lit degree back in 1991 (fwiw).

I'm currently reading what I would dare to call the best fantasy tale ever written (well, about halfway written). The series the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson will be 10 novels, each about 1000 pages in length.

The story is elaborate, the characters well-developed and numerous, and the imagery, mythology, sociology etc etc intricate across levels of scale. And he doesn't really give you any direct exposition. You have to learn it from the characters' conversations and actions.

the best approach to this story is to dive in, accept that much of it will be opaque, and go with whatever grabs your attention. I've reread a few of the books, and there are numerous story lines upon which to focus, so every reading has a different flavour.

this particular story feels like it requires the reader to immerse themselves into this fictional world while the book is open, to revisit as inspiration dictates.

Although I did approach Ulysses, Gravity's Rainbow, and Trainspotting with a similar approach, none inspired quite the same level of immersion.

book 6 comes out in April.

ta
--not jack
 
 
illmatic
19:41 / 25.02.06
There'a actually a discpline called Photo-reading which is a "technology" for improved your reading dramatically. I've dabbled in it, with mixed results.

Here's what I had to say about it in the Mechanics of Reading thread:

I had an interesting book for a while called "Photo-Reading" which proposed some interesting strategies for reading - scanning the text first, deciding what you wanted out of it, how you were going to utilise it, looking for key words etc. rather than just ploughing through it like a job of work. I got rid of it in the end because I felt the central idea - "photoreading" - was a bit bollocks, basically it was scanning the text with your eyes abstracted so it would be absorbed subconsciously. Bit unlikely, thought I. And I got sick of the authors exhortations to buy his tapes, ridiculously inflated promises etc.
 
 
Saturn's nod
17:50 / 27.02.06
My suggestions are mostly from academic & other non-fiction reading, because that is what I enjoy most. The main thing is I love to be an active reader, with a focus on what I am learning as I read. For preference, I make longhand notes and drawings in an hardback A4 notebook. (This doesn't work so well if I want to read in the bath though.) I also like to type notes, which feels slower but works in a different way, also good. I know that I am working when I am producing something. I was inspired years ago by a description of Isaac Newton - I was told he never read without a pencil in hand to make notes, and I am moving in that direction.

I draw pictures (as well as writing words down) to capture some of my more abstract thinking - a way to catch the "flavour" of my reading. The work of Shaun McNiff is relevant: article on art in research here. His book 'Art-based research' at Amazon UK and US. He's in the area of research into art therapy but I find my drawings help my engagement in my (quite different) field.

I often divide a double page into sections - e.g., quotes & summaries on one side, my reflections on the other side, critical questions etc as they relate to each other. (It's important to me to be able to get the information out of my notebooks again and I leave spare pages at the front to list the contents as precisely as I can.) I like to use the creative part of my brain to make notes, and look for ways to use the whole space of the page, writing some words big and some small etc. I like to make the key words big so they jump out at me as I flick through a notebook.

I find it easy to read without awareness and have caught myself going through the motions of reading whilst asleep so I am constantly checking my understanding to make sure I am awake! Summaries are a favourite way to do that.

When I have a new text I try to read as aggressively as possible for the sense of the work - maybe aggressively isn't the word. Here's what I mean: I go for the "whole story" first - (abstract,) conclusion, flick through the index if there is one. I check the figures, then perhaps the introduction. Then, whichever bit of the rest has caught my eye. Then maybe put the text down and add to my notes until I realize what else I need to get out of the text. The image in my mind as I do this routine is a kind of slashing motion, cutting the out the essential phrases to keep. Probably nothing new to anyone here but it's a technique that works for me, and I can often get what I feel I need out of a text in 20 minutes or so.

I like to read with a question in mind: what am I trying to learn from this? Which words and phrases give the flavour of this writer's thesis? I guess that is another trick to keeping myself positively engaged. Like a previous reader in this thread I try to read sympathetically at first, to get inside the worldview of the writer, and then begin to critique as I move away again after reading it.

I also like to photocopy and cut and paste sections from text to illustrate the points I am drawing from the text - then add summary words in colour and written large or small, again using the page as imaginatively as I can. I find physical scissors and glue fun.
 
 
nyarlathotep's shoe horn
18:30 / 27.02.06
this might fall into the world of epistemology.

I never liked marking my texts, but I take extensive notes when reading/researching non-fiction. I rarely review them, as the writing process gives the ideas a familiar form.

however, I've found my subconscious is making reading easier. referring to the monstrous Steven Erikson fiction, there are lines that stand out - in 5000 pages of a story, how can one particular line jump out and demand such acknowledgement?

some part of my brain's paying attention.

equivalent lines elsewhere don't necessarily evoke the same response.

sooner or later, the significance builds, and the importance of the particular line is made clearer (or at the very least, less opaque).

the same works when researching disparate subjects with a common element (at the moment, I'm beginning into the world of abysses, fissures, synapses and all things gappish). The more I keep my mind on the subject (in general, not just while reading), the stronger the impressions of significant bits are with the book in hand.

this isn't a quick, reliable way of reading - I've been developing it for fifteen years or so (only recently with any real intent).

--not jack
 
 
Nocturne
17:09 / 09.03.06
For academic stuff, I like to listen to instrumental music. (Lyrics are welcome, but only if they're in a foreign language. English distracts me.) A consistent beat in the background helps me focus.
 
 
clever sobriquet
19:00 / 04.08.08
Bumping this thread at the suggestion from HCE, by way of this thread in which I said:

I find that if I come at it (a text) with my own standard expectations of reading approach, it is hard work to get through it. If instead I adjust my style of reading to fit the texts, working with rather than against them, it's much easier going, if not actually pleasurable.

To step back a bit and retune for this conversation, for me to get anything out of a given text, I have to find some way to actively engage with it. These days the only motivation to read is personal, so the stakes are different than they would be were I an active participant in academic culture, and I've found that changes my approach (or gave me opportunity to change my approaches).

When I was engaged academically and under serious time constraints, I read differently, usually with a great deal of anger and aggression; I found that this encouraged me to read quickly and tackle the volume as well as the potential canonical and critical intimidation (I was pretty immature in my approach), but because it was as tightly focused as it was, I lost a lot of the possibility, nuance and play in much of what I read.

My current approach is to assess a text from what feels like a step back from normal reading position, to try and get a feel for texture, where I can enter or grapple with it, as well as for speed or pace. Synchronizing my speed as well as my reading style to complement that of the text opens up much more possibilities, including the possibility of pleasure, but often at the expense of externally mandated timetables.
 
 
Dusto
19:54 / 04.08.08
When I was engaged academically and under serious time constraints, I read differently, usually with a great deal of anger and aggression

Not to derail this thread, but this might be where some of our current differences in opinions stem from, as I'm in the process of reading for my English Lit. PhD exams right now, so my patience with the language of theory is a bit thin.
 
 
clever sobriquet
00:07 / 05.08.08
Could be, in part. I can't speak for you, but looking back I can see that I missed a great deal, including a fair amount of pleasure, had I been open to the possibility of other methods. Instead, I feel like I had honed the spoon rhetorical analysis into a jagged shiv of structural demolition, and I was itching to indiscriminately spill the guts of texts.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
15:48 / 05.08.08
Is it better to get lots of pages read in a day, do you think, or to make sure every page has been read in full detail and understood?
 
 
clever sobriquet
16:54 / 05.08.08
If you're asking me, I'd choose quality over quantity, but that's probably one of the reasons I strayed from the strictly academic path.
 
  
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