Perfect timing as I just started a 1200 page fantasy novel. Although her books are NOT big; I always read Toni Morrison books deliberately very slowly just because I find her writing to be very dense and like a rich decadent dessert that I like to consume one bite at a time. Like you say, this increases my enjoyment.
@@omalleysmith9100 I think I do something kind of like this with books by authors I love, but in those cases I have a tendency to reread pages as I go. That makes me slow down and absorb the writing and the story.
Thank you mr Brian for your wonderful cultural literary channel. Honestly Iam as non native speaker I always keeping notebooks and pen beside me to read new information and vocabularies. I am sure reading and writing are much better than conversation. Yes we have English conversation at school, recently they have exam of English reading for school students. Slow reading referred to as close reading ( deep reading). Slow reading give yourself time for information really sink in , makes more thoughtful person . Actually since I began to subscribe to American channels I learned that most famous miracle woman Helen Keller from Alabama, famous black people such as Rosa parks activist , condoleeza rice is first African American Secretary of State , Autherine Lucy was activist , first African American to be student in university of Alabama . I just read right now about John Lewis ( 1940 -2020 ) from Alabama too . He was American civil rights leader and politician best known for his chairmanship of student no violent coordinating committee ( sncc)and for leading March that halted by police violence on Edmund pettus.
Hello Khatoon! John Lewis is one of my heroes. His series of graphic novels title March are a great introduction to his life and his work. It is always wonderful to get a comment from you.
The first step for me was giving myself permission to read slowly. I think sometimes we feel like we are missing out because we see Booktubers reading 200 books a year like that is somehow normal. I’ve given myself permission to read what I want, at the pace I want, and talk about it when I want. I use a similar method for books that intimidate me and read it in manageable chunks, usually in the morning. Thanks for the video!
@@ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged I agree. BookTube can distort reading reality quite a bit. I don’t set number goals for my reading, but I still sometimes get lost in the push to read. In October I read only 3 or four books and felt like I had had a terrible reading month even though that only seems like a small number compared to other booktubers.😳
Breaking a big book down into daily reading chunks is great advice. I have done it sometimes but forget to do it with others. Going to implement this strategy today with No Ordinary Time to try to get it completed by the end of December!
Reading slowly helps me not only with reflecting on what I have read but also maintaining a momentum--it helps me get through dull or tedious bits and helps reins me in for exciting, consuming bits. I read Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad a book a day (and am currently doing the same with her translation of The Odyssey) and taking it slowly has made it feel more immersive, thus increasing my enjoyment than I may have otherwise.
@@SheWasOnlyEvie That is how I came to the short daily reading assignment approach (I need to remember this and get to Homer). What I found this month is that it works in an even more rewarding way with a long boom that I am enjoying.
I have been taking my time over Shadows at Noon although I need to actually make an effort to be more consistent with it. When I am slowly reading it bit by bit I really feel like I am soaking it up. I also love slow reading classics and take my time to think a lot more about them. Great hearing your thoughts Brian.
I read _History of the United States_ by Henry Adams this year using your method. At first I dedicated a number of minutes per night, then switched to a full chapter (when I could handle it). When it became clear that my year-end goal would be reachable, I even took weeks off. Throughout I felt no pressure. Even after a week off I was able to slide back into the narrative and recall what had gone before.
It really is a great way to slow down a longer books 📚. I did use this method for War & Peace the plan was to read a chapter a day... many many many short chapters... should have taken 1 yr. ... I finished it in 4 months. But then came The Way of Edan, and I decided it would be my nightstand book. From April to mid July. I enjoyed taking my time with it.
I’m planning to use this slow approach for three major works coming up: Against the Day, The Brothers Karamazov, and the entire In Search of Lost Time.
This seems like a very sensible approach. I want to read Patricia Highsmith’s diaries (almost 700 pages) and was feeling very daunted by it, but this feels like a great way to tackle it.
I'm going to be participating in a group read of all the Wolf Hall books (I know they're not your favorites) next year and am looking forward to the slow method that's coming. Certain books really lend themselves to this approach. Great video, Brian. Happy Thanksgiving!
There's definitely something to be said for having the time to reflect on a book. Some ideas need to settle. Hope you continue to enjoy your long, slow reads.
The Brothers Karamazov was originally published in twelve chunks, serialized (they were in fact called books). The original plan, I think, was twelve months, but in practice it became 18, with gaps. So, when you read Karamazov, give yourself a month per book, the way the original audience took it in. I think we should follow this with anything we know to have been serialized. When I taught The Mayor of Casterbridge, I broke the reading assignments of the original serialization. That gave my students the same imposed sense of structure the original audience had. And then, once you're used to this way of reading, apply it to more recent things. If it's worth reading, it'd worth taking time on. In addition, this gives the same advantages you point out, about the heightened awareness in our reading, and in being able to read more polygamously.
I remember doing something similar to that with Ulysses, though I didn't do it in one month. Mine was just reading 10 to 15 pages everyday, and if I think I can still continue, I'd read on.
I read the unabridged edition of The Count of Monte Cristo and also the longest book I've ever read, Martin Gilbert's Road to Victory, by reading a minimum of one chapter a day. I also read Infinite Jest in about two months by reading ten pages minimum every day. Some days I'd only read my minimum page goal and other days I'd keep right on reading. I'm not sure I'd have made it through any of them if I'd tried to tackle them all at once, or if I'd even have started them at all. I've made it through quite a few books that intimidated me by breaking them down into manageable daily segments, fiction and nonfiction. Also, having a minimum daily reading goal that you keep regardless of how you feel is a great way to keep reading through a slump, even if it's only ten pages or one chapter or one short story a day.
@@MustReadMore I hadn’t thought of it as a reading slump buster. That’s great. I gave approached many long books I thought would be kind of tedious or books I would where I would run out of momentum. With a book like the Lewis bio that I knew I would enjoy I really stuck to just my chapter a day, consciously not reading more, and this has really helped me enjoy the book even more.
Yes, I've got a few big books the biography of Sylvia Plath and a novel 'The Eighth Life' that are longer than I expected them to be, taking them in chunks might encourage me to start them! In some respects I miss studying English Lit, being asked to close read and really think about what the author's doing improves the reading experience (if it's a book you like).
This is the method I used to get through the Plath biography when I read it for the booktube prize and it definitely helped. I too enjoy close reading from time to time and reading the Lewis biography chapter by chapter has encouraged that.
This method works for me with a lot of nonfiction in particular. I might try it with The Count of Monte Cristo, which has been waiting 2 years for me to gear up for it!
I have been reading huge books this way for years. It feels much less overwhelming and I retain what I read better. I have no idea how many books I've read this way over the years, but this year alone I've read at least five. Right now I am reading two long Victorian novels over about 2 months. Sometimes I have to adjust the schedule and take even longer if the reading is too dense for my time frame. I had to do that with Ulysses and Swann's Way. Reading slowly doesn't mean I end up enjoying the experience every time though. I have disliked some of those long books, but I am rarely sorry I took the time to read them.
@@LaurieInTexas I have disliked some of the long books I have read this way as well. Using it to read a book that I ordinarily wouldn’t have used it to read has been a revelation.
It’s a great approach that definitely works for me - I am currently reading Solenoid by Cartarescu and am 64% through after two months. Might even finish by Christmas!
Interesting. My main book with big books is that the longer I need to finish them the less engaged I am and thus get annoyed at the book. I tend to forget things in big books if they happen to far apart and I get distanced from the book. It's a reason I often say it's unfair to the book when I take too long to read it as I will enjoy it less.
These things happen to me too, but it helps if it’s nonfiction.I also did this reading Proust, but it didn’t matter if I forgot something because nothing really happened anyway.
With Proust, for me, it isn't really the length of any given volume. It's the seemingly endless sentences and paragraph length. It's taken me years to get through the two volumes I've read, and I've read Swann's Way twice. I'm determined to actually finish the thing before I shuffle off this planet for eternity though.
@@lock67ca I used it to read Swan’s Way and Within a Budding Grove, but have not gone on to read any of the rest of Proust. Maybe one day, but I’m lot anxious to get back to the very long sentences and paragraphs.
@@BookishTexan I think you should, given you’re into politics (it’s freely available online). In case you (all) don’t know, it’s a recent 60-minute investigative documentary on the spyware, such as Pegasus, used by governments to target political dissidents, activists, journalists, etc. (and their families). Catalonia and its failed (cracked down on) peaceful and democratic independence process serve as the main example.
Really love this, thank you so much. I am struggling with: Do I take my time slowly reading books that are difficult for me/I don't necessarily enjoy but may possibly teach me something Or Do I say, "There's too many books in the world for me to waste my time on books that are difficult/I don't particularly enjoy"? I'm still thinking about it. I'd like to think I'm the type of person to do the former for the educational benefits...but I think I'm actually more the latter. Why eat my meat when I just want my pudding? =D Secondly, how are you doing? I've been pretty gutted since the beginning of this month. There was such a feeling of hope and optimism that has been completely snuffed out, and I'm bracing myself for utter madness and the destruction of the republic and our freedom. I'm so worried for my friends who are minorities, LGBTQ+, who don't have a green card. My son's friend has lived in America all her life (her parents brought her here from China when she was a baby), and she doesn't have a green card. He is sick with worry about her. I am desperate to leave. I hope you are doing better than I currently am.
@@madiantin I am leaning toward your second option. I have no desire at 57 to fight my way through books that are difficult just for the sake of being difficult (House of Leaves for instance). Mood wise I am doing ok. Right now I am mad and trying to find a way to resist what I fear is coming.
@@BookishTexan Whatever way you find to resist, please share. I've started paying attention to those companies who supported Trump and, as much as possible, not purchasing things from them. It means nothing to them, I'm sure, but I feel like I'm living with integrity.
@ I started a purely political channel called @resist47 where I am going to post information and ideas. Right now I am encouraging people to call or email their senators and Republicans senators to pressure them into blocking the worst of Trump’s cabinet choices.
Taking 35 minutes to read 28 pages is not a slow reader that is a pretty good clip and that is about average. Averages about 250 words per minute, which is about what you are reading at the speed you suggested.
Yes I have never been a speed reader but I will read a book even more slowly if it has an interesting idea I want to better understand or if a novel or short story has an especially delicious or interesting scene or dialogue. As for Proust I’ve said before I had to read Swann’s Way for a college class and feared going mad before finishing it so I’m through with Marcel. Be well.⚛💘
@@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd I’m 92% sure I’m finished with Marcel also.😀 I do a lot of rereading in the moment of reading a book for the same reason. I have really enjoyed how the regimented reading of the Lewis biography has contributed to my enjoyment.
Perfect timing as I just started a 1200 page fantasy novel.
Although her books are NOT big; I always read Toni Morrison books deliberately very slowly just because I find her writing to be very dense and like a rich decadent dessert that I like to consume one bite at a time. Like you say, this increases my enjoyment.
@@omalleysmith9100 I think I do something kind of like this with books by authors I love, but in those cases I have a tendency to reread pages as I go. That makes me slow down and absorb the writing and the story.
Thank you mr Brian for your wonderful cultural literary channel. Honestly Iam as non native speaker I always keeping notebooks and pen beside me to read new information and vocabularies. I am sure reading and writing are much better than conversation. Yes we have English conversation at school, recently they have exam of English reading for school students. Slow reading referred to as close reading ( deep reading). Slow reading give yourself time for information really sink in , makes more thoughtful person . Actually since I began to subscribe to American channels I learned that most famous miracle woman Helen Keller from Alabama, famous black people such as Rosa parks activist , condoleeza rice is first African American Secretary of State , Autherine Lucy was activist , first African American to be student in university of Alabama . I just read right now about John Lewis ( 1940 -2020 ) from Alabama too . He was American civil rights leader and politician best known for his chairmanship of student no violent coordinating committee ( sncc)and for leading March that halted by police violence on Edmund pettus.
Hello Khatoon!
John Lewis is one of my heroes. His series of graphic novels title March are a great introduction to his life and his work.
It is always wonderful to get a comment from you.
The first step for me was giving myself permission to read slowly. I think sometimes we feel like we are missing out because we see Booktubers reading 200 books a year like that is somehow normal. I’ve given myself permission to read what I want, at the pace I want, and talk about it when I want. I use a similar method for books that intimidate me and read it in manageable chunks, usually in the morning. Thanks for the video!
@@ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged I agree. BookTube can distort reading reality quite a bit. I don’t set number goals for my reading, but I still sometimes get lost in the push to read. In October I read only 3 or four books and felt like I had had a terrible reading month even though that only seems like a small number compared to other booktubers.😳
Breaking a big book down into daily reading chunks is great advice. I have done it sometimes but forget to do it with others. Going to implement this strategy today with No Ordinary Time to try to get it completed by the end of December!
I hope you like No Ordinary Time. I read it a long time ago, but I thought it was really good.
@ I do like it but this time of year it’s easy to let it languish and read easier things.
Reading slowly helps me not only with reflecting on what I have read but also maintaining a momentum--it helps me get through dull or tedious bits and helps reins me in for exciting, consuming bits. I read Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad a book a day (and am currently doing the same with her translation of The Odyssey) and taking it slowly has made it feel more immersive, thus increasing my enjoyment than I may have otherwise.
@@SheWasOnlyEvie That is how I came to the short daily reading assignment approach (I need to remember this and get to Homer). What I found this month is that it works in an even more rewarding way with a long boom that I am enjoying.
I have been taking my time over Shadows at Noon although I need to actually make an effort to be more consistent with it. When I am slowly reading it bit by bit I really feel like I am soaking it up. I also love slow reading classics and take my time to think a lot more about them. Great hearing your thoughts Brian.
@@CharlieBrookReads Thanks Charlie. I have been doing most of my classics lately in audio which is kind of like slow reading.
I read _History of the United States_ by Henry Adams this year using your method. At first I dedicated a number of minutes per night, then switched to a full chapter (when I could handle it). When it became clear that my year-end goal would be reachable, I even took weeks off. Throughout I felt no pressure. Even after a week off I was able to slide back into the narrative and recall what had gone before.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry That sounds like a great reading experience!
It really is a great way to slow down a longer books 📚. I did use this method for War & Peace the plan was to read a chapter a day... many many many short chapters... should have taken 1 yr. ... I finished it in 4 months. But then came The Way of Edan, and I decided it would be my nightstand book. From April to mid July. I enjoyed taking my time with it.
It is nice to slow down with a book you are enjoying. I had almost always just used it with books I had to read and wasn’t looking forward to.
I’m planning to use this slow approach for three major works coming up: Against the Day, The Brothers Karamazov, and the entire In Search of Lost Time.
@@anotherbibliophilereads It definitely worked for me with Proust. Though I haven’t picked up anything after the second book.
This seems like a very sensible approach. I want to read Patricia Highsmith’s diaries (almost 700 pages) and was feeling very daunted by it, but this feels like a great way to tackle it.
Thanks Olly
I'm going to be participating in a group read of all the Wolf Hall books (I know they're not your favorites) next year and am looking forward to the slow method that's coming. Certain books really lend themselves to this approach. Great video, Brian. Happy Thanksgiving!
@@anenthusiasticreader Thank you Sonya. Happy Thanksgiving!
There's definitely something to be said for having the time to reflect on a book. Some ideas need to settle. Hope you continue to enjoy your long, slow reads.
@@tillysshelf Thank you Tilly. Hope you are doing well.
The Brothers Karamazov was originally published in twelve chunks, serialized (they were in fact called books). The original plan, I think, was twelve months, but in practice it became 18, with gaps. So, when you read Karamazov, give yourself a month per book, the way the original audience took it in. I think we should follow this with anything we know to have been serialized. When I taught The Mayor of Casterbridge, I broke the reading assignments of the original serialization. That gave my students the same imposed sense of structure the original audience had. And then, once you're used to this way of reading, apply it to more recent things. If it's worth reading, it'd worth taking time on.
In addition, this gives the same advantages you point out, about the heightened awareness in our reading, and in being able to read more polygamously.
Correction: concerning Casterbridge, I broke the reading assignments into the original chunks as the serialization.
Thank you. That is a great idea! Seriously I might make that a project for next year.
Hey,first time I’ve been introduced to this method of reading hefty books,especially non-fiction-will definitely try it out!
@@lolaphearse3688 Thanks for watching.
I remember doing something similar to that with Ulysses, though I didn't do it in one month. Mine was just reading 10 to 15 pages everyday, and if I think I can still continue, I'd read on.
That is another good reason to break a book into small sections. Thanks
I read the unabridged edition of The Count of Monte Cristo and also the longest book I've ever read, Martin Gilbert's Road to Victory, by reading a minimum of one chapter a day. I also read Infinite Jest in about two months by reading ten pages minimum every day. Some days I'd only read my minimum page goal and other days I'd keep right on reading. I'm not sure I'd have made it through any of them if I'd tried to tackle them all at once, or if I'd even have started them at all.
I've made it through quite a few books that intimidated me by breaking them down into manageable daily segments, fiction and nonfiction. Also, having a minimum daily reading goal that you keep regardless of how you feel is a great way to keep reading through a slump, even if it's only ten pages or one chapter or one short story a day.
@@MustReadMore I hadn’t thought of it as a reading slump buster. That’s great. I gave approached many long books I thought would be kind of tedious or books I would where I would run out of momentum. With a book like the Lewis bio that I knew I would enjoy I really stuck to just my chapter a day, consciously not reading more, and this has really helped me enjoy the book even more.
Yes, I've got a few big books the biography of Sylvia Plath and a novel 'The Eighth Life' that are longer than I expected them to be, taking them in chunks might encourage me to start them! In some respects I miss studying English Lit, being asked to close read and really think about what the author's doing improves the reading experience (if it's a book you like).
This is the method I used to get through the Plath biography when I read it for the booktube prize and it definitely helped. I too enjoy close reading from time to time and reading the Lewis biography chapter by chapter has encouraged that.
This method works for me with a lot of nonfiction in particular. I might try it with The Count of Monte Cristo, which has been waiting 2 years for me to gear up for it!
@@readandre-read I’m hoping to get to The Count this March and will definitely be using this method if I do .
Most of the books I read are via the library, but I've purchased a few that I started from the library because I wanted to take more time reading.
@@MMjones6459 I’ve done that with library audiobooks. My library is far too forgiving with fines and deadlines for physical books.📚
It's a good way to read diaries, biographies and other things that don't have much going on. I'll give it a try next time.
That’s true. Thanks.
I have been reading huge books this way for years. It feels much less overwhelming and I retain what I read better. I have no idea how many books I've read this way over the years, but this year alone I've read at least five. Right now I am reading two long Victorian novels over about 2 months. Sometimes I have to adjust the schedule and take even longer if the reading is too dense for my time frame. I had to do that with Ulysses and Swann's Way. Reading slowly doesn't mean I end up enjoying the experience every time though. I have disliked some of those long books, but I am rarely sorry I took the time to read them.
@@LaurieInTexas I have disliked some of the long books I have read this way as well. Using it to read a book that I ordinarily wouldn’t have used it to read has been a revelation.
It’s a great approach that definitely works for me - I am currently reading Solenoid by Cartarescu and am 64% through after two months. Might even finish by Christmas!
Solenoid is definitely one of those books whose length has discouraged me from starting. I will likely use this method if I ever get to it.
Interesting. My main book with big books is that the longer I need to finish them the less engaged I am and thus get annoyed at the book. I tend to forget things in big books if they happen to far apart and I get distanced from the book. It's a reason I often say it's unfair to the book when I take too long to read it as I will enjoy it less.
These things happen to me too, but it helps if it’s nonfiction.I also did this reading Proust, but it didn’t matter if I forgot something because nothing really happened anyway.
With Proust, for me, it isn't really the length of any given volume. It's the seemingly endless sentences and paragraph length. It's taken me years to get through the two volumes I've read, and I've read Swann's Way twice. I'm determined to actually finish the thing before I shuffle off this planet for eternity though.
@@lock67ca I used it to read Swan’s Way and Within a Budding Grove, but have not gone on to read any of the rest of Proust. Maybe one day, but I’m lot anxious to get back to the very long sentences and paragraphs.
Off topic, have you watched Ronan Farrow's Surveilled?
No I haven’t
@@BookishTexan I think you should, given you’re into politics (it’s freely available online). In case you (all) don’t know, it’s a recent 60-minute investigative documentary on the spyware, such as Pegasus, used by governments to target political dissidents, activists, journalists, etc. (and their families). Catalonia and its failed (cracked down on) peaceful and democratic independence process serve as the main example.
Really love this, thank you so much.
I am struggling with: Do I take my time slowly reading books that are difficult for me/I don't necessarily enjoy but may possibly teach me something
Or
Do I say, "There's too many books in the world for me to waste my time on books that are difficult/I don't particularly enjoy"?
I'm still thinking about it. I'd like to think I'm the type of person to do the former for the educational benefits...but I think I'm actually more the latter. Why eat my meat when I just want my pudding? =D
Secondly, how are you doing?
I've been pretty gutted since the beginning of this month. There was such a feeling of hope and optimism that has been completely snuffed out, and I'm bracing myself for utter madness and the destruction of the republic and our freedom. I'm so worried for my friends who are minorities, LGBTQ+, who don't have a green card. My son's friend has lived in America all her life (her parents brought her here from China when she was a baby), and she doesn't have a green card. He is sick with worry about her. I am desperate to leave.
I hope you are doing better than I currently am.
@@madiantin I am leaning toward your second option. I have no desire at 57 to fight my way through books that are difficult just for the sake of being difficult (House of Leaves for instance).
Mood wise I am doing ok. Right now I am mad and trying to find a way to resist what I fear is coming.
@@BookishTexan Whatever way you find to resist, please share.
I've started paying attention to those companies who supported Trump and, as much as possible, not purchasing things from them. It means nothing to them, I'm sure, but I feel like I'm living with integrity.
@ I started a purely political channel called @resist47 where I am going to post information and ideas. Right now I am encouraging people to call or email their senators and Republicans senators to pressure them into blocking the worst of Trump’s cabinet choices.
Taking 35 minutes to read 28 pages is not a slow reader that is a pretty good clip and that is about average. Averages about 250 words per minute, which is about what you are reading at the speed you suggested.
@@DavidMorgan-x6d Thanks for that info. I’ve always considered myself a slow reader.
Yes I have never been a speed reader but I will read a book even more slowly if it has an interesting idea I want to better understand or if a novel or short story has an especially delicious or interesting scene or dialogue. As for Proust I’ve said before I had to read Swann’s Way for a college class and feared going mad before finishing it so I’m through with Marcel. Be well.⚛💘
@@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd I’m 92% sure I’m finished with Marcel also.😀 I do a lot of rereading in the moment of reading a book for the same reason. I have really enjoyed how the regimented reading of the Lewis biography has contributed to my enjoyment.