|
Tuesday, May 17, 2005 On Semi-Permanent Hold Giving Up On Books. Steve Leveen equates most people's reading habits as "the clean-your-plate" syndrome and concludes that people should have more of a "wine tasting" approach to choosing what books to finish. Supposedly, professional readers who retrain themselves with the 50-page rule finish more books than people who feel an obligation to slog through the whole thing. Well, of course professional readers would finish more books. They're paid to read. I would be interested in some cold numbers--do regular people who apply the 50-page rule finish more books than people who don't? When I consider my own reading habits, I think of it as a mixture of practicality and denial. Sometimes I read a book up to a point and for some reason I put it aside--of course I have every intention of finishing it, but just not at the moment. It's like not being able to finish dinner and boxing up the rest as leftovers which I could use for the next day's lunch or as a midnight snack. That can't be more wrong than simply chucking the whole thing in the trash instead, can it? I also have absolutely no compunction for starting books while I'm in the middle of others. I subscribe to a "free love" philosophy for reading--books are not like significant others. You don't have to be faithful to a story. The author of that mystery you're reading isn't going to come and beat down your door if you suddenly decide you're in the mood for science fiction instead. So Leveen does have a point although I'm not too sure his solution is the solution for everyone. I typically try to finish books even if they're horrible, but I have to say, my "cut-off point" (in quotations because I don't stop reading) is approximately 100 to 150 pages in. If I'm not completely hooked by then, the book is not getting my recommendation. [posted by S. Y. Affolee on 1:55 PM : ]
Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post: |
