Faster Reading Made Easy

by Nila Banton Smith

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Lloyd Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I actually acquired this about 1963 when I started university and I was trying to keep up my reading of literature whilst, at the same time, trying to engage with my science subjects like Physics and Chemistry. As I look through the book now and see my notes, written so long ago It brings back memories of reading whole books in the Fisher library in about an hour.....basically turning the pages more or less about one every couple of seconds. And it was a bit like the apocryphal guy who read "War and Peace" in two hours and when he was asked what it was about he was able to respond...."It's about Russia". This little book was set up as a work books with exercises and spaces to write your results and I notice that at one point there I achieved a reading speed of 576 wpm with 80% score on comprehension and in another couple of tests I achieved 380 wpm and 100% comprehension. But I also note some techniques which I still use almost unconsciously; that is I skim the book before i buy.....I read the summary on the back, I look at the contents and the paragraphs, are there footnotes? Are they descriptive or full of untranslated greek? I look at any illustrations or diagrams.....are they instructive and helpful? and usually I read a little where something takes my fancy. And when I want to read something fast...i use the skimming technique that this book recommends ....running your eye straight down the page not trying to sweep from side to side....not trying to take in every word but just getting the gist of what's going on. Yeah....I actually found this book really helpful and it probably has helped my reading speed considerably in some circumstances. I can read novels pretty fast. But I can't read Roger Penrose "Fashion, Faith and Fantasy in the new physics" fast. In fact, as I mainly read non fiction these days, I find that if I try and speed read then I just can't follow what's being said or follow the argument. Frequently I need to re-read stuff and consult other reference works etc. Bottom line, speed reading is ok for some kinds of reading but not for others. In fact, I have probably deliberately slowed my rate of reading over the years to actually savour and enjoy my reading. And, I sometimes have the feeling that if something can be speed read....then maybe it's not worth reading in the first place. Perhaps too harsh. This book is very dated now and i note that the author has an updated version out with the title "Speed Reading Made Easy"....but not sure if it deals with reading on the computer monitor or on the iphone or iPad....techniques which are pretty relevant today. But happy to give this version of the book four stars. I really gained a lot from it.