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Slow Reading
In the face of ever-increasing demands for speed-reading of volumes of information fragments, some readers are choosing to slow down. While it often seems necessary to read quickly, many readers share a conviction that reading slowly is essential to enjoyment and comprehension.
The involuntary practice of slow reading has been a subject of much research, but little is known about the voluntary practice. Slow Reading examines the research, from the earliest references in religion and philosophy, to the practice of close reading in the humanities, and the recent swell of interest associated with the Slow Movement. It looks at the diverse angles from which slow reading has been approached in education, library sciences and media studies. Research in psychology and neurophysiology provides a tentative explanation for the ongoing role of slow reading.
Slow Reading brings attention to emerging ideas in technology and culture. The traditional technologies of print and the book have persisted as part of our information ecology because of the need for slow reading and deep comprehension. The theme of locality in the Slow Movement provides insight into the importance of physical location in our relationship with information. Most of all, Slow Reading represents a rediscovery of the pleasure of reading for its own sake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_rea...
The involuntary practice of slow reading has been a subject of much research, but little is known about the voluntary practice. Slow Reading examines the research, from the earliest references in religion and philosophy, to the practice of close reading in the humanities, and the recent swell of interest associated with the Slow Movement. It looks at the diverse angles from which slow reading has been approached in education, library sciences and media studies. Research in psychology and neurophysiology provides a tentative explanation for the ongoing role of slow reading.
Slow Reading brings attention to emerging ideas in technology and culture. The traditional technologies of print and the book have persisted as part of our information ecology because of the need for slow reading and deep comprehension. The theme of locality in the Slow Movement provides insight into the importance of physical location in our relationship with information. Most of all, Slow Reading represents a rediscovery of the pleasure of reading for its own sake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_rea...
92 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2009
6 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 27, 2012
A Skimmable Note on Slow Reading
It is a pity that for a book that celebrates books that deserve, no demand the investment of time and all our mental and emotional faculties, it is itself barely so.
Despite its bite-sized length and lack of depth, it is still important. I would recommend potential readers to Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business if you want a deeper understanding of the issues that Miedema touches on in this book.
By the way, the book is not so much about slowing down in how much you read than in reading in a more engaged way. It is against the redefinition of reading that is brought forth by the change in the mediums of reading and in the nature of the readings available as a result. It is not against readers who read a lot because they find tv boring and find intellectual stimulation more arresting. So 'right back at you!' to all of my friends who suggested this book to me in all sweet irony. Thanks too, of course!
For a more comprehensive review, see Richard's review.
October 8, 2011
This brief, attractively designed book is a master's thesis. It reads like a master's thesis. It is very, very important that readers, information science professionals, and policy-makers read this cogent, well-argued tract on the role of reading and the varying styles that reading follows.
John Miedema writes with concision and care of the subject at hand, the absorptive reading of text. He doesn't denigrate the role of any type of reading...he explicitly states that scanning, skimming, skipping all have roles in the reader's tool-box...but he is bucking a trend in his inclusiveness. He presents us with a good overview of the current research on and thinking about reading in a digital age. He notes that many information professionals take an all-or-nothing view of the practice of reading: A slow reader must be a defective reader, and in need of intervention and help.
Miedema says that slow reading, deep reading, whatever label one applies to the immersive and absorptive act of book consumption, is appropriate for some types of texts in some siituations, not all texts in all situations. His point is borne out in research done in the past 20 years, as the digital information revolution has occurred; one reads, and it IS reading, snippets and chunks of text on the Internet or in electronic formats; full-on absorptive reading is still more often done in physical print by most people. Miedema gives full and deserved marks to digital media for their vast superiority in enabling and delivering research and citation to the academic or student. Most of us fit the student category at least some of the time, and so we tend to use the Internet and other electronic sources to fulfil those functions because they are so fast, so easy, and so pervasive. However, learning-reading is still done with a tree-book in hand not an e-book on a desktop.
The brevity of this text, only some 65pp, doesn't admit of depth in presentation of the discovered facts. The author himself proposes, within his text, two books that I would like to see published, and will purchase as soon as they are available: "The Librarian's Guide to Getting Lost", a text intended to guide the cicerones behind the check-out rostrum in overcoming the urge to offer perplexed readers more of the same thing they already read; and "100-Mile Stories: A Year of Reading Locally", a book that argues for the creation, maintenance, and consumption of stories written within and about the near vicinity of your home. This plays off the bible of the Slow Food movement, "The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating", in both title and inspiration.
I recommend this book highly to the reader whose search for story goes beyond the need to distract one's self, to the seeker after answers to the eternal "why?" of life, and to anyone even remotely connected with, or planning to join, the universe of library-science practicioners. Don't even pick it up if you have a low tolerance for academic style. The citations alone would make you homicidal.
John Miedema writes with concision and care of the subject at hand, the absorptive reading of text. He doesn't denigrate the role of any type of reading...he explicitly states that scanning, skimming, skipping all have roles in the reader's tool-box...but he is bucking a trend in his inclusiveness. He presents us with a good overview of the current research on and thinking about reading in a digital age. He notes that many information professionals take an all-or-nothing view of the practice of reading: A slow reader must be a defective reader, and in need of intervention and help.
Miedema says that slow reading, deep reading, whatever label one applies to the immersive and absorptive act of book consumption, is appropriate for some types of texts in some siituations, not all texts in all situations. His point is borne out in research done in the past 20 years, as the digital information revolution has occurred; one reads, and it IS reading, snippets and chunks of text on the Internet or in electronic formats; full-on absorptive reading is still more often done in physical print by most people. Miedema gives full and deserved marks to digital media for their vast superiority in enabling and delivering research and citation to the academic or student. Most of us fit the student category at least some of the time, and so we tend to use the Internet and other electronic sources to fulfil those functions because they are so fast, so easy, and so pervasive. However, learning-reading is still done with a tree-book in hand not an e-book on a desktop.
The brevity of this text, only some 65pp, doesn't admit of depth in presentation of the discovered facts. The author himself proposes, within his text, two books that I would like to see published, and will purchase as soon as they are available: "The Librarian's Guide to Getting Lost", a text intended to guide the cicerones behind the check-out rostrum in overcoming the urge to offer perplexed readers more of the same thing they already read; and "100-Mile Stories: A Year of Reading Locally", a book that argues for the creation, maintenance, and consumption of stories written within and about the near vicinity of your home. This plays off the bible of the Slow Food movement, "The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating", in both title and inspiration.
I recommend this book highly to the reader whose search for story goes beyond the need to distract one's self, to the seeker after answers to the eternal "why?" of life, and to anyone even remotely connected with, or planning to join, the universe of library-science practicioners. Don't even pick it up if you have a low tolerance for academic style. The citations alone would make you homicidal.
May 18, 2020
In a hurried age of technology, where information is quickly accessible, we falsely search for unlimited ways to access an increased amount of knowledge that we forget to read for pleasure. The author recommends we practice slow reading.
Why do you want to speed up your reading? Slow down so you will enjoy your reading experience. You cannot be transformed into the world of the book you are reading and will definitely comprehend and remember less if you are rushing it. Acknowledge that you will never be able to access all the knowledge of this world. Slow down. There should be no pressure in reading. Surrender to the true experience of reading.
Why do you want to speed up your reading? Slow down so you will enjoy your reading experience. You cannot be transformed into the world of the book you are reading and will definitely comprehend and remember less if you are rushing it. Acknowledge that you will never be able to access all the knowledge of this world. Slow down. There should be no pressure in reading. Surrender to the true experience of reading.
January 30, 2016
Taking the time to get the most of out what we read: pleasure, knowledge, an aesthetic experience... you might think you don't need a reminder about that. On the other hand, if goodreads is trying to guilt you into some kind of pages per day regime... maybe you do. I realized when I was in the middle of this that I am currently in the middle of ten books that I am reading a bit of at least once a week. That seems a little cuckoo.
Probably you aren't going to pick this up if you aren't already thinking along the same lines as Miedema, but this essay can help crystallize into thought what were just feelings about reading, add some new wrinkles, and point the way towards to deeper reflections.
One of the longer sections of the essay is about the virtues of paper versus screens. If you are as tired as I am of jokers testing you with claims that the book is dead, you will enjoy this bit especially because Miedema is not some Luddite but rather an experienced information technology user, maybe even a booster, who is asking, "why were we wrong about the end of print?" His reasons and the supporting research he cites about reading from various formats were not new to me but it was nice to see it all put together. Even better, he approached the issue from the side of the reader as opposed to how the bookseller or librarian should think about it. Frankly anything about that topic that isn't pure speculation from people trying to sell "ebooks" is refreshing.
A second longer piece looks at the slowing "Slow Movement" which was growing faster at the time this book was written, maybe. At least it was getting more press back then. For me one of the more interesting points here was about covering less distance when you go slow... the local food side to slow food and the local knowledge side to slow reading.
The bibliography and some of the terms Miedema tosses out, like "bibliotherapy" for example, offer great ideas for what to read next but what I most want to see is the book Miedema imagines called "A Librarian's Guide to Getting Lost." He spends a few paragraphs outlining a book that would guide a reader into unexpected spaces in the stacks where they would discover things they did not know they wanted to read and the read-a-like recommender systems in goodreads and amazon could never guess.
Probably you aren't going to pick this up if you aren't already thinking along the same lines as Miedema, but this essay can help crystallize into thought what were just feelings about reading, add some new wrinkles, and point the way towards to deeper reflections.
One of the longer sections of the essay is about the virtues of paper versus screens. If you are as tired as I am of jokers testing you with claims that the book is dead, you will enjoy this bit especially because Miedema is not some Luddite but rather an experienced information technology user, maybe even a booster, who is asking, "why were we wrong about the end of print?" His reasons and the supporting research he cites about reading from various formats were not new to me but it was nice to see it all put together. Even better, he approached the issue from the side of the reader as opposed to how the bookseller or librarian should think about it. Frankly anything about that topic that isn't pure speculation from people trying to sell "ebooks" is refreshing.
A second longer piece looks at the slowing "Slow Movement" which was growing faster at the time this book was written, maybe. At least it was getting more press back then. For me one of the more interesting points here was about covering less distance when you go slow... the local food side to slow food and the local knowledge side to slow reading.
The bibliography and some of the terms Miedema tosses out, like "bibliotherapy" for example, offer great ideas for what to read next but what I most want to see is the book Miedema imagines called "A Librarian's Guide to Getting Lost." He spends a few paragraphs outlining a book that would guide a reader into unexpected spaces in the stacks where they would discover things they did not know they wanted to read and the read-a-like recommender systems in goodreads and amazon could never guess.
January 31, 2011
I bought this book hoping it would give me some insight into the fact some of my students make a goal to read faster, but every semester I have students who want to learn to read slower. There IS something about slow, reflective reading that is so rewarding. The author is a library science student, not a reading teacher, not a practicing librarian...not a psychologist...
I did not get what I needed from the book...he touched on the concept of 'flow' in reading, and in the deep enjoyment of 'wallowing' (my word) in a book, rereading, savoring...but it did not serve my purpose.
I still don't really have any new ideas about slow reading, what to say to my students about the practice, why some people need to learn to slow down.
I didn't necessarily read this slowly...i'll return to the passages I marked...maybe there's more to it than I thought...
I did not get what I needed from the book...he touched on the concept of 'flow' in reading, and in the deep enjoyment of 'wallowing' (my word) in a book, rereading, savoring...but it did not serve my purpose.
I still don't really have any new ideas about slow reading, what to say to my students about the practice, why some people need to learn to slow down.
I didn't necessarily read this slowly...i'll return to the passages I marked...maybe there's more to it than I thought...
May 21, 2011
So often I start to despair when I realize how many books there are and how few I will ever be able to read. Slow Reading offers me another response: "to simply and happily acknowledge that life is indeed short, and that our smaller selection of books represents a unique expression of our character. This second choice removes the needless pressure from reading, and restores it as a great pleasure." (Under the pressure of an ever lengthening reading list, I had forgotten that reading should be fun.)
Miedama argues that slow reading (also called careful reading or critical reading) engages our minds more deeply than skimming or speed reading. Slowing down allows us to engage with the text in a deeper and more satisfying way. He offers tips and suggests other resources for exploring this topic. He suggests that his book is an introduction and that others may find new directions for research about slow reading, how it works, and how to encourage it.
I am looking forward to proceeding slowly through some very good books.
Miedama argues that slow reading (also called careful reading or critical reading) engages our minds more deeply than skimming or speed reading. Slowing down allows us to engage with the text in a deeper and more satisfying way. He offers tips and suggests other resources for exploring this topic. He suggests that his book is an introduction and that others may find new directions for research about slow reading, how it works, and how to encourage it.
I am looking forward to proceeding slowly through some very good books.
May 19, 2020
Slow Reading” by John Miedena is a book of paramount importance for those who read on consistent basis. The book addresses overwhelmingly the speed at which the reading can be done. Apparently reading can be accomplished in many distinctive forms; that is, avid readers, for instance, prefer to run their eyes swiftly over the material so as to get the general understanding in a short period of time. Whereas, others have an opposite preference from the latter. That is to say, they rather very much to read at a slow rate since they cannot stand the pace. More importantly, with the advent of technology devices, temporary readers start by their inclination to pay much attention to such rather new forms of reading such as PDF, Ebooks due to the fact of their implementation on wide range. Ultimately, this book left us with an overall impression that libraries are no longer have that abundant attendance when PDF and Ebooks seemed to have already accessed at an alarming rate.
February 28, 2016
Miedema put this slim book together from research he did for a graduate course in library and information science. Published in 2009, the book is somewhat outdated, though the basic research that he cites has only been supplemented, not supplanted, by work that has come later. This is a good introduction to the concept of slow reading, which he defines as a voluntary slowing down of the reading process to increase enjoyment and comprehension of a text.
"Slow readers have a particular capacity to open up to new ideas, and allow the sense of self to be transformed" (p. 62).
"Slow readers have a particular capacity to open up to new ideas, and allow the sense of self to be transformed" (p. 62).
Read
November 22, 2009A lovely book! I wrote a review of it for Libreas, but did not include one of my favorite quotes in that forum, so I'll include it here:
"Children can use fiction as a testing ground for their future selves. Is there any reason to stop this process when we reach adulthood? It is sad and a bit creepy to watch those adults who cease to imagine. If is as if their inner landscape is withering." (p. 57)
"Children can use fiction as a testing ground for their future selves. Is there any reason to stop this process when we reach adulthood? It is sad and a bit creepy to watch those adults who cease to imagine. If is as if their inner landscape is withering." (p. 57)
Want to read
October 30, 2011Publisher's blurb: http://bit.ly/vQPt4Z
"The traditional technologies of print and the book have persisted as part of our information ecology because of the need for slow reading and deep comprehension. The theme of locality in the Slow Movement provides insight into the importance of physical location in our relationship with information. Most of all, Slow Reading represents a rediscovery of the pleasure of reading for its own sake."
"The traditional technologies of print and the book have persisted as part of our information ecology because of the need for slow reading and deep comprehension. The theme of locality in the Slow Movement provides insight into the importance of physical location in our relationship with information. Most of all, Slow Reading represents a rediscovery of the pleasure of reading for its own sake."
April 22, 2011
This was a surprisingly tremendous book. Miedema is a fine writer and I would also like to recommend the press: Litwin Books. The book is beautifully produced and a pleasure to read. So the form contributes to the argument.
Miedema offers a short but potent application of the slow movement to reading. It offers a reflections on and offline reading and possible strategies for intervention.
Miedema offers a short but potent application of the slow movement to reading. It offers a reflections on and offline reading and possible strategies for intervention.
March 1, 2011
Written, I suspect, as a Master's thesis, this book is still a persuasive argument for the benefits of slow, deep, meaningful reading. Miedema offers an antidote to a growing cultural condition described by Nicholas Carr in "The Shallows."
July 28, 2012
A pleasurable introduction to the idea of slow reading. Although written in the format of a term paper, this book does an excellent job of explaining the various facets of slow reading. It describes why slow reading is important in the digital era.
May 30, 2011
Great study on ideas about reading slower, digesting books to their fullest and taking time to really read.
Read
December 30, 2023As other reviewers have noted, this book was a master's thesis in the early 2000s, and it reads like one. An interesting and enjoyable little read, if not perhaps especially groundbreaking. Miedema looks at various different philosophies of slow reading, including reading locally, reading sacred texts, and reading to savor. It was interesting to reflect on the predictions from the sources Miedema was in conversation with in 2008 or so about the future development of e-readers versus what we see now in the early 2020s. Miedema says print wins for slow reading, and I agree.
The best bit of the book, I think, was its half-page conclusion:
"It is often said that a person can only read about five thousand books in a lifetime. It is a small range of books given the accelerating quantity available to us. This limitation might lead some readers to rush their reading, thereby increasing the number of books. This response turns a reader into a tourist, jumping from experience to experience, noting only the highlights, being able to say he or she has done it, though not entirely sure what was done. Another response is to simply and happily acknowledge that life is indeed short, and that our smaller selection of books represents a unique expression of our character. This second choice removes the needless pressure from reading, and restores it as a great pleasure."
The best bit of the book, I think, was its half-page conclusion:
"It is often said that a person can only read about five thousand books in a lifetime. It is a small range of books given the accelerating quantity available to us. This limitation might lead some readers to rush their reading, thereby increasing the number of books. This response turns a reader into a tourist, jumping from experience to experience, noting only the highlights, being able to say he or she has done it, though not entirely sure what was done. Another response is to simply and happily acknowledge that life is indeed short, and that our smaller selection of books represents a unique expression of our character. This second choice removes the needless pressure from reading, and restores it as a great pleasure."
November 17, 2018
I hesitate giving four stars as some of the material is irrelevant. However, that which is relevant really made me think about my reading practices, therefore; this book is a worthwhile read. Plus, even reading slowly it takes little more than an hour.
In his conclusion, Miedema says that we can only read about 5,000 books in our lifetimes (that seems crazy huge to me) and that that number is becoming a smaller proportion of the whole as the number of books in existence continues to grow exponentially, so instead of stressing that we will never read them all, we should just read deeper. I like that idea.
I have found some gems by randomly picking books, reading the back and saying, “why not?” On the other hand I have also learned that I am limited in how many books I can experience and when one doesn’t fit my liking...we break up.
In his conclusion, Miedema says that we can only read about 5,000 books in our lifetimes (that seems crazy huge to me) and that that number is becoming a smaller proportion of the whole as the number of books in existence continues to grow exponentially, so instead of stressing that we will never read them all, we should just read deeper. I like that idea.
I have found some gems by randomly picking books, reading the back and saying, “why not?” On the other hand I have also learned that I am limited in how many books I can experience and when one doesn’t fit my liking...we break up.
November 22, 2024
3,5 stars; This was pretty good but slightly less entertaining than The Art of Slow Reading: Six Time-Honored Practices for Engagement; also freely available on the internet archive; take your time, slow down, take it all in, savor it, don't skim; for more on the 'slow movement'; In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed, Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout, Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing and my personal favorite by Carl Honoré; SLOWER: 50 Ways To Thrive In A Fast World.
April 11, 2018
Insightful.
August 20, 2022
I read slow on purpose so I really enjoyed this book. I agreed with the author on almost everything.
September 24, 2025
Pendiente review.
December 15, 2014
Read: 29 April-3 May 2009. Worth reading. Short with an easy style. [The LibraryThing reviewers who called this overly academic in their reviews are nuts.] I started on a review of this but didn’t get far due to assorted interruptions. Another one that I wish I had at least gotten down for myself.
http://marklindner.info/blog/2009/12/...
http://marklindner.info/blog/2009/12/...
April 7, 2013
Interesting. I am a slow reader and I thought it would provide some insight to my slow reading. It did and the I thank the author.
June 6, 2014
Simple
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews