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There was once a joke that went "I took a speed-reading course, and went home and read Huckleberry Finn in less than an hour, and never laughed once."
I read fiction at about the same pace I would read out loud. It takes me an average of two weeks to read a novel. I don't know the standard technique of speed reading, so I'd have to read nonfiction at the same speed, which is why I don't read nonfiction books. Too many hours of laborious effort with too little to be gained. Internet, I just glance through and see if any words jump out at me that might validate (or undermine) the main point, which I have already grasped.
There was once a joke that went "I took a speed-reading course, and went home and read Huckleberry Finn in less than an hour, and never laughed once."
I read fiction at about the same pace I would read out loud. It takes me an average of two weeks to read a novel. I don't know the standard technique of speed reading, so I'd have to read nonfiction at the same speed, which is why I don't read nonfiction books. Too many hours of laborious effort with too little to be gained. Internet, I just glance through and see if any words jump out at me that might validate (or undermine) the main point, which I have already grasped.
I read far faster than that, but I wouldn't call it speed-reading. Light fiction, I can read 100 pages an hour or so, a bit slower if it's thick going. Non-fic - it depends. Biography, pretty close to full speed, highly technical subjects or subjects that I am not familiar with much slower, particularly if I have to hunt down references (like, say particle physics references in the last non-fic book I read) or if I have to stop and try to visualize what I just read.
I don't like audio books or being read to in part because I can read and grasp text far faster than that, plus I don't like the "voice affectations" or voice acting or whatever you want to call it that a lot of audio readers choose to do - such as when a male readers raises his pitch to "sound" female (or vv).
I rarely skim articles, on the internet or in print, unless there is a specific reference or section I am looking for. Either I read all of it or I don't bother.
I never consiously thought I did but I'm sure my reading speed has picked up over the years after reading hundreds of books. Yesterday I picked up a few books at the library and started one of them after lunch. I did my usual things around the house and garden and didn't actually sit and read all day but I finished the book by bedtime. Just picking it up occasionaly to read a chapter or 2. This seemed funny to me that I read it so quickly - it was 254 pages with a few pictures scattered through out - as it was a memoir.
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I know the basic concept of speed reading: Your eyes are supposed to go down the MIDDLE of the page. Apparently your brain or your eyes "get" what's on the left and right.
I know a guy who speed reads. I asked him if he truly gets everything out of the book. He said, "I doubt it. It's still enjoyable but I don't think that I get ALL of what's there." Then he tested it: he read (properly) a book that he'd just finished speed reading. He told me that it made a world of difference -- he got (obviously) much more out of the book the second time, when he read it "properly."
I don't often sit for hours at a time reading, not even at night. I take my dog for a walk, I talk on the phone, I check my email on my phone, I check something on my computer a dozen times, I get a snack, I run an errand. I don't sit still for more than an hour JUST reading. I finish a book -- an average 350-page book -- within 7 days, typically.
As a writer I enjoy the printed word. I assume the author wrote every word for a reason.
I co-wrote a book and we had a major problem because my friend didn't think descriptions were needed in a novel. She said "They clutter the pages with unnecessary words." She was not good at descriptive writing, so I had to write them. Unfortunately, she left a good deal of them out of the book and it is lacking because of it.
I like to read the words that describe place and people. Without them, I find it hard to get into the story. (I have started books like this, if I can't "see" it I can't read it.)
So, I indeed read every word slowly... well, I am a fast reader, but I take my time and savor a book.
Back when dinosaurs walked the earth and I was getting ready to go into nursing school (1970) we had a required reading course through the CC, it was more of a reading comprehension course that evaluated your reading skills and increased your comprehension and speed. I took quite a few tests at the first of the term and was diagnosed with a mild type of dyslexsia and was given tools to overcome it. Prior to that I hated and struggled to read and all of a sudden I could really read, after nursing school my skills turned to pleasure reading and that was almost 40 years ago. I still read pretty fast, I have a book or 2 with me at all times.
More than any other class I've taken over the years that one has changed my life beyond measure. The teacher took the extra time with me and the little class that everyone hated to help me. Each year until she died I sent her a thank you card not on her birth day but on the day I passed my LPN 2 day licensure test, back then it was a grueling 2 days and many didn't pass the first time...I did.
I still can't spell well, but I can look at a word and tell it isn't right, I have 3 dictionaries and even then sometimes I struggle...how do you look up a word you can't spell???? Spell check has helped me out big time.
Each and every day I thank that little CC that required the little reading course that everyone hated to take. I think this type of course should be required in every college and or high school or even grade school. My joy in reading from this course was a huge gift beyond measure.
I think speed-reading was a big fad in the late 70s, when I was a kid. I remember all those commercials for the Evelyn Wood school, and parents going to speed-reading classes at the "adult school."
Reading quickly is different from "speed-reading" though. And it seemed like the only skill a lot of the Evelyn Wood people acquired was how to skim well.
I get too much enjoyment out of immersing myself in good fiction to even want to speed-read with fiction. I like to figuratively jump into a page and roll around naked among all the words and letters and images. (Wow, probably too much info)
Depending on the type of non-fiction and my reason for reading it, my speed will vary, as will my tendency to skim vs. fully absorb & process.
I read quickly, but I have an tendency to start skimming. I suppose I try to slow down with non-fiction, and also stop momentarily to mentally comment. With modern novels, I would polish them off in 2-3 days, since they're usually pretty empty and effortless; with older ones, it likely would take longer, and I also sometimes try to pace myself.
I'm intrigued by your saying "too little to be gained." What more specifically do you gain in fiction that makes it worth the effort? If you're trying to "gain" something, wouldn't that mostly just be a matter of choosing your non-fiction more carefully?
I can speed read, but I choose not to because it limits both my comprehension and my enjoyment of a book. I think of it this way: what is really a more enjoyable experience: wolfing down good food as fast as you can, or slowly savoring it and really letting it sink in to your tastebuds? I can understand "wolfing down" a book if you're "hungry" (meaning if you find it really fascinating) but I still think that slowly savoring it it a better way to get the most out of it. More importantly, when reading a book that is very descriptive and/or "deep", I personally NEED to go somewhat slowly in order to really absorb the imagery and/or meaning. Very cerebral authors, like Dostoevsky for example, not only deserve, but need to be read at a measured pace.
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I could really read, after nursing school my skills turned to pleasure reading and that was almost 40 years ago. I still read pretty fast, I have a book or 2 with me at all times.
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