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「スローリーディング」のすすめ
自分の関心のある問題をネットで調べたり、山ほど来るメールを読んだりするのに、魔法のような速読力があればどれだけ助かることか、と筆者は嘆く。
しかしその一方で、読者にはゆっくりと時間をかけたい。
本に書いてあることを理解するだけでなく、一つ一つの言葉を味わい、想像の世界に遊ぶことが何より大切だと思うからだ。
Slow reading
Speed reading. It sounded like a great idea when I first happened upon it, back in the pre-Internet days. I read up on the techniques and tinkered around for a while, wanting to be like those incredible people I'd heard about. You know, the ones who could absorb huge tomes like "War and Peace" simply by leafing through them, glancing at the pages for just a few seconds each. I was a student back then, and envisioned myself plowing through a year's coursework at more than 1,000 words per minute and finishing up in just a few days. Well, I never managed to increase my reading speed by very much, despite at least a month or two of effort
In one sense, that's a pity, really. These days, I have to deal with several times the reading material that I had in those days, because I spend hours each day on the Internet, viewing data on a whole host of issues that I follow, and poring through small mountains of e-mail and cell phone text messages. There are times when I think it would be very convenient indeed if I possessed some magical power that allowed me to properly process sentences as fast as they appeared on a screen. Or to be a bit like John Stuart Mill. He is said to have been able to read faster than he could turn the pages of a book.
That said, it's probably a good thing that I never succeeded in my experiments. I've always enjoyed reading. For me, with the exception of mundane items, the reading experience should be not only about comprehending what is written, but also about savoring the words, and allowing oneself to be drawn into the imagery or message crafted by the writer. If I were to speed-read, by definition, I would be going too fast to truly appreciate the words contained in books, news articles and letters from home. Some talented aficionados of the techniques might be able to switch modes and slow down; being not so disciplined myself, I doubt that I could.
So, unable to be a speed reader, I find myself a "slow reader." There are worse things to be. More than 100 years ago, Friedrich Nietzsche referred to himself as a "teacher of slow reading" and said that to read well one must read "slowly, profoundly, attentively, prudently, with inner thoughts, with the mental doors ajar, with delicate fingers and eyes." (from the prologue to "Daybreak," 1881).
Nietzsche could not have foreseen the daily data overload that 21st century people are facing. To stay afloat in the ocean we swim in, skimming and scanning are obviously necessary, along with proper reading. Still, just as the "slow food" movement has emerged as a backlash to the proliferation of fast food and fast-food culture, perhaps a "slow reading" movement is also in order. There is no question that food is best when it is prepared slowly, and chewed well and savored before being swallowed. The same must certainly be true of the words that we write and read.
- Speed reading
- 速読
- happened upon 〜
- 〜に出くわした
- pre-Internet days
- インターネットがなかったころ
- read up on 〜
- 〜を研究した
- tinkered around
- あれこれ試してみた
- huge tomes
- 大著
- "War and Peace"
- 『戦争と平和』(トルストイ著)
- leafing through 〜
- 〜をぱらぱらめくること
- envisioned myself plowing through 〜
- 自分が頑張って〜を進めるのを想像した
- coursework
- 学習課題
- pity
- 残念なこと
- deal with several times 〜 that 〜
- 〜の数倍の〜に対処する
- a whole host of 〜
- 多くの〜
- poring through 〜
- 〜を熟読して
- cell phone text messages
- 携帯メール
- if I possessed 〜
- 〜を持っていたら
- process 〜
- 〜を処理する
- John Stuart Mill
- J.S. ミル(英哲学者・経済学者、1806-73)
- That said
- とはいえ
- with the exception of 〜
- 〜は別として
- mundane
- 日常的な
- comprehending 〜
- 〜を理解すること
- savoring 〜
- 〜を味わうこと
- be drawn into 〜
- 〜へと引き込まれる
- imagery
- イメージ
- crafted by 〜
- 〜が作った
- by definition
- 明らかに
- aficionados
- 熱烈な愛好者
- switch modes
- モードを変える
- There are worse things to be.
- スローリーダーでいるのもそれほど悪くはない
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- F. ニーチェ(独哲学者、1844-1900)
- referred to himself as 〜
- 自ら〜と称した
- attentively, prudently
- 注意深く、慎重に
- with inner thoughts
- 深く考えながら
- with the mental doors ajar
- 心の扉を少し開いて
- "Daybreak"
- 『曙光』
- could not have foreseen 〜
- 〜を予見するすべもなかった
- data overload
- 情報過多
- stay afloat
- 沈まずにいる
- skimming
- 要点だけ読み取ること
- backlash
- 反動
- proliferation
- 普及
- (is)in order
- この辺で出てくる潮時だ