Listening to a podcast where three people compared thoughts on Dickens’ Great Expectations and Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, a point arose by a woman that TTL was hard and slow to read. GE was by contrast felt to be a broad sweep of canvas and written in vivid scenes which were easy to read.
Dickens will convince readers to read Dickens, was the message from the book’s advocate. She added that if new readers felt the need they could skip through slow parts to get to the action. Books shouldn't be hard work, she advised. They are entertainment and shouldn't be viewed with such reverence that one must studiously read every single word.
I'm guilty of skipping through books if confronted with a big wedge of narrative with no paragraph breaks or dialogue. My eyes search frantically for the next break. My brain scans for the next person saying something which, unlike a narrative section, is always something happening.
How do you feel about skipping in books? OK or must you read every single word?
Maybe I’ll revisit Great Expectations, because the last time I read it was for GCSE English, and then I may have skipped the odd scene.
Dickens will convince readers to read Dickens, was the message from the book’s advocate. She added that if new readers felt the need they could skip through slow parts to get to the action. Books shouldn't be hard work, she advised. They are entertainment and shouldn't be viewed with such reverence that one must studiously read every single word.
I'm guilty of skipping through books if confronted with a big wedge of narrative with no paragraph breaks or dialogue. My eyes search frantically for the next break. My brain scans for the next person saying something which, unlike a narrative section, is always something happening.
How do you feel about skipping in books? OK or must you read every single word?
Maybe I’ll revisit Great Expectations, because the last time I read it was for GCSE English, and then I may have skipped the odd scene.
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