Is Faster Necessarily Better?

I have followed Oprah Winfrey for many years now. I always admired her willingness to tackle tough issues that some of her colleagues considered too hot to handle. When she created Oprah's Book Club, she started a sensation that got reluctant adult readers to explore the world of literature with new eyes. Now that her daily television show has ended, I was excited to see the Book Club re-invented as an online experience for book lovers.

One of my biggest personal complaints about reading is that I don't read as quickly as I would like. If a book is more than 250 pages, I can almost guarantee that it will take me longer than a week to get through it. When I received the latest email from Oprah's Book Club with an article entitled "6 Ways to Read Faster", I was intrigued. As I read on, I couldn't believe my eyes.

In a nutshell, "6 Ways to Read Faster" outlined the portions of a book to skip! Essentially, certain portions were considered unimportant, irrelevant, and a waste of time. I was mortified! As an artist, I find this idea insulting. The gifted craftsman who constructed the book carefully chose each word because of its significance and the imagery it generates.

Now the question becomes if speed (in reading or any other endeavor) is preferable to accuracy and integrity. In the world of reading, if the ideas presented on the page are not worth your full attention, I am certain that you can find something else that IS! Why would anyone want to waste their time reading material that is not applicable to them when shelves are lined with quality writing in all disciplines? I know that there are those of you who will argue that reading for pleasure doesn't demand the same type of attention as reading for knowledge. I respectfully disagree. In order to fully appreciate the tale the author is spinning, we must allow ourselves to be fully engulfed in the language and imagination that is being shared. Skipping portions is essentially taking a pair of scissors to the Mona Lisa and eliminating her famous smile because it is not significant!

I suppose I can come down from my soap box now....and dive back into the book I'm reading.

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