> read 23,000 books in a lifetime
As a very conservative lower bound, a person who lives to the age of 80 would have to read 0.79 books per day, from the day they were born, to reach this figure.
Or, to put it another way, who has read 288+ books in the last year?
I'm quite sceptical about this figure. Any thoughts as to how this might be possible? Are the people Alan mentions speed-reading? Anyone else know similarly prolific readers?
Doing a lot of it is one of the keys! Doing it in a way that various short and long-term memories are involved is another key (rapid reading with comprehension of both text and music is partly a kind of memorization and buffering, etc.)
I don't think I've read 23,000 books in 76 years, but very likely somewhere between 16,000 and 20,000 (I haven't been counting). Bertrand Russell easily read 23,000 books in his lifetime, etc.
I agree with the practice, as for some periods I've noticed an increase in speed when I've been consistently reading every day.
Regarding the second point - short and long-term memory - do you have a link or other suggestion for where to learn more, please?
You reach a storage and money problem fast (Ebook are a savior nowadays). And you tend to have multiple books open at the same time.
How does it work? There are several strategy. First i read fast. Experience and training make you read really fast. Secondly, you get a grasp of how things works and what the wirter has to say. In a fiction book, it is not unusual for me to not read a chapter or two because i know what will happen inside.
Finally... Good writers helps. Good writers make reading a breeze and are faster to read. They present ides in concise and efficient way, that follow the flow of thinking.
I will take more question gladly if you have some :)
Secondly, it is the only way i can absorb information in a way that works. Talks, video, podcast, etc are too slow for me. It lacks a good throughput of information and meaning. Which means i tend to just drop or complete what the speaker is telling.
About applying knowledge : yes everyday, in my life. Once you hit a good amount of knowledge and have a nice way to filter it, think about it and deal with it, thngs become nice. Understanding a problem come faster. You can draw link between different situations or use ideas from other field into yours.
Knowledge is rarely lost.
This is ridiculous. It doesn't count as reading if you skip whole chapters.
I'm not keen on skipping chapters! Do you do the same with non-fiction?
Another question - how do you keep track of what you've read? (would be happy to hear from others esp. Alan on the same topic)
For non fiction, yes it happens. Lot of book sjust repeat the same thing over and over again. When you begin to read a chapter and can complete what will be said in the next 20 pages just from your understanding of the whole situation, reading it is a loss of time. And it would make me be bored and get down from "The Zone".
I keep track in my brain. I have the advantage of being able to always remember if i have read something by just looking at the backcover and the first lines. I still have to forget a book i read. I can not remmeber all the technicalities of course but far enough to know if i read it before or not.
I reread the books i really like or need when needed anyway. Mainly during vacations.
Wait, what?
I've been reading a book called, I kid you not, "How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading."
Adler and Doren identify four levels of reading:
1. Elementary: "What does the sentence say?" This is where speed can be gained
2. Inspectional: "What is the book about?" Best and most complete reading given a limited time. Not necessarily reading a book from front to back. Essentially systematic skimming.
3. Analytical: Best and most complete reading given unlimited time. For the sake of understanding.
4. Synoptical: Reading many books of the same subject at once, placing them in relation to one another, and constructing an analysis that may not be found in any of the books.
Amazon link for those interested: https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Intelligent-Touchstone/...
I don't mean to contradict Alan; no doubt he's a fast reader. But if you're actually reading an entire book every day or two, you're spending a lot of every day reading.