Sunday, January 11, 2009

Sarah Weinman on reading

The LA Times interviews Sarah Weinman today about her ability to read 462 books in one year without losing her mind. Very interesting piece. Here's a sample.

JC: Do you retain plot or characters best? Or something else?

SW: I retain characters more often than plot, but what seems to happen is that I latch on to specific moments, turns of phrase and dialogue as touchstones for me to recall what happened in the book. Kind of like freeze-frame. I've often wondered if the passage of time will make me forget what happened in a book, but more often than not, I'll pick up a book to reread and remember almost exactly what happened, the mood of the book, and how I felt at the time when I read it. If a book is great, there's an electric charge as I read the text and "hear" the voices in my head. But honestly, a lot of the books I read in 2008 were mediocre or forgettable, and if I hadn't been on a subway or captive on a plane or a train, I might not have finished them.

For the entire piece go here:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2009/01/how-to-read-462.html

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

She's a great plus in the community, but man, she makes me feel old and stupid. Sometimes, I can't even remember the preceeding paragraph, much less whole events or characters.

Trey