Here's an anti-disorder I seem to have! My special lady remarked last night that she's never seen anybody read five books at once before. She said she'd feel rather scatter-brained if she kept switching back and forth. No problem for me: I usually have two non-fiction going in my Klaipeda bathroom, currently We Are Not Alone (in my sidebar) and God Stories, one or two non-fiction in my Vilnius bathroom, currently Mere Christianity, one or two fiction and one or two non-fiction in my bedroom, and sometimes a biography, one of which I'll take with me most of where I go, currently Stranger in a Strange Lange, The Omnivore's Dilemma, Aristotle for Everybody and Leadership, and two non-fiction in the car for when I have to wait for somebody, currently The Best Travels Writing of 2006 and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
So I'm actually in the middle reading nine books right now, though in any given week I probably only pick up four or five of them. However, I picked up Aristotle last night for the first time in about six weeks, and I jumped right in where I'd left off without having to scroll back to get back on the train of though: I simply hadn't lost it. I can do that with all the books I'm reading, as long as there's a book mark in the right place. And this reminded me of another thing.
Six years ago Sarunas and I had a conversation about how annoying it is that women tend to chat through the bathroom door, as if you're not busy reading in there while you're sitting on the toilet. And Sarunas mentioned that he has to plan his time going to the bathroom, because he hates to stop reading in the middle of a chapter, he has to read the whole thing, so it might take a while. I was really surprised by this: "Really? I just stop reading wherever I am, even mid-paragraph. Hell, sometimes I stop reading mid-sentence!" That's true. I guess it's not a problem for me because of my increadible Attention Surplus Advantage!
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8 comments:
Heck, I can stop reading in mid-word. Tonight I think I try stopping in mid-letter.
I'm curious about "Stranger in a Strange Lange" --any relation to Jessica Lange?
What do I know about who's related to whom? Probably I just meant Land, come to think of it.
I challange you to read half a letter. That'd take some doing. Not an easy feat. Not easy as pie, and not a piece of cake for sure. I think the only way you could do it would be to read the top half of an l or h but not the bottom half. If you tried it with a w, for instance, you might think you read half a w, but it might just be a v, so you would be mistaken. the same can be said of m and n. I guess you could do the same with a capital I and T, but you're choices here are not numerous.
Attention surplus advantage? I take it that's the opposite of attention deficit disorder? It is interesting that both could coexist within the same person. And not only exist, but exist in what seems like fairly extreme cases for both.
I could never read multiple fictions at the same time because once i get into a fiction book, i have to finish it. If i had any exams or papers or anything coming up in college i would never start a new book, because once i got into it, i wouldn't put it down until i finished, and screw anything else that was going on.
Also i've never used bookmarks and it can be a pain to find where i was in a non-fiction book if i haven't looked at it in a while. I guess because i normally read books so quickly from start to finish i never got used to the idea of book marks.
my add was never extreme; at least compared with the other kids in school, it was mild. i'm not sure if my attention would suffice for reading more than one new fiction at a time: when i have multiple fictions going, not more than one is a first time read. i do do quite a bit of rereading, though. ha ha, i said doo-doo!
yeah i guess it's easy to read books quickly when you don't have a job and the writer's guild is on strike.
however, i never really understood the joy of reading books super fast. wouldn't you rather relax and enjoy it? when i read i picture everything that's
happening in the book in my imagination, and then i imagine what i would do in that situation. i wouldn't have time for that going at 60 pages an hour.
I could be wrong, but i think your parents and teachers would beg to differ about the severity of your add.
Also it's not so much about reading books quickly, i don't think i've ever read books very quickly, it's more that i get too involved in the characters, and so i would rather keep reading than study for an exam, or go to a club etc. What could i do in real life that would compare to dirk struan or valentine michael smith.
you could set a plan in motion to make your enemies sabatoge themselves. or, better yet, you could make your enemies go 90° from everything. my special lady's in the middle of that right now. i'm about to start the moon is a harsh mistress again.
I hardly remember the moon is a harsh mistress. I've been thinking i should read tai-pan again. Dirk Struan is probably the best character ever created. I've been thinking about it and i think dirk struan, jubal harshaw, and augustus mccrae may be by 3 favorite characters of all time.
you should read it, trash. it's mama's and my favorite heinlein book.
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