SLOW READING
Although my tiredness usually arrives when darkness falls and I start anticipating my warm bed by the time I get out of the lab, I decided to try something new this week. New city and all, I thought I should get to know some things and possibly some people. I stumbled upon the website of a slow reading club in my city. Books? Reading together? I decided to give it a shot.
The Slow reading manifesto
Take time off to read - at least half an hour to get fully immersed in the text.
Choose a quiet place and put your smartphone, tablet or laptop aside and switch off your TV.
Pick whichever book you like. Don’t feel pressured to read difficult literature.
Start from the beginning if you don’t know anymore what you read.
Let the letters and words sink in, no need to hurry.
Underline words and sentences that you like or that you want to look up later.
Originally from New Zealand, slow reading groups are apparently popping up across the globe (with the exception of most German cities, which struck me as odd). The one in my city meets once a month in a book shop that also serves as a coffee place.
Ready, Set, Slow down
To be honest, I wasn’t even sure if I really wanted to go. Does it really make a difference to get together to read rather than just cozying up at home? I convinced myself give it a try. The Slow Reading Club meets after bookshop hours, so no customers were milling about anymore. I arrived there, marveled at the tables with books, bookish goodies and the board advertising the hot beverages, ordered a Chai Latte and was then explained the very basics about the event by the person organising the meetings. We continued chatting about books, blogs, and how these events can help you set aside time to read. Talking to another newbie it became quite evident that all of us wished to spend more time reading next to busy everyday life, required reading in uni or work and other things that can get in the way of reading for ourselves.
Time to read
I brought “All The Crooked Saints” by Maggie Stiefvater to the event. At first, the book was surprisingly hard to get into. It starts off and goes on quite slowly, ladden with metaphors and background information and details here and there. It’s beautifully written, but the first fifty pages felt like a long backstory to a story I didn’t even know yet. So yeah, it wasn’t easy to focus on this book at first.
But I liked the quiet atmosphere, the background noises of people turning pages and shuffling about in their seats to find a more comfortable reading position. Sometimes I looked up and found everyone focused on their book, turning pages and being lost in a world that was only open to them. The silent companionship of reading together but separate struck me as something that you usually don’t experience when reading by yourself. It can get quite lonely at times.
Reading got easier and at some point I found myself going back and forth between the pages of the book I was reading to connect some details. Possible discussion questions about the book came into my mind, but I didn’t stop the reading flow to write them down. It was nice to spend some quiet time with a book that way. And in the end I wasn’t only glad that I took the time to read and get into the story, but also to have met people that share my love for books.
Have you ever tried slow reading or reading in a group?