deep reading

Nirav Patel

The difference between deep and light reading



Recent research also revealed that “deep reading”—defined as reading that is slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity—is distinctive from light reading—little more than the decoding of words. Deep reading occurs when the language is rich in detail, allusion, and metaphor, and taps into the same brain regions that would activate if the reader were experiencing the event. Deep reading is great exercise for the brain, and has been shown to increase empathy, as the reader dives deeper and adds reflection, analysis, and personal subtext to what is being read. It also offers writers a way to appreciate all the qualities that make novels fascinating and meaningful—and to tap into his ability to write on a deeper level.



Light reading is equated to what one might read in online blogs, or “headline news” or “entertainment news” websites, particularly those that breezily rely on lists or punchy headlines, and even occasionally use emojis to communicate. These types of light reading lack a genuine voice, a viewpoint, or the sort of analyses that might stimulate thought. It’s light and breezy reading that you can skim through and will likely forget within minutes.





Article

cosas varias que inspiran

LÁZARO OTRO



A Judith Gallimó

Y salió el muerto, atado de pies y manos
con vendas y envuelta la cara en un sudario.
Jn, 11, 44



He perdido la voz. Me he perdido a mí mismo.

Ausente sin saberlo,
he vuelto para ver que reconozco a todos
excepto a uno: a mí,
ese que balbucea -es tan extraño-
soy yo, pero no soy
quien esperaba ser. Le odio.

¿A dónde fui sin ir? ¿Me he quedado dormido? Juraría
que oí saludos, besos, una fiesta.
¿Dónde puse mi copa? Sólo me fui un momento.
Ese fin de semana deslumbrante que todos esperamos
cada maldito día laborable
y yo me lo he perdido. ¿O me he perdido en él?
Hubo una madrugada. Se podía morir por un secreto,
jadeando de pura felicidad, hablando horas y horas.

¿He de escribir yo sólo todas estas palabras? Las tareas
se me han acumulado, minuciosas y absurdas,
y ahora soy un secreto gritado al mundo.
Esta es mi casa y estos son mis poemas.
Toca con los nudillos en mi pecho, toc toc, estoy vacío
y ya no sé.

Como uno más habré de confundirme entre la gente
que ya no es joven y gasta dinero.
Sólo me moriré de calendario, ¿qué más da?
Pensándolo despacio, cierto es que me parezco al que ya soy
y su cháchara tonta es mejor que el silencio.

Y él nunca morirá de buen amor
ni maldita la falta que le hace.


Autopsia.
José Luís Piquero

Lista de los 35 libros que leer recomendados por la revista Time.

How to learn: Lewis Carroll's Rules

Lewis Carroll Writing

The Learner, who wishes to try the question fairly, whether this little book does, or does not, supply the materials for a most interesting mental recreation, is earnestly advised to adopt the following Rules:

1. Begin at the beginning, and do not allow yourself to gratify a mere idle curiosity by dipping into the book, here and there. This would very likely lead to your throwing it aside, with the remark “This is much too hard for me!, and thus losing the chance of adding a very large item to your stock of mental delights. This Rule (of not dipping) is very desirable with other kinds of books—-such as novels, for instance, where you may easily spoil much of the enjoyment you would otherwise get from the story, by dipping into it further on, so that what the author meant to be a pleasant surprise comes to you as a matter of course. Some people, I know, make a practice of looking into Vol. III first, just to see how the story ends: and perhaps it is as well just to know that all ends happily—that the much-persecuted lovers do marry after all, that he is proved to be quite innocent of the murder, that the wicked cousin is completely foiled in his plot and gets the punishment he deserves, and that the rich uncle in India (Qu. Why in India? Ans. Because, somehow, uncles never can get rich anywhere else) dies at exactly the right moment—-before taking the trouble to read Vol. I.
2. Don’t begin any fresh Chapter, or Section, until you are certain that you thoroughly understand the whole book up to that point, and that you have worked, correctly, most if not all of the examples which have been set. So long as you are conscious that all the land you have passed through is absolutely conquered, and that you are leaving no unsolved difficulties behind you, which will be sure to turn up again later on, your triumphal progress will be easy and delightful. Otherwise, you will find your state of puzzlement get worse and worse as you proceed, till you give up the whole thing in utter disgust.
3. When you come to any passage you don’t understand, read it again: if you still don’t understand it, read it again: if you fail, even after three readings, very likely your brain is getting a little tired. In that case, put the book away, and take to other occupations, and next day, when you come to it fresh, you will very likely find that it is quite easy.
4. If possible, find some genial friend, who will read the book along with you, and will talk over the difficulties with you. Talking is a wonderful smoother-over of difficulties. When I come upon anything—in Logic or in any other hard subject—that entirely puzzles me, I find it a capital plan to talk it over, aloud, even when I am all alone. One can explain things so clearly to one’s self! And then, you know, one is so patient with one’s self: one never gets irritated at one’s own stupidity!

This, I say, is just permissible with a novel, where Vol. III has a meaning, even for those who have not read the earlier part of the story; but, with a scientific book, it is sheer insanity: you will find the latter part hopelessly unintelligible, if you read it before reaching it in regular course.
If, dear Reader, you will faithfully observe these Rules, and so give my little book a really fair trail, I promise you, most confidently, that you will find Symbolic Logic to be one of the most, if not the most, fascinating of mental recreations!

[…]

Mental recreation is a thing that we all of us need for our mental health; and you may get much healthy enjoyment, no doubt, from Games… But, after all, when you have made yourself a first-rate player at any one of these Games, you have nothing real to show for it, as a result! You enjoyed the Game, and the victory, no doubt, at the time: but you have no result that you can treasure up and get real good out of. And, all the while, you have been leaving unexplored a perfect mine of wealth. Once master the machinery of Symbolic Logic, and you have a mental occupation always at hand, of absorbing interest, and one that will be of real use to you in any subject you may take up. It will give you clearness of thought—the ability to see your way through a puzzle—the habit of arranging your ideas in an orderly and get-at-able form—and, more valuable than all, the power to detect fallacies, and to tear to pieces the flimsy illogical arguments, which you will so continually encounter in books, in newspapers, in speeches, and even in sermons, and which so easily delude those who have never taken the trouble to master this fascinating Art. Try it. That is all I ask of you!

From: Brain Pickings - How to learn Lewis Carroll

Lectura y escritura

O digamos que va bien, porque, en efecto, va bien a veces (de lo contrario, en algún momento perderías la razón). En eso estás, y aun si eres el más lento amanuense y el peor de los mecanógrafos, un rastro de palabras se ha compuesto y tú quieres continuar. Y después lo relees. Quizá no te atreves a sentirte satisfecho, pero al mismo tiempo te gusta lo que has escrito. Descubres que obtienes placer —un placer de lector— con lo que está en la página.
Escribir consiste, a fin de cuentas, en una serie de licencias que uno se da a sí mismo para ser expresivo en ciertas formas. Para inventar. Para saltar. Para volar. Para caer. Para encontrar tu propia manera de narrar y de insistir; o sea, para encontrar tu propia, íntima libertad. Para exigirte, sin desollarte demasiado. Sin detenerte a releer con demasiada frecuencia. Permitirte, si te atreves a pensar que fluye bien (o no del todo mal), sencillamente continuar remando. Sin esperar el impulso de la inspiración.

[...]

Habitualmente, la lectura antecede a la escritura. Y el impulso de escribir es casi siempre estimulado por la lectura. La lectura, el amor por la lectura, es lo que te hace soñar en convertirte en escritor. Y mucho después de convertirte en escritor, leer los libros que otros escriben —y releer los queridos libros del pasado— constituye una irresistible distracción de la escritura. Distracción. Consuelo. Tormento. Y, claro, inspiración.

[...]


Perderse a sí mismo en un libro, esa vieja frase, no es una fantasía ociosa sino una realidad adictiva, ejemplar. Virginia Woolf dijo memorablemente en una carta: “A veces creo que el cielo debe ser una lectura continua, inacabada”. Sin duda, la parte celestial es —de nuevo en palabras de Woolf— que “la condición de la lectura consiste en la eliminación total del ego”. Por desgracia, nunca nos despojamos del ego, así como tampoco podemos pasar por encima de nuestros propios pies. Pero ese arrebato incorpóreo, la lectura, semeja un estado de trance que basta para hacernos sentir sin ego.

[...]

Yo escribo acerca de alguien que no soy yo. Así, lo que escribo es más ingenioso de lo que yo soy. Porque lo puedo reescribir. Mis libros conocen lo que yo conocí alguna vez: de manera caprichosa, intermitente. Y apuntar las mejores palabras en la página no parece en modo alguno más fácil, incluso después de tantos años de escribir. Por el contrario.

He aquí la gran diferencia entre la lectura y la escritura. Leer es una vocación, un oficio en el cual, con la práctica, uno está destinado a ser cada vez más experto. Como escritor, lo que uno acumula son ante todo incertidumbres y ansiedades.

Todos esos sentimientos de insuficiencia del escritor —este escritor, en cualquier caso— son afirmados por la convicción de que la literatura es importante. “Importante” es con seguridad una palabra demasiado pálida. Que hay libros “necesarios”, es decir, libros que, al leerlos, uno sabe que habrá de releer. Quizá más de una vez. ¿Existe mayor privilegio que gozar de una conciencia expandida, colmada, encauzada por la literatura?

Artículo entero en: El Malpensante