BINGE CULTURE
  • Home
  • Projects
  • About
  • News
  • Contact

How to Read a Book

28/7/2014

1 Comment

 
Part of the Reddish Brown series

-Books are available from your library. The first thing you’ll notice is the sheer quantity of books on display. Don't be dismayed. Find the “A” section and take the first five books. On your next trip, grab the next five. Keep to this system and you’ll get through them all without double-ups or confusion.

-The best general advice I can give for fiction is: avoid thinking about what isn’t there, and try not to imagine unnecessarily. Writers will constantly waste your time if you let them. For example, they will say things like “Harriet walked into the room.” Of course you will now imagine the living room at your cousin's house with the old wood burner, and the two bean bags, and the plastic mat on the table and the cat hair sticking to the weird Moroccan rug. Then the next sentence will be “she sat at the shiny black table and stared out over Central Park, as the air conditioning purred like a tiny tiger in the ceiling.”  All your previous imagining has to be thrown away, and on top of this you will probably pointlessly imagine Harriet's shoes or hair colour, only to be shot down again a page later. Be warned: fiction is just that feeling, constantly. Experts agree that when reading, nearly 98 percent of your imagination is either completely wasted or highly inaccurate. It’s demoralising. Imagine only what you know is there. If you’re the type of person who will let this get to you, watch a movie instead. 

-Short stories can be enjoyable but are mostly empty calories. Books get better for you the longer they are, with most of the vitamins and minerals packed into the 600-800 page range.

-When you finish a book, make a short ‘hmmm’ sound, close it, count to three and then throw it firmly on the ground with both hands, so that it lands flat with a  ‘thump’. Practise ahead of time. This is important for a sense of closure, so that the book doesn't blend with the next one you read.

Ralph Upton is the reader of over a hundred books, most notably all of David Copperfield. His recent books include one about Gallipoli by an Australian, which was really interesting, and the first few pages of a novel which was supposed to be good but just seemed kind of try-hard and just a bit 'urgh' judging by what he got through, but maybe he was just not in the right mood at the time and he should give it another shot.


Also in the Reddish Brown Series
How to Look at a Painting
How to Listen to Music
1 Comment
edubirdie reviews link
26/10/2018 02:58:27 pm

It's funny because I thought you were teaching us the basic rule of reading, which I believes is something familiar to all people already. Actually there are proper etiquette when it comes to reading your book, Sometimes, we tend not to follow these because we let our personality outshine it more. In my opinion, you should always follow your style as long as you can understand what the story is all about you're reading that is what matters the most.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Scrapbook

    A place for putting writing and links. 

    Posts by Ralph unless otherwise noted.

    © Binge Culture Collective
    All rights reserved
     

    Archives

    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    June 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009

    RSS Feed

Official website of Binge Culture