Reading Don Quixote

>>9419307
Reading slow is good for you. Just keep going, have some patience and think about the book, not what some fedoralards on /lit/ think of you.

>>9419307
You could always just read at your own pace and rate of comprehension, enjoy the book for whatever reason, and then keep it as a fresh treasure within you. Who are you fooling by speed reading through books, gathering a few unique allusions to bring up in conversation, and placing it on your shelf like a trophy?

>>9419307
I left the merchant of venice 5 times because I can't got it. Don't feel frustrated, dude. You suck like everyone.

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Are you reading it in Spanish or English?

I'm only 300 pages into Don Quixote, so I can't give a definite answer to your question, but it seems to have gotten easier. Idk. I'm reading Edith Grossman's English translation, and the prose has never struck me as difficult. Maybe es muy difícil en español.

>>9419334
What this guy said. Just keep reading. The only way to improve your wpm is to keep reading.

Also, sort of unrelated question for anyone who knows: how much more difficult is Don Quixote in Spanish if it's your second language?

>>9419307
Btw, if you want a richer understanding of what's going on, I recommend series of lectu:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4A35EEAEE3880943

Now that my work is done, I, Roberto González Echevarría, will go to bed.

Hello, sorry, for the delay in reply

>>9419329
>>9419334
>>9419519

This is reassuring, I didn't really think about it that way. I guess I just want to make sure that I'm not reading wrongly. Not really interested in using literature as a kind of social trophy, don't have anyone to discuss it with anyway. Thanks for this post

>>9419524

English, actually, Jarvis translation (Oxford World's Classics)

I'll keep going, I suppose it just makes me wonder if maybe I'm reading inefficiently. I'm not very used to the prose, so perhaps that's the issue. How many pages do you find yourself covering over an hour? I'm thinking of maybe setting some time aside to analyze some of the prose and see how it works so my future reading can be smoother.

>>9419561

Haha, alright, thanks. Good night!
Sounds like I just need to be patient, but just to make sure, does /lit/ do anything to help with reading when slogging through a book? To be quite honest, it's mainly that after hearing about the premise of "How to Read a Book" in reading quickly initially, I just wonder if I'm pausing too much during my reading and if perhaps I should try and eliminate that. Also, how fast does /lit/ find themselves reading through Don Quixote or similar books? Thanks again

>>9419307
But it's not even a particularly difficult book to read.
Not being sarcastic or anything. It uses pretty casual language with some pretty prose here and there. Maybe it's the translation. Most I've seen read overly formal.

>>9419826
>>9419826

Yes, I realize that the ideas behind the words are ultimately fairly simple. I have a tendency to try to fully understand how the phrase works instead of just getting the idea and moving on, could that be my issue? I'm not sure about casual, everything seems to be in pretty prose with the exception of some dialogue, maybe I'm wrong

>>9419334

this desu

>>9419819
>Jarvis translation (Oxford World's Classics)

Oh well that partially explains it. That translation was written in 1742, so the language is a little more antiquated than that of the translations of, say, Grossman, Cohen, or Putnam.

I would recommend these translations over the one you're reading. Cervantes's language, at the time it was written, was modern, unadorned, and incisive; only the Don is meant to sound highfalutin and antiquated. Unlike Shakespeare, whose English is very different from the English of today, Cervantes wrote in Spanish that's mostly identical to modern Spanish. So, in my view, it makes sense to read it in language that's modern yet faithful.

Well, it's not really my view. It's just what Harold Bloom told me to say in the prologue of the translation that I bought. Don't listen to me. I have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about.

>How many pages do you find yourself covering over an hour

Umm probably about 30. I don't know how many words per minute that is. My edition has 939 pages.

>does /lit/ do anything to help with reading when slogging through a book?

Assign a certain amount to read per day. I've heard that works for people. Doesn't for me, tho. If I find some beloved classic, or any beloved book or work of art, really boring, I really dig to try to understand why other people love it, and that's what motivates me to keep engaging with it. Even if I don't end up understanding or agreeing, the exercise in analysis and empathy helps me trudge through slogs.

>>9420404

That makes a lot of sense! It also makes sense for the text to be modern, especially since it emphasizes the contrast of Don's word choice to daily language. I'll definitely consider the Bloom, and thanks for being honest, haha.

Hmmm, I see. This edition is 945 pages, and I've been reading through 10 pages an hour. I'm guessing it must be the translation, thanks for that info

I do something similar, I attempt to read for a certain period of time. I used to assign a certain amount to read per day, but it discouraged me when I didn't make it, although perhaps I should try it again so I actually read a little more efficiently. Sounds like you have a very nice system! So far, I'm enjoying Don Quixote, the only thing that worries me is my speed. I think I'll try to analyze the prose a little, and spend some time thinking about the sentence structure of the pages I've read so far. Thanks!

Do you happen to have some sort of communication that you use regularly, like Skype? It's fine if you don't, you seem relaxed enough to be great to chat to once in a while

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Slow and steady

>>9419334
lmao this nigga said "fresh treasure"

>>9419519
Why are you reading a play?

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>>9419307
I read rather slowly. I find it enjoyable, but to my suprise a bit laborsome. I was reading the Hobbit in February after my GPU fried, and I haven't been able to get the scratch to buy another.

At work one day, I was wondering to myself, 'What movie or TV show was I watching earlier?' I remarked that I don't have a TV in my room, yet I could see in my mind quite vividly, almost like an oil painting with fleeting edges, creeping in a dark room with empty wine barrels and two sleeping guards, and I realized that it wasn't a TV show or movie, it was the fucking Hobbit I was thinking of! It made me laugh to think that something I envisioned as clear as an image came from words sprawling over a page (I guess that's why we call it "imagination").

Reading quickly is like running quickly: The more you do it, the better at it you get. Speed reading isn't for leisure, it's for skimming and trying to get what you want out of a text as quickly as possible. Speed reading, to me, is akin to those guys who can defeat Super Mario 64 in under a couple hours: Nothing wrong with it obviously, but it's something I'll never seek to do because I just couldn't derive much enjoyment from doing it that way.

>>9419524
it's pretty tough if you speak Spanish as a second language, because of the old colloquialisms and such, but I assume it wouldn't be as bad if it was your native

>>9419819
please just do everyone a favor and stop worrying about your speed, it doesn't matter, just read the goddamn book

just make sure you pronounce it /kJˈʃoti/ which is the ultimate patrician pronunciation.