Does Reading Speed Affect Enjoyment?

I was going to write a post about superstitions today. I had it all blocked out in my head and ready to go. Then I did a search through my blog and realized I already wrote that exact post five years ago. One of the downsides of having a blog that’s so old at that point is that sometimes I retread ground I’ve trod before.

So I’m bringing you something new today. A thought I’ve been wondering for the last while. I read fairly quickly, but not nearly as fast as some people. My agents can burn through a book in a couple of hours. It takes me much longer than that. I’d say I’m about three times as slow as they are. 6 hours for an average book, or maybe a bit shorter than that. Still much faster than some, but there are times that I wonder if I really want to read any faster than I already do.

On the one hand, yay for reading faster. That would mean I’d get to read more books, which would be a definitely plus. I love reading, so why not do more of it? But on the other hand, I worry that reading faster would be like watching movies in fast forward. I love movies, but I don’t think they’d have the same impact if all the people were speaking in chipmunk voices the whole time.

I can’t imagine that’s what actually happens for people who read fast. I mean, when I try to read slowly, it just doesn’t work. It’s boring and why would I want to do that to myself? But isn’t reading just consuming a story through a different mechanism? If a storyteller told their story twice as fast, that wouldn’t be as impactful . . .

Hence my question to you all. If you’re a fast reader, does it feel like everything’s happening super fast in the story to you? Why or why not?

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