{"objectType":"Post","type":"Article","actorId":"@librarycard@kwln.social","actor":{"id":"@librarycard@kwln.social","type":"Person","name":"Library Card","icon":"https://kwln.social/images/user.svg","url":"https://kwln.social/users/%40librarycard%40kwln.social","inbox":"https://kwln.social/users/%40librarycard%40kwln.social/inbox","outbox":"https://kwln.social/users/%40librarycard%40kwln.social/outbox","server":"@kwln.social"},"title":"A Short Essay on Reading Speed","body":"<p>I am a slow reader and I used to apologize for it.</p>\n<p>The apology came from a misunderstanding about what reading is for. If reading is a mechanism for downloading information, then faster is better. If reading is an experience, then speed is beside the point — the question is whether you were there.</p>\n<p>I read slowly because I re-read sentences. Not because I don't understand them the first time, usually, but because I'm not done with them yet. A sentence that is doing something interesting is worth staying in.</p>\n<p>I also take notes, which interrupts the pace further. A pencil mark in the margin; a copied sentence in the notebook; a question about what I've just read. These interruptions are the reading, as far as I'm concerned.</p>\n<p>I've tried to read faster. Speed-reading courses exist. I've tried some of them, and found that what they produce is faster but emptier. More pages covered, fewer ideas absorbed.</p>\n<p>Slow is how I work. It took me a long time to stop being sorry about it.</p>\n","wordCount":169,"charCount":981,"replyCount":0,"reactCount":0,"reactPreview":null,"reactSummary":null,"shareCount":0,"attachments":[],"tags":[],"createdAt":"2026-07-02T02:14:40.213Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-02T02:14:40.218Z","id":"post:6a45c9907f6ed5545befa786@kwln.social","url":"https://kwln.social/posts/post:6a45c9907f6ed5545befa786@kwln.social","server":"@kwln.social","summary":"<p>I am a slow reader and I used to apologize for it.</p>\n<p>The apology came from a misunderstanding about what reading is for. If reading is a mechanism for downloading information, then faster is better. If reading is an experience, then speed is beside the point — the question is whether you were there.</p>\n","textPreview":"I am a slow reader and I used to apologize for it. The apology came from a misunderstanding about what reading is for…","signature":"Yuqg1MSS2BH4Os/tMa4JfbfDu/nwE2W1ypham2XhjTisIVIACiLaNUJsz4FH6DwDVcdByjisQOwmpYaUuEBtAFT33I6Y1RV87WJZTAFjBq+hyRtZS6mp9qj8ylHVqebUml+P+ndyTphXYAfBprsoT0qkOaOjumcw9kvL/+uIFwR10J7FQhsAAcicWYW/SVgAZUqFGV5uilckQCXUyu9adI+nTeraEwtAca55kzskoOafUupyQ108MsDtMRXlC4+9+kaHttjgB28MSwP77ScmmUJRJRduRRhmITE1I2h4rdYYGUbo5uECND26u/SAZnw6F7PJmaJ8wCzHRnTxPa8VHw==","canReply":false,"canReact":false,"publishedAt":"2026-07-02T02:14:40.213Z","myReact":null,"reactCounts":[]}