Books Are A Uniquely Portable Magic.

The art of reading is slowly dying, that it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day.” ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

?Dear Investors & Friends:

Welcome to this edition of SundayReads.

When I started writing SundayReads, they were a bit longer. I would give more than two analogies to help convey my message. My children wanted me to write shorter articles. Else they would have to speedread. If a piece of text doesn't deliver the most amount of information in the least amount of time, it is relegated to the side-lines. There is a trivial sense in which books are being read rapidly, but very little is being comprehended. Is this “Speed-Reading” or “Sorta (of) Reading”, I wonder?

Does speed-reading really help? If it is some light read, speed-reading may help. But for some more complicated stuff, isn’t comprehension important? That may not happen with speedread. The brain can hold limited “chunks” of information at a time. I wonder how, when speed-reading multiple lines simultaneously, is the brain going to hold so much of information? This just isn’t possible with our limited mental memory.

Anything which is deep or complex requires us to read, pause, comprehend and sometimes write it out to see if we have understood it clearly. Remember, our eyes have to read, saccade and pass this to the brains. ?Therefore the best way to improve fluency is to read more and read slowly.

Does anybody remember Shakespeare’s stories in school? Julius Caesar or The Merchant of Venice ?

Although Latin, ‘Et tu Brute‘ is one of the most famous quotations from English literature, from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar play. It is uttered by Julius Caesar in one of the most dramatic, violent and bloody scenes, in which a group of murderers – including Brutus – gang up on their victim, Julius Caesar, to stab him to death, then wash their hands in his blood.

‘Et tu Brute! Then fall Caesar!’ are Caesar’s last words.

“If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” said Shylock. ― William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice.

When I read more of Shakespeare’s writing, I learnt those words faster and read better. As I continued to read more and more, I got to know more about language of that time, including many words and structures that occur in books but nor in our verbal communication. At a conscious level we may read books or articles or even a joke for its content but at a subconscious level our brains automatically register information about the structure of language. Books are a uniquely portable magic said?Stephen King.

THEREFORE, READ. AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. MOSTLY NEW STUFF.

Until the next week and the next SundayRead, pick up reading new stuff as a habit. Try it. It will help. Ciao.

Sincerely,

Kavita Bothra

Helping you think thoughts you may have not thought before.

Apart from helping clients plan a happy and a financially independent life, I love to write on things which catch my eye or ear!