fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #6639 ]

[ SECRET POST #6639 ]

⌈ Secret Post #6639 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Sonic The Hedgehog]

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Notes:

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Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

do you read every word or just skim over it?

I read fairly fast, but I still read every word when I read a book. I have a friend who will talk about reading something, but she readily admits that most of the time she just skims over books. If you ask her about something she "read", she almost never remembers the characters' names, and can rarely tell you anything about the plot other than what's in the synopsis on the back cover/in an online description/whatever.

Because of this, she will "read" a fairly long book in like an hour, constantly brags about how much she reads, and is sometimes sort of snobby about how she reads so much more than everyone else in our group.

I personally don't feel like you can say you read a book if you get to the end of it and can't give any details about what it was about other than a vague synopsis, but maybe that's just me.

What do you guys think?

I absolutely read every word. Sometimes when I’m tired, I find I’ve “read” a paragraph and not absorbed any of it. That’s my sign to put down the book until my brain has recharged.

And ditto for audiobooks. The first time through, I listen to every sentence. If I get distracted and miss a bit, I rewind. (After that, I’m happy to relisten while doing other things.)

But I will admit to skimming through some fanfic. There, I don’t mind skipping over the parts I think are weaker to get to the better bits.

Same exactly.

I will absolutely skim fanfic, since I'm usually reading for my favorite character and if they're offscreen, unless the plot is really riveting, I don't care as much and will probably start to skim until my fave comes back into the story. Books are different for me because even if a character becomes my favorite I'm still reading for the plot too, whereas fanfic I'm 95% reading for the characters.

I hadn’t thought about it that way, but I think you’ve put your finger on a big part of why books and fanfic are different for me in this respect

Every word. What's the point other wise? Just watch netflix if you don't want to pay attention.

I don't skim but I doubt I read every word. I expect even people who say they read every word don't actually (as long as they are a native advanced reader to that language).

I read every word.

Or, at least, I try to. I have a bad habit of trying to go faster than my eyes/brain connection reeally wants so and I end up skipping words and then mixing up or missing the meaning of a sentence, then I have to go back and reread.

I do sometimes mentally skim over some parts. Like a kind of mental hand wave the subplots or details I don't care about. But nothing like what your friend seems to do.

I have literally never had to think about whether I've processed every word of a book. Your friend is weird and idk why they need to flex on "reading" when they definitely don't actually read but they do and it's so not normal that "normal" is "well of course I know the names of the characters and the plot, why wouldn't I?"

Read every word. If I'm skimming most of the book that means I'm not enjoying it or getting into it at all and am just finishing it to finish it. If I like a book even a little bit I'm reading it properly.

Not sure I could say I read every word, but I definitely don't skim. I'd say that when I'm reading fast, I'm skipping over "filler" words, like articles and conjunctions and such, but I'm taking in all of the descriptive language.

I agree with you. If you speed read something, but you didn't really pick up any details from it, then you haven't read it at all. You might as well have read a summary somewhere, but even someone who's read a summary would probably do better than your friend, in the sense that they'd at least know the names of the main characters.

Tbh, this is the one case where I wouldn't gainsay someone coming up with an obnoxious "test" of her knowledge, like that old nugget, "you're a fan of Mass Effect? Well, can you tell me how many testicles a Krogan has?" If she's gonna be a snob about how many books she "reads," let someone out-snob her.

I think your friend sounds obnoxious and clearly doesn't have much in the way of real accomplishments or things that make her life fulfilling if she's shameless enough to brag about... not reading. If you like her and she's otherwise a good friend to you (I'm being kind by imagining this is possible) then I'd encourage her to pursue real interests that would make her happy instead of being a weird fake-reader.

I read every word-- unless a scene has a personal very deep squick or trigger and I need to skim past a paragraph or so. I read for pleasure, and love doing so, and I just can't IMAGINE getting any satisfaction out of your friend's style of 'reading'. Like... I don't understand the point, I don't see how it's *fun*, if you're not actually enjoying the book itself??

I'm not one to start fights with the particular subset of tiktok girlies who skim, I just don't understand the point of not-reading a book so you can say you did, if you didn't enjoy the prose or care about the characters, or even really care about the plot.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #6639 ]

When you read a book...

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ayrt

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