Had a book club argument that made me rethink how I read.

I used to speed through sad books just to get to the ending... thought I was being efficient. Then my friend called me out at our meeting last month, said I missed the whole point of a slow grief scene in A Little Life. She was right, I was treating it like a race instead of sitting with the heavy parts. Now I force myself to pause after a tough chapter, has anyone else had to unlearn that habit?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowan_hayes23d ago

Yeah that "efficiency" mindset ruins half the stuff worth doing.

shah.shane23d ago

Wait, you actually got called out to your face about it? That's wild but also kind of amazing. Most people just let you keep missing the point (which is honestly worse in the long run, if you ask me). It's weird how we treat sad books like a chore to get through, like the whole point is just reaching the last page and being done with it. I had a similar wake-up call with a friend who caught me skimming a rough chapter in The Road, and I felt so stupid when she pointed out I was basically trying to outrun the emotional weight instead of just feeling it. Now I keep a little sticky note in my books that just says "breathe" - sounds cheesy but it actually works for me when a chapter hits hard. The whole "productivity brain" we've all got is the worst thing that ever happened to reading, honestly.