Reading: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Belinda Jack

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Best notes:

"Reading can have myriad effects on us. These can be frightening, spiritual, emotional, erotic, motivating, entertaining, informative, and enlightening—and so much more."

"Mostly we think of reading as a process of decoding written and digital material"

"Reading is both a physical and mental activity. It stimulates neurological pathways in ways which remain to some extent a mystery, despite sophisticated methods of brain imaging. Physically, or more accurately physiologically, the eye (or finger in the case of Braille) has to ‘see’ (or feel), identify, and recognize the printed words."

"The eyes are involved in various movements, first: fixation (the eyes dwell), then inter-fixation (the eyes move from one point of rest to another) and return sweeps (when the eye travels backwards and forwards)."

"Spans of recognition are the expert reader’s ability to take in large groups of words at one go."

"Reading is also a highly complex activity requiring an understanding of heterogeneous linguistic phenomena, including speech sounds, spelling, and grammar. It has been argued that it is not monolithic (singular and straightforward) but rather a creative process which reflects the reader’s attempt to find a particular meaning, or meanings, within the strictures of language."

"Reading is the result of a slow assimilation of skills under the direction of patient teachers (see Figure 5). It begins with sounding words out and learning how to make sense of them, then sentences, and finally what we might call the ‘global meaning’ of a text."

"Marcel Proust, in his essay On Reading (1905)"

"The Industrial Revolution, from the late 18th century on, brought changes to reading. Printing processes developed further, in particular typesetting. Friedrich Koenig (1774–1833) developed a printing press powered by steam. The first commercial unit was bought by the Times of London in 1814. It could print 1,100 copies per hour, which was a very significant improvement on hand-operated presses."

"Reading is inextricably bound up with writing, and writing with speech and rhetoric."

"We read for pleasure or to appreciate beauty; we read for reading’s sake."

"Cavallo, Guglielmo, and Chartier, Roger (eds), A History of Reading in the West, trans. Lydia G. Cochrane (Oxford: Polity Press, 1999)."