Reading at 78 rpm

This is a pretty strange assertion, but since it involves music and reading, it caught my attention:

“A lot of it has to do with my music background.  I studied voice and piano fairly seriously during my elementary and high school days, and as such, I became very attuned to rhythm and cadence and voice.  So what happens when I read is that I can ‘hear’ the narrative and dialogue in my head, but what’s odd is that I’m both aware of the book at, say, an LP rate (33 1/3 revolutions per minute) but in my head it translates to roughly a 78.”

–Los Angeles Times “Jacket Copy” columnist Sarah Weinman, on how she read 462 books in 2008

As a music lover who’s also an avid reader, I understand the part about “rhythm and cadence and voice.”  The best prose writing serves the the story and the characters, without breaking the tone or mood.  Clunky sentences, jarring phrases that seem contrived, or wooden dialogue can kill a story quickly, and can disrupt the enjoyment of the experience as much as the same sort of thing (or a scratch on an LP) can ruin a musical experience.

But I don’t understand how anyone can enjoy reading that fast–well over a book a day.  That’s beyond rhythm and cadence.  And how can a reader pick up the voice at that clip?  (Not to mention the fact that a three minute, twenty second version of Coleman Hawkins’ “Body and Soul” on LP is still going to last 3:20 on a 78.)

I read fairly slowly, and that’s OK, because I choose what I read to the extent that I don’t feel like I’m wasting time on a so-so book that doesn’t deserve it.  It either deserves to be read at a leisurely pace or it doesn’t deserve to be read.

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