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annalise_0729's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.5
[For book club]
While it was difficult to get through the initial technical descriptions of the reading brain (with a not-so-helpful analogy), the latter parts of the book are certainly very interesting. The last letter is especially well written and well describes the release from time and suspended joy that can come with reading, and the impacts of such an experience on deep thought. I only wish she went further throughout the book rather than almost saving it for the ending.
While it was difficult to get through the initial technical descriptions of the reading brain (with a not-so-helpful analogy), the latter parts of the book are certainly very interesting. The last letter is especially well written and well describes the release from time and suspended joy that can come with reading, and the impacts of such an experience on deep thought. I only wish she went further throughout the book rather than almost saving it for the ending.
atelierofbooks's review against another edition
DNF. I'd probably enjoy this far more as a podcast series...which I'm sure says something damning about my brain the digital world.
I don't dispute that Wolf has very valid concerns about our brains' development in the digital age but this reads like a shallow literature review. Telling me what Wendell Berry, Marcel Proust, Emily Dickinson, and Deitrich Bonhoeffer thought and said is great. Just not all on one page. Almost every page in this book has a pithy quote or anecdote from three or four different literary/historical figures and it's just so tiresome I can't continue.
Some positives:
- Maryanne Wolf has a warm and compassionate voice, so she's easy to like as a writer even if you don't agree with some of her conclusions
- Neuroscientific evidence about the way our brains develop and react when we engage in deep reading (versus the short bursts of information we read from the internet)
- Valuable discussion about inequality of access to technology
What I didn't care for:
This book reminded of a line from Upstart Crow when David Mitchell's Shakespeare says,
I don't dispute that Wolf has very valid concerns about our brains' development in the digital age but this reads like a shallow literature review. Telling me what Wendell Berry, Marcel Proust, Emily Dickinson, and Deitrich Bonhoeffer thought and said is great. Just not all on one page. Almost every page in this book has a pithy quote or anecdote from three or four different literary/historical figures and it's just so tiresome I can't continue.
Some positives:
- Maryanne Wolf has a warm and compassionate voice, so she's easy to like as a writer even if you don't agree with some of her conclusions
- Neuroscientific evidence about the way our brains develop and react when we engage in deep reading (versus the short bursts of information we read from the internet)
- Valuable discussion about inequality of access to technology
What I didn't care for:
This book reminded of a line from Upstart Crow when David Mitchell's Shakespeare says,
"Young people have such short attention spans these days. And with publishing, kids have instant entertainment in the pockets of their puffling pants. Oh, you see them hanging around together, hunched over a book of 14-line iambic pentameter, thumbing away, transfixed like zombies. Not talking to each other. Not interacting socially. Lost to the world. "Get off your book of sonnets!" cry parents up and down the land. "You'll develop a hunch!" I do worry about how their brains will develop with so little variation of stimulus to challenge their imagination.".
avieherman's review against another edition
I found the brain science stuff fascinating, but it’s too deep and slow and dense and heavy for this moment in my life, especially while I’m in the thick of the struggle of coaxing a child into learning how to read.
ghost_rider's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I can’t help but think the author would hate that I listened to this as an audiobook. Also, for a book about digital reading, I was surprised there was no discussion of audiobooks, or of ereaders versus phones/tablets. There are little to no real, actionable pieces of advice for parents or teachers who want to help their kids. Conciseness is also not a skill the author possesses. A good writer writes for their audience, and I don’t think the dense writing style was at all accessible for the people she’s presumably trying to talk to. Long, clunky, verbose sentences aren’t inherently better. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given that she seems to argue that they are.
maryloulynninmi's review against another edition
4.0
Technical
This is a good book about the reading brain but it was a bit too technical for me. I loved the last letter.
This is a good book about the reading brain but it was a bit too technical for me. I loved the last letter.
tobinlopes's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful treatise about the way we read and it's impact.
-tpl
-tpl