(Discworld) reading speed

[Tristan]

(hope this topic doesn't exist already, I searched for it, but couldn't find anything... feel free to delete Tony )

This question came to my mind while browsing the forum. What's your reading speed? And let's take the average Pratchett novel as an example (around the 350 pages). Not a cheap thriller, not an extremely pretentious literary book with sentences with an identity crisis (a sentence? a paragraph? a passage? what am i? ). Discworld gives you plenty to think about, yet Terry's style always stays approachable and quite light (in a positive way!).

I'm always baffled when people tell me they read a book on the plain, in the train or my favorite - overnight/in a day. Of course, an obvious factor here is reading experience: people who read a lot tend to read faster. Still, I can't imagine finishing a book so fast.

So tell me, how long does it take you to finish a discworld novel? What factors are involved? Are there different types of reading and how does that influence your reading experience? Maybe your reading routine or even the place you read at also make a difference, or how many books you read at the same time?

For me it's a week if I read before sleeping, and 4-5 days if i'm really focused and into it. Though I usually read different things at the same time. Your turn!

 

[DaveC]

Usually 2 weeks for me, reading at work and when I am out and about, not one for sitting at home and reading am I, although Snuff took me 6 days because I did read at home.

 

[Willem]

Depends. I buy the Hardcover DW books, meaning I don't take it with me on the train. Read it in about three sessions over a week. I breeze through paperbacks since I can read those anywhere (used to be known for reading books while walking the dog).

While reading Snuff I did find I had to go back half a page to reread something since I realised my eyes had gone over the words but it didn't stick (in the evening after work, this is bound to happen). During lazy summer holidays I read about a book per day. Nothing heavy though, stuff like Michael Crichton, Christopher Moore, Jasper Fforde and such.

 

[Sjoerd3000]

A few days, less then a week usually. If I'm really busy it can take a bit longer

Edit: I think the longest it ever took me to read a DW book was 2 weeks

 

[Tonyblack]

It entirely depends on the book and my mood. At my fastest, when I was in hospital, I was getting through a book and a half a day. Those were mostly Bernard Cornwell books - so about the same as a Pratchett.

I've read the later Harry Potter books in less than 24 hours and a new Pratchett will generally only take a couple of days max.

But then I go through periods where I just can't get going with any book and it can take weeks to read quite a short book.

 

[MongoGutman]

I read mostly at work. As a courier it's kinda a "hurry up and wait" job, but instead of waiting I read - always carry a book with me, often two if I'm likely to finish the first during the day. While I'm having a coffee or a sandwich or waiting for a lift or sitting in a reception area or on the kerb by the side of the road in the few minutes between tourists asking for directions or sitting on my bike at a level crossing waiting for the go I'll pull my current book out of my bag and read a page or two... if I don't I get bored or angry or more likely both.

Depends on the book though, I'd probably burn through a Prattchett in a couple of days

 

[Anonymous]

If I have enough time in a day I can read it in one sitting. I read Thud in around 5 hours in the day it was released. Snuff I did over the span of 4 nights, averaging 90 minutes per night.

The more enjoyable the book the quicker and easier it is to read.

 

[Tonyblack]

One thing I will say about Discworld books is that although they tend to be quick reads, they need to be reread at a more leisurely pace as there is so much in them that you are likely to miss on the first read through.

The story is often deceptively simple and it's only with a subsequent reading that the 'real' story is revealed. It's part of the reason I wasn't impressed with Monstrous Regiment the first time. I actually didn't think very much of it at all until I reread it and started to ask myself questions.

Terry often uses the Discworld to put across an important point that is much more related to our own world. I think some people miss that point when they get bogged down on technicalities such as the way a character behaves or the way the city works. It's not a real world and therefore doesn't always conform to the same natural laws as our world.

 

[meerkat]

I often read Terry's books in one day. And that goes for other similar sized books. But I have been a quick reader since a child.

I find it doesn't stop me from enjoying the books at all.

However, books can take two to three days if I am stitching - stitching takes precedence!

Holidays can be a nightmere, though, as I can read one book a day and a fortnight's holiday can mean a very heavy suitcase!

 

[pip]

Depends but i tend to rad on the bus in and out of work and manage about 60-70 pages on each leg. If i read at night it'd be the same again but i've read faster at need if i expect someone to spoil the book on me. On holiday i'd average a book a day

 

[Bouncy Castle]

I have been known to read five or six paperbacks over a 4 day weekend.

 

[Anonymous]

One thing I will say about Discworld books is that although they tend to be quick reads, they need to be reread at a more leisurely pace as there is so much in them that you are likely to miss on the first read through.

The story is often deceptively simple and it's only with a subsequent reading that the 'real' story is revealed. It's part of the reason I wasn't impressed with Monstrous Regiment the first time. I actually didn't think very much of it at all until I reread it and started to ask myself questions.

Terry often uses the Discworld to put across an important point that is much more related to our own world. I think some people miss that point when they get bogged down on technicalities such as the way a character behaves or the way the city works. It's not a real world and therefore doesn't always conform to the same natural laws as our world.

Spot on post Tony, I agree with you. Discworld books need to be read a few times to get the full scope of what Terry is trying to get across in his novels and is one reason I like the books so much as you can enjoy reading them over and over again.

 

[stripy_tie]

Well i read all of night watch yesterday (i'd just got the black cover version in the post) so urrrrm an afternoon and an evening including an hour for dinner and another for a bit of internet browsing.

My reading speed is always the same but if i'm not enjoying it i generally don't bother with it after 80 pages or so.

 

[ShadowNinjaCat]

It depends on how much I'm enjoying the book.I've found myself finishing a book, to find it's four in the morning sometimes. Who needs sleep anyways. *passes out and hits keyboard but still somehow manages to click the submit button* hjkdftgvjkgbnxdv

 

[chris.ph]

anything from a few hours to,god when did nation come out

 

[AgnesOgg]

if it is a book I have been waiting for (like Snuff) then I read it in 5-6 hours (at nigth...sleep? who needs sleep?), just to get the story.Then I re-read it after a few days, often enjoying to limit myself to a few pages each nigth as english is not my first language it often takes 2 or 3 readings to get all the puns and jokes. I think it took a year before I got the Adora Belle Dearheart.... one has to say it out loud, and I normally don't do that [/u][/i]

 

[Char]

I'm a slow reader really. I like to take my time. Most of the time I only read a few pages per day and then when I have a day with not much to do, I'll read through a big chunk. I started reading Snuff on the 17th (I think) and I'm about 2/3 of the way through it. I guess it takes me 2-3 weeks to read through a book that length, but really it depends on how busy I am and what I have going on at the time.

I'd say the only books I've ever gotten through in less than a week are by Colin Bateman.

 

[Maura:-D]

I read really fast! I read the 7th Harry Potter book in about three hours, but non-stop. I hardly breathed...
Mostly I read the Terry Pratchett books more than once, because I tend to accidently skip paragraphs, if the next bit looks more interesting. But I read Thud last night, nonstop till like two in the morning, and it took me about five hours. With dinner. And homework.
I'm in school now. I'm tired. I tend to stay up reading a lot- I probably shouldn't
LOL

 

[author3]

In the school holidays I read books really fast like it would only take me about 2 or 3 hours to read Maskerade but then when school is on I only read before I go to sleep and in the morning so it would take me about 5 days

 

[SpyViolette]

It takes me at very least around three days to finish one. I'm in school and I have two free periods which which give me in total an hour and thirty minutes of reading time. And if I don't have anything else I must do, I can get through a couple hundred pages on the weekends. It also helps that I have most of the books on tape as well as in print form, so I don't necessarily need the book to read it.