165 of 170 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Faster and More Effective Reading and Academic Performance!, September 19, 2001
This review is from: Remember Everything You Read: The Evelyn Wood 7-Day Speed Reading & Learning Program (Mass Market Paperback)
I have never read a book before about reading faster with better comprehension. I was attracted to this book because so many people ask me if there is a book I can recommend that helps with reading speed and comprehension.
While I found many things to like that will help you with your reading, I also found many things that I did not like. Graded just on that basis, I would give the book two or three stars.
At the same time, someone with average reading speed and comprehension can probably improve speed and comprehension if the book's advice is followed and practiced daily. Graded just on that basis, I would give the book four stars.
Getting better with reading, note taking, writing, and test taking is all about understanding what needs to be done, implementing those approaches, getting feedback, and practicing a lot. Someone in middle school or high school is in a perfect position to do all of those things. Beginning with college, it becomes harder. Graduate school often causes skill levels to decline in these areas. Those who are working and not taking courses will find that they may not have the disciplined environment needed to improve.
First, let me clear up some misconceptions. Reading faster is not "skimming" in which you skip most of the material looking for the high points. Reading faster is about reading all of the words, but by using better techniques. Also, I do not believe that there is only one way to read faster. I use several techniques for different kinds of material, several of which are not mentioned in this book. This book argues for lots of repetition in reading, writing, and studying. That repetition can be avoided by using methods other than those described in this book. Finally, I think that you will learn more by taking a reading course that is offered daily than by just reading a book about reading. In such a course, you will develop your own methods that feel right for you.
This book is absolutely correct in identifying the major reasons why most people read and comprehend slowly:
(1) mentally "vocalizing each word" slows down the reading process -- just "see" and react to the word instead (when you look at a butterfly, you can appreciate its beauty and identity without saying "butterfly" to yourself . . . so why is a word any different?)
(2) losing concentration and starting to daydream, rather than reading on
(3) losing one's place and having to find the place and then rereading material
(4) not understanding the vocabulary
(5) not having a structured set of questions for bringing reading attention to bear (What is the structure of this book? Where are its arguments valid? Where are they not? What is the evidence? Who can best use this book? And so forth.).
If you work on those five areas, I agree with the author that the average person can easily double reading speed while increasing comprehension.
To get to be really fast, you have to be able to take in and absorb more words with each eye movement. Distance from the words, angle of the reading material, light, corrective power of your glasses or contact lenses, the back support of your chair, and the emotional comfort of your environment all play a role. Here is where I disagree with the book. It argues for using lots of finger movements. In my experience, those finger movements are just a distraction. If they help you, great! But if they don't, relax! I doubt if anyone is going to learn those finger movements, however, without taking an Evelyn Wood course.
The author argues that material with dialogue in it cannot be read rapidly. That is not my experience. He argues the same for poetry. That is also not my experience. Where I do find that you have to slow down is where the material requires lots of thinking to be appreciated. Even there, most of us can think at 50,000 words a minute. Not too many people try to read faster than that. It's hard to turn the pages that fast!
The book doesn't have enough direction on how to reach and drill yourself. A better approach would have been to have put this book into a workbook format that would provide very simple self-guided lessons.
So, should you buy the book, or just absorb the lessons from this review? I suspect that many people can learn all they can use from the book by just reading this review. On the other hand, the book is inexpensive so you don't have much to lose if you buy it.
The book also contains lots of material about conceptual note-taking, faster writing processes, test preparation, and test-taking. I thought that this material was overly rigid. Most people will do better to adopt a style that fits the way they think and like to work.
After you finish reading this review, please do consider that improving your reading speed and comprehension is very valuable. You can either spend less time gathering material, or learn more. In either case, your life should be improved.
Enjoy your reading more!
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195 of 204 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hello my name is Mr. Stephens, March 2, 2000
This review is from: Remember Everything You Read: The Evelyn Wood 7-Day Speed Reading & Learning Program (Mass Market Paperback)
Hello, I am a 17 year old young man. I have searched and searched for a speed reading book that could help me not only in school, but also in the real world. I have always wanted to read huge books in two hours and so forth. What I would like to say is that for a week, this book is good. Go check it out at the library, don't buy it on Amazon. I have looked at a lot of speed reading material. I have Howard Bergs biggest bag of garbage Super Speed Reading. I didn't get anything out of that. I have Speed Reading made easy which is pretty out dated. And I have the book that I highly recommend, Breakthrough Speed Reading by Peter Kump. That is the book to get folks. If you are truly serious about learning how to go through pages of War and Peace, or the Bible or whatever you read. It has drills that help you FOR MORE THAN ONE WEEK! The only reason I think this book has sold so much is because people want a quick fix, but I can tell you personally that if you want to read fast, and complete novels in one sitting (less than an hour) and actually get motivated with what you are do GET BREAKTHROUGH SPEED READING BY PETER KUMP FROM AMAZON INSTEAD OF THIS REALLY ELEMENTARY EVELYN WOOD 7 DAY THING. I was disappointed when I got Breakthrough because it was the book I wished I would have gotten first!
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43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An effective speed reading course for the persistent, June 11, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Remember Everything You Read: The Evelyn Wood 7-Day Speed Reading & Learning Program (Mass Market Paperback)
This still has to be one of the best offerings available on this subject. For the persistently faithful this is the book I would recommend, it has all the exercises in step by step form to set you firmly on your way to accomplishing an effectively fast rate of reading with a good level of comprehension.
I would definitely recommend this book to parents of highschoolers or students of any age as this book also outlines some very essential and excellent methods of note taking to help you prepare for and ace exams. I've managed to increase my own reading speed from 630 wpm to over 1400wpm in only the first 4weeks of trying out this system,but and I stress the following, in order to succeed with speed reading you must maintain a high degree of persistence in doing the given exercises for at least 1 month, don't question the reasons for or effectiveness of the exercises until you've gone through all the methods given in the book faithfully - if you don't feel you have the determination or persistence to reach your ultimate goal then like all else you'll try - it probably won't work for you. However this method really does work! so what are you waiting for....buy it now!
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