” … reading “intensively” [was] the common practice of most readers before the nineteenth century, when books, which were scarce and expensive, were often read aloud and many times over. As reading materials—not just books, but newspapers, magazines, and ephemera—proliferated, more recent centuries saw the rise of reading “extensively”: we read these materials once, often quickly, and move on.”
Mairead Small Staid, Reading in the Age of Constant Distraction, The Paris Review, 8 Feb 2019
I have favourite fiction books I have read many times, favourite films/series I have watched many times, and favourite reference books. Wearing my non-fiction editor hat, I read things at least three times, first for the gist, second to line-edit, third to check my edit. Maybe it’s inevitable that I revisit subjects and locations to paint them time and again, looping around and coming back to things with myself being the variable not the constant.
Random fact: “Extense” is an archaic word. “Intense” we still use.
This is an interesting topic for discussion and I think both extensive and intensive reading are important. Not all books, however, fully repay intensive reading. Many people would suggest thatCarlsson’s book on landscape would be very high on a list of books for intensive reading. Do you agree and, if so, what other books would make your top 5 most rewarding books for intensive reading for a landscape artist?
Great question Eddie, that will take some thinking to answer. One I’m enjoying right now is “Essential Techniques of
Landscape Drawing” by Suzanne Brooker; I think it’s because I’m currently into using line in painting.