Breakthrough Rapid Reading
by Peter Kump
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Book Summary Information
Author: Peter KumpEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-11-01
ISBN: 073520019X
Number of pages: 276
Publisher: Prentice Hall Press
Book Reviews of Breakthrough Rapid Reading
Book Review: Probably a good book, but I can't use it
Summary: 2 Stars
This review, and the low rating I'm giving to the book, are not based on the efficacy of the method of the clarity of its exposition, but on a premise on which the whole system is based, that to me is totally unacceptable. At the beginning the author suggests a way to immediately increase your own reading speed: moving your hand through the page at a constant pace and following it with the eye. It makes sense, because it prevents the unconscious habit we have to go back with the eyes (a habit that in itself has nothing to do with a real need of understanding better what we have just read), and in fact it works. The problem is that this isn't just a trick, it's the foundation on which the author builds its whole system, doing all he can to never allow you any other chance than using it. Why do I think it is a problem? Well, because, at least for me, it's such an uncomfortable way of reading that it takes all the pleasure away. The need to do a physical movement instead of just immersing yourself in the read, the rub of skin against the page (or against the computer screen!), the way people stare at you when you read outside. No doubt the author of the book would reply to this objection saying that the ability of speedreading is more important than all this, but no, for me it isn't. I want reading to be a pleasurable and natural activity before anything else. Even non-fiction, data-gathering reading.
Not only that, but I'm convinced that the premise that the hand trick is absolutely necessary is false. How can I say that? Well, I tried to follow the book anyway, making some modifications in the plan and in the exercises to allow for my choice not to use the hand, and my speed was increasing (until I was tired of continually having to rethink and rewrite the book I'd bought, and started to think that maybe it would be more convenient to find something else). Maybe it's true that one would never reach the *maximum* possible speed without the hand method, but would it have been so difficult to organize things so to leave an option whether to use it or not? After all, the other tricks work too, and maybe I'm just not interested in being the fastest of them all.
While creating a method to retrain the unconscious habit of going back with the eyes without having to always use the hand would probably mean writing an altogether different book (and probably an altogether different system), I think that writing the plan in a way that can be easily followed by people who don't want to use the hand method would have been easy. I would have accepted the fate of never being able to reach the top speed, and happily settled for a good compromise.
Summary of Breakthrough Rapid Reading
A previous National Director of Education for Evelyn Wood Reading Dynamics presents his do-it-yourself program for increasing reading speed and boosting comprehension."Speed reading is one of the truly useful educational ideas of the last few years, and this book can be the least expensive and most efficient way you can learn it." --William Proxmire, United States Senator
The perfect answer to today's information explosion, Peter Kump's rapid reading method has already helped thousands of people to read up to eight times faster, with better concentration and retention.
This program brings together the best of what classroom speed reading courses have to offer, and distills fundamental principles and skills that can be learned at home with the help of the drills and exercises provided. And because it lets readers choose their own material and set their own pace, it's the ideal method for busy people juggling a full schedule.
Breakthrough Rapid Reading makes conquering information overload a reality. So whether it's cutting down on that backlog of business reports and technical matter or scaling that mountain of newspapers and leisure reading, getting up to speed is only a matter of time and practice.
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