View From The Glen

Saturday, January 28, 2012

On Languor

Move your lips as you read the words - feel them rolling off your tongue. Slowly, slowly, turn each crisp, buttery page. Notice the hollow sound. Inhale the papery scent.

Pause at the chapter changes to let the title sink in. Consider what you have read, and what is still before you. What treasures still await?

Put it down before you are tired of reading.

Let the story waft over you for a day or so. Come back to it, remember it. Savour it.

When you can't wait to get back to it, wait a little longer. Embrace the longing. Go snowshoeing. Recall details of the characters, the plot, the setting, as you move through the field.

Come home, relax, drink white hot chocolate laced with Grand Marnier.

Pick it up again. Read another chapter. Force yourself to slow down. Not to rush.

Revel in the languor of a long, slow, sensory, read.

Julius LeBLanc Stewart (American, 1855-1919) Reading Aloud (c. 1833) Oil on canvas 28 by 51.5 inches (Private Collection)




3 comments:

Leanne Haines said...

Ahhhhh.... Just finished a good book and now I can't wait to pick up a new one! Lovely!

Denise Nielsen said...

I should make it clear, this is not how I usually read. Usually I am racing to see what happens. So impatient and keen - even though I often don't want it to end.

But when I do slow down,I love the experience. Must do that more often.

Unknown said...

I like your thinking. I've slowed down lately in my reading--not because I want to savor, have a cup of cocoa, enjoy--but because there is very limited time in my reading schedule with stuff going on.

I read when I can but wish for those moments when the house is quiet and there is hot tea to enjoy and a few minutes to sit and really get into a book.

Your blog really hits home.