I’m a very involved reader. While reading a book (or an article, or a packet, etc.), I flip through the pages with the thumb and index finger of my right hand, intermittenly stopping to smell the pages (if I like how they smell). Reactions vacillate between amusement and annoyance as the flurry of flipping pages escalates in intensity from the pleasant trickle of a distant stream to the insistent humming of a manic bumblebee. It’s an idiosyncrasy that I’ve had as long as I can remember.
When we discussed hand scrolls in class, we described them as a tactile reading experience; the reader slowly reveals the evolution of the narrative as she unfurls the scroll. It is perhaps a more immersive, personal experience than the way Westerners read.
But what about those of us who physically interact with our books? For me, my hypnotic ritual is completely involuntary and has become complete necessary to my reading experience. I find that if I can’t bend/flip through my books, I can’t concentrate on what I’m reading. I need to feel the pages between my fingers, and, yes, shove my face into the spine to get a good sniff every once and a while. When I go to the bookstore or the library, one of my first reactions is to smell each book I pick up. It is for this reason that I always have to print the pdfs and course readings that teachers put on Blackboard.
Maybe I’m creating white noise to soothe myself, or maybe I’m just trying to catapult myself into the literary world, using the pages as a springboard. When I was younger, before I could read, I would have my mom read me library books until I memorized the general plot. Then, I would walk around the room, flipping pages back and forth and pretending to read the words aloud. So, for me, reading has always been a tactile experience. A lot of my friends and family think these habits are funny, but many of them have their own reading quirks.
Books may not be handscrolls, but they certainly are a very physical experience, even if you’re not as crazy as I am. How does the digital world affect our reading experiences? What are your weird reading habits?
