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Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

serialreader.org

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Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#41

Post by Freak_NL »

smu wrote: post #36
ozim wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was under impression that reading novels was ‘to develop sense of empathy’ not to enlighten them.

It’s pretty much about stretching yourself but not overstretching. The classics might be the latter for a teenager. I guess it depends on the person.

It depends strongly on the person. Blessed are those who have/had a teacher that could recommend them the right books for them at any given time. I didn't start reading for leisure again until my late twenties when The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy drew me in, despite growing up reading everything from Franco-Belgian comics to Karl May.

High school kills any interest in reading more often than not.

Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#42

Post by mlschmitt23 »

OriginalPenguin wrote: post #38

Nice. Can you talk a little bit about what this is written in and how the development process went?

This web project is Python Flask web server backed by MongoDB, mostly written as Jinja template HTMLs and forms instead of any slick JavaScript which was fun to try!

The mobile apps are Objective-C for iOS (with very small amounts of Swift, boy I have been slow to pick that up and start migrating my codebase) and Java for Android. Backed by a Flask API and MongoDB.

Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#43

Post by nu11ptr »

branweb wrote: post #40
nu11ptr wrote: post #34

Reading War and Peace in 20 min/day increments? Would that be a good experience? disclaimer: I have not read, but normally very long books are best absorbed in larger chunks as they tend to be more descriptive and take longer for plot to unfold

I haven't read War and Peace, nor (presumably) have I tried this app, but I will gladly come into the comments and shit on it. Gotta love hacker news.

A bit lost. In what way did I shit on it? And why do I need an app to understand how much reading 20 min a day is? I'm simply suggesting larger, richer books are often best absorbed when you have more time to enjoy them and get involved in the plot which often takes longer to unfold. I could be wrong it just struck me as a bad fit for a 20 min/day. exercise. I could be wrong.

Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#44

Post by peatfreak »

TylerE wrote: post #23
Freak_NL wrote: post #12

The estimates seem a bit high, or perhaps unbalanced from book to book. The Count of Monte Cristo is slated for 208 days at twenty minutes per day! I read mostly just in bed before going to sleep, averaging around 30 minutes. The Count of Monte Cristo took me three to four weeks (I don't keep notes on that, so it's an estimate), and I'm not a speed-reader. It's just a book that has aged well (i.e., a limited cognitiv…

If the only translation you’ve read is the public domain one from the 19th century, it was heavily censored/edited. Newer translations are much better, and have all the hash smoking and lesbian sex. (And yea, I’m being literal)

How does the Penguin translation stack up? It's the only one I can easily find.

Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#45

Post by babblingfish »

Freak_NL wrote: post #12

The estimates seem a bit high, or perhaps unbalanced from book to book. The Count of Monte Cristo is slated for 208 days at twenty minutes per day! I read mostly just in bed before going to sleep, averaging around 30 minutes. The Count of Monte Cristo took me three to four weeks (I don't keep notes on that, so it's an estimate), and I'm not a speed-reader. It's just a book that has aged well (i.e., a limited cognitiv…

You may have read the abridged version while the estimate is calculated on the unabridged version.

Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#46

Post by 5555624 »

wazoox wrote: post #20
Freak_NL wrote: post #12

The estimates seem a bit high, or perhaps unbalanced from book to book. The Count of Monte Cristo is slated for 208 days at twenty minutes per day! I read mostly just in bed before going to sleep, averaging around 30 minutes. The Count of Monte Cristo took me three to four weeks (I don't keep notes on that, so it's an estimate), and I'm not a speed-reader. It's just a book that has aged well (i.e., a limited cognitiv…

> The estimates seem a bit high, or perhaps unbalanced from book to book. The Count of Monte Cristo is slated for 208 days at twenty minutes per day! I've started reading Monte Cristo one day. I finished the 1800 pages of it in one long 48 hours sitting, hardly sleeping or doing anything else. That's how you read this book. It was a feuilleton , one page a day in the newspaper, and there is a cliffhanger at the last…

> I've started reading Monte Cristo one day. I finished the 1800 pages of it in one long 48 hours sitting, hardly sleeping or doing anything else. That's how you read this book.

I don't think I could do it in one long sitting. The last time I read it, my "serial" approach was to read one chapter per day, before going to bed. It was hard to stop; but, it was also easy to pick up each day. (Another advantage was it sat next to the bed and I didn't have to carry it anywhere, since it didn't fit in a pocket.) I'm about to read it again and I'm not sure what approach I'll take.

Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#47

Post by babblingfish »

nu11ptr wrote: post #43
branweb wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read War and Peace, nor (presumably) have I tried this app, but I will gladly come into the comments and shit on it. Gotta love hacker news.

A bit lost. In what way did I shit on it? And why do I need an app to understand how much reading 20 min a day is? I'm simply suggesting larger, richer books are often best absorbed when you have more time to enjoy them and get involved in the plot which often takes longer to unfold. I could be wrong it just struck me as a bad fit for a 20 min/day. exercise. I could be wrong.

There are really short chapters and really long chapters. I agree that some of the longer chapters, especially the battle scenes, are probably too long for a 20 minute reading session.

Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#48

Post by TylerE »

peatfreak wrote: post #44
TylerE wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the only translation you’ve read is the public domain one from the 19th century, it was heavily censored/edited. Newer translations are much better, and have all the hash smoking and lesbian sex. (And yea, I’m being literal)

How does the Penguin translation stack up? It's the only one I can easily find.

Assuming it's the Robin Buss translation - that's the one you want! Only version that was fully translated in the modern era. The earlier ones were all based off the problematic 19th century translations with various amounts of the "scandalous" stuff added back in.

Samples:

19th PD: https://welovetranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/st...

Buss: https://welovetranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/bu...

(Not any spoilers really...these are both the 1st page).

Even here, notice the heavy abridgement...two whole sentences axed from the first 3 paragraphs alone!

The Buss just reads so much better and more idiomatically, even ignoring the censorship issues.

Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#49

Post by dustincoates »

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #39
Freak_NL wrote: post #12

The estimates seem a bit high, or perhaps unbalanced from book to book. The Count of Monte Cristo is slated for 208 days at twenty minutes per day! I read mostly just in bed before going to sleep, averaging around 30 minutes. The Count of Monte Cristo took me three to four weeks (I don't keep notes on that, so it's an estimate), and I'm not a speed-reader. It's just a book that has aged well (i.e., a limited cognitiv…

It's harder (but more rewarding) reading certain books the umpteenth time because they are so complex or require other reading to fully grasp and appreciate. For me some examples were J. Joyce Dubliners Dante's Divine Comedy several others. The hard work makes the journey meaningful (for me) and I'm absolutely bored ticking check boxes just to brag about having speed read through 60 classics in a year.

Your comment reminds me of a description I once heard of the Divine Comedy: "once you've read the Divine Comedy, you're ready to read the Divine Comedy."

Re: Serial Reader: Reading Schedule Builder

#50

Post by gnicholas »

@mlschmitt23 not sure if you're looking for feedback, as this isn't a Show HN, but when I click to download the app in the banner on your website, then it turns into an Open button, which opens the app when I click it. Unfortunately the app only opens for a split second, and then bounces me back to Safari to your website.

I was able to open the app like normal from my home screen.

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