There are two types of good books: short ones, and longer ones with indicies and summaries after each chapter. Then there is the other 95%. Or is it 99%?
Its hard to write a good book. That makes them so valuable.
In praise of the hundred page idea
31–40 of 67 posts
Re: In praise of the hundred page idea
#32Nowadays, reading is mostly a meditative exercise for me. I'm not an "infovore" so I don't care about the velocity of ideas entering my head. Otherwise why not just go on Blinkist and read (or better yet listen to) book summaries. I also get the sense that the 300-page book that takes a week to read probably sinks into my brain better than a 100-pager; perhaps for the simple fact that the 300-pager takes longer to fi…
Yes! I have a completely unfounded theory that sounds right to my gut that basically all that matters is time and focus. If you want to learn something all you need is time and focus, you can't get there with just one of those two, you need both. The night before an exam, I can focus really hard and get a bunch of info crammed into my head, but it's all gone a week later. I haven't tried Blinkist but I struggle to im…
You might be interested in Attention Economy:
> Attention economics is an approach to the management of information that treats human attention as a scarce commodity and applies economic theory to solve various information management problems.
Re: In praise of the hundred page idea
#33I am disappointed. I thought this was about an individual elucidating their own ideas across one hundred pages in a rough manuscript. As far as books go, give me the 300 pagers. Inundate me. I’m ready. It’s time. The internet has betrayed my intellect. 300 pages. Inundate me. I want to read the 300 pager that expands upon the 100-page idea. Inundate me . I’m ready. I’ve had it with the screen. Unless it can point me…
Inundate is a synonym for “overwhelm”. I do not believe one can be ready to be overwhelmed, definitionally.
I am readily disposed and immediately available to be overcome and overpowered by the tome. It is my expectation. I am prepared.
As unreasonable as that may sound to you, what use is a book these days otherwise?
Re: In praise of the hundred page idea
#34Nowadays, reading is mostly a meditative exercise for me. I'm not an "infovore" so I don't care about the velocity of ideas entering my head. Otherwise why not just go on Blinkist and read (or better yet listen to) book summaries. I also get the sense that the 300-page book that takes a week to read probably sinks into my brain better than a 100-pager; perhaps for the simple fact that the 300-pager takes longer to fi…
Blinkist is fabulous for mgmt and idea type books that the author talks about.
Those are the ones I think tend to bloat with repetitive idea rehashing.
Re: In praise of the hundred page idea
#35I think a lot of comments are missing the point : it’s not about page size.
Today, most book writers are following a template of about 300-pages imposed by their editor, this (non justified) rule sold as a sweet spot is being (blindly?) applied by most authors and seems to be producing books that are unfocused.
What should be understood from the blog article is not that 100-pages books are inherently better, but that books should be written in a more focused way, without the unnecessary ceremony/anecdotes mostly added for the sole purpose of filling the void necessary to reach the « imposed » 300 pages recommendation.
Re: In praise of the hundred page idea
#36There are two types of good books: short ones, and longer ones with indicies and summaries after each chapter. Then there is the other 95%. Or is it 99%? Its hard to write a good book. That makes them so valuable.
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Re: In praise of the hundred page idea
#37kind reminder that timothy snyder isn’t held in great regard by other historians, even by right-wing ones—so, basically his own camp. especially on methodological grounds, omer bartov and richard evans have called out his use of chronological juxtaposition, saying it implies connections between events without enough evidence. this, along with other critiques, makes it an entertaining hundred page maybe, but not great…
even by right-wing ones—so, basically his own camp
Snyder isn't right-wing at all. Where did that come from?
Re: In praise of the hundred page idea
#38> Part of why I dislike essay collections is their neverendingness; I’ll read two, three, four essays in a volume and I still can’t cross it off my list. An incomplete task, it becomes a mental weight, an obligation. I’m deprived of the satisfaction of finishing. Not being able to close a book without reading everything in it is a problem. People need to get over this, it's compulsive behavior. You don't have to read…
Natsume Soseki once said that reading every book from cover to cover is like marrying every girl you fall in love with. I think it was in the book Kusamakura. A physicist friend of mine changed my life by simply saying that the reader is under no obligation to or has a contract with the author that he needs to read everything the author wrote. I cam across the more poetic Soseki later.
Likewise, Borges said (paraphrasing) "if you're not enjoying a book after a while, just put it down - it wasn't written for you".
Re: In praise of the hundred page idea
#39I have written four books in the 60-80 thousand word range and one (a commission) where I had a constraint of 30 thousand words or 100 pages. I know it’s a cliché, but guess which one took me the longest.
Like that quote from Twain: "I apologize for such a long letter - I didn't have time to write a short one."
(Edit: perhaps that's the cliché you were hinting at!)
Re: In praise of the hundred page idea
#40I've spent a lot of my life practicing the 300-word idea, so the 100-page idea seems pretty sensible. When I think of the 500-page+ books I've read, the intent of every one of them was to create separation and distance from something conventional or to pull apart a lot of different ideas to make room for their new one. Others are to create a set of exhaustive variations to show it the core idea is generally applicable or somehow essential.
A lot of it is discourse to preempt critics, where history shows almost universally that this is time wasted.