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Deep Reading

Berapa banyak buku yang kamu baca dalam sebulan? Seberapa cepat kamu membaca satu buku? 

Bagi sebagian orang, banyaknya buku yang dibaca dan kecepatan dalam membaca bisa menjadi hal yang penting untuk diukur. 

Tapi itu tidak berlaku bagi saya.


Deep Reading

Semakin berkualitas buku yang dibaca, semakin lama saya membacanya. Diresapi pelan-pelan, kalimat per kalimat, bahkan kata per kata. Mendalami pemikiran penulisnya, mencerna maknanya. Mengkorelasikan dengan pengalaman pribadi, dan merefleksikan dengan pemikiran diri sendiri.

"Because I read not for competing; but I read for pleasure and meaning." ~NuTS

Konsepnya mirip dengan Lectio Divina yang saya bahas kemarin. Gaya membaca tersebut ada istilahnya: slow reading atau deep reading. Saya lebih suka istilah deep reading, sebagaimana ditulis oleh Sven Birkerts di bukunya The Gutenberg Elegies (1994):

"Reading, because we control it, is adaptable to our needs and rhythms. We are free to indulge our subjective associative impulse; the term I coin for this is deep reading: the slow and meditative possession of a book. We don't just read the words, we dream our lives in their vicinity."

Sedangkan Thomas Newkirk di bukunya The Art of Slow Reading menyatakan bahwa "to read slowly is to maintain an intimate relationship with a writer". Ya kira2 mirip komitmen pacaran sama orang lah, bukan cuma one night stand aja 😂
Image source: Bilderbeste

Dalam sehari, biasanya saya membaca 2 buku. Tetapi, 2 buku ini belum tentu berganti setiap hari. Bahkan sangat mungkin saya membaca 2 buku yang sama selama lebih dari sebulan. Sebab, saya lebih suka membacanya bab per bab.

  1. Buku berat untuk bacaan pagi hari.
    Biasanya saya membacanya di kamar mandi bersamaan dengan ritual natural (sorry TMI). Di pagi hari otak masih fresh, jadi masih enak buat diajak berpikir agak berat. Yang sedang dibaca saat ini: The Winner Effect - How Power Affects Your Brain by Ian Robertson. Buku ini keren bangetlah, menggabungkan kisah nyata yang dianalisa dengan sains, didukung oleh riset ilmiah, menjelaskan tentang bagaimana kekuasaan mempengaruhi otak manusia. Jelas aja ilmiah, karena penulisnya Ian Robertson, seorang neuroscientist dan trained clinical psychologist, ahli di bidang neuropsychology. Beliau profesor psikologi di Trinity College Dublin (kebetulan saya pernah diundang ke sana tahun 2011), dan salah satu pendiri Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. Dari 306 halaman, saya baru sampai di halaman 106 padahal sudah sekitar sebulan buku ini saya baca hampir setiap pagi. Dan hampir tiap halaman ada kalimat yang saya garisbawahi atau tandai dengan lyra polycolor, saking bagusnya. 👍
    The Winner Effect - Ian Robertson

  2. Buku ringan untuk bacaan malam hari.
    Biasanya saya membacanya sebelum tidur bersamaan dengan ritual terapi aroma minyak esensial. Di malam hari baik otak maupun fisik biasanya sudah kelelahan, jadi bacaan ringan tidak akan menambah beban pikiran, malah bisa jadi bahan hiburan. 
    Yang sedang dibaca saat ini: Kisah Rp 10.000 yang Mengubah Hidupku. Buku ini bercerita tentang kisah nyata pengalaman hidup yang sangat menarik dari sosok Bapak Josef Batanoa. Saya beberapa kali menceritakan ulang pengalaman pada buku tersebut kepada suami, saudara, dan sahabat saya. Dari 208 halaman, saya baru sampai di halaman 108 sejak saya mendapatkan buku itu pada tanggal 14 Desember 2018 lalu. Meskipun ringan, buku ini sarat pemikiran dan pengalaman, bahkan mampu mempengaruhi kebiasaan. Siapakah Pak Josef Bataona, dan mengapa pemikirannya mampu mempengaruhi kebiasaan saya? Akan saya ceritakan di postingan selanjutnya yaaa. 
Kisah Rp 10.000 yang Mengubah Hidupku - Josef Bataona

Yang jelas, saya sangat menikmati proses deep reading. Tidak merasa harus terburu-buru menyelesaikan sebuah buku. Tidak merasa gengsi untuk baca buku itu-itu saja (meskipun masih banyak buku lain yang belum dibaca di family mini library). Tidak punya hasrat untuk posting #nowreading  buku yang berbeda-beda kalau tidak benar-benar dibaca. 

Because...

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” – Mortimer J. Adler

And...

Image source: Pernille Ripp

Cheers,
Nuniek Tirta Sari
Jakarta, 03 Januari 2019

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