People who can't read
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Description
Book Introduction
- A word from MD
-
Reading, a friend for a better lifeReading books is difficult.
Because the human brain is not made to read.
Reading skills must be continually honed.
This book explores the vast spectrum of reading and how it is closely linked to thought, including memory, emotion, and imagination.
Even if it is difficult to read, we have no choice but to read.
For a better life.
June 4, 2024. Humanities PD Son Min-gyu
The most dangerous and most human aspiration,
A wondrous exploration of reading ★ “Who would say this cannot be called reading?”_ Kim Gyul-wool, author
The Amazing World of Reading as Seen Through "People Who Can't Read"
Here are some of the weirdest and most bizarre readers in the world.
People whose words dance before their eyes, people who can memorize two pages of a book in 15 seconds but can't understand the meaning, people who hallucinate words or taste like chicken nuggets, people who insist on reading a book but can't even remember the sentence they just read...
When we look at these people who at first glance do not seem like 'readers', we cannot help but ask questions.
What exactly is ‘reading’?
Surprisingly, scholars have yet to even come up with a basic definition of “reading.”
We each read in our own way.
The spectrum of 'reading' is vast.
Matthew Rubery, author of "People Who Can't Read" and professor at Queen Mary University of London, uncovers the hidden secrets of 'reading' through his extensive collection of testimonies, memoirs, research literature, and brilliant storytelling based on brain science and the humanities.
Whether you're a bookworm or someone who's been distant from books, after reading this book you'll realize how much 'reading' impacts our lives and our identity.
A wondrous exploration of reading ★ “Who would say this cannot be called reading?”_ Kim Gyul-wool, author
The Amazing World of Reading as Seen Through "People Who Can't Read"
Here are some of the weirdest and most bizarre readers in the world.
People whose words dance before their eyes, people who can memorize two pages of a book in 15 seconds but can't understand the meaning, people who hallucinate words or taste like chicken nuggets, people who insist on reading a book but can't even remember the sentence they just read...
When we look at these people who at first glance do not seem like 'readers', we cannot help but ask questions.
What exactly is ‘reading’?
Surprisingly, scholars have yet to even come up with a basic definition of “reading.”
We each read in our own way.
The spectrum of 'reading' is vast.
Matthew Rubery, author of "People Who Can't Read" and professor at Queen Mary University of London, uncovers the hidden secrets of 'reading' through his extensive collection of testimonies, memoirs, research literature, and brilliant storytelling based on brain science and the humanities.
Whether you're a bookworm or someone who's been distant from books, after reading this book you'll realize how much 'reading' impacts our lives and our identity.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
Introduction: In search of the hidden world of ‘reading’
We were not born to read
Readers with broken hearts
Brain Damage and Reading Barriers
The illusion that there is a 'correct reading'
We don't know how to read yet
Chapter 1.
Children Erased in the Literacy Myth
: For dyslexic readers, other people are hell.
Why can't those kids read?
Trauma left by school
Moving letters, distracted mind
Reading through visual stress and color
It's a miracle that you can read.
Chapter 2.
A child who opened a book at the age of one
: The Relationship Between Reading and Sensation Revealed by Autism
Misconceptions Surrounding Readers with Savant Syndrome
Memory prodigies
“I read it, but I didn’t understand it.”
Photographic memory, surface reading, hyperlexia
The joy of reading
Chapter 3.
If you can't read overnight
Dyslexia and Humans as 'Reading Beings'
Tracking the Lost Reading Skills
Pretend to read
The first study of dyslexia
Efforts to overcome dyslexia
“I will keep fighting.”
What we only come to know in the blank space of reading
Reading in an Age of Non-Reading
Chapter 4.
If every letter bloomed like a flower
: Synesthetes perceive the same page differently.
Synesthesia in History
A landscape seen by a synesthete
A rainbow exploding in my head
Chicken nugget flavored letters
The sensory beauty of reading
Chapter 5.
People who wander forever in dreams
: The ambiguous boundary between hallucination and imagery
Every reader sees hallucinations
A midday dream called reading
Schizophrenia, delusions, paranoid reading
People who see invisible letters
At the end of reading life
Chapter 6.
How Reading Becomes Life
: Memories and narratives that form the basis of 'me'
I can't read it even if I remember too much
eternal present tense
The comfort of books that even dementia cannot overcome
Reading in the dark
I was still a reader
Going Out: Reading, Living, and Moving Forward in My Own Way
annotation
Search
We were not born to read
Readers with broken hearts
Brain Damage and Reading Barriers
The illusion that there is a 'correct reading'
We don't know how to read yet
Chapter 1.
Children Erased in the Literacy Myth
: For dyslexic readers, other people are hell.
Why can't those kids read?
Trauma left by school
Moving letters, distracted mind
Reading through visual stress and color
It's a miracle that you can read.
Chapter 2.
A child who opened a book at the age of one
: The Relationship Between Reading and Sensation Revealed by Autism
Misconceptions Surrounding Readers with Savant Syndrome
Memory prodigies
“I read it, but I didn’t understand it.”
Photographic memory, surface reading, hyperlexia
The joy of reading
Chapter 3.
If you can't read overnight
Dyslexia and Humans as 'Reading Beings'
Tracking the Lost Reading Skills
Pretend to read
The first study of dyslexia
Efforts to overcome dyslexia
“I will keep fighting.”
What we only come to know in the blank space of reading
Reading in an Age of Non-Reading
Chapter 4.
If every letter bloomed like a flower
: Synesthetes perceive the same page differently.
Synesthesia in History
A landscape seen by a synesthete
A rainbow exploding in my head
Chicken nugget flavored letters
The sensory beauty of reading
Chapter 5.
People who wander forever in dreams
: The ambiguous boundary between hallucination and imagery
Every reader sees hallucinations
A midday dream called reading
Schizophrenia, delusions, paranoid reading
People who see invisible letters
At the end of reading life
Chapter 6.
How Reading Becomes Life
: Memories and narratives that form the basis of 'me'
I can't read it even if I remember too much
eternal present tense
The comfort of books that even dementia cannot overcome
Reading in the dark
I was still a reader
Going Out: Reading, Living, and Moving Forward in My Own Way
annotation
Search
Detailed image
Into the book
The central premise of this book is that there is no single activity called 'reading'.
We use the word reading too easily and assume that everyone reads in basically the same way.
But there are many ways to read, or rather, to not read, which are covered in this book.
(…) The goal of this book is to make reading strange.
---From "Entering: In Search of the Hidden World of 'Reading'"
“Literacy is a cultural invention,” says cognitive neuroscientist Marion Wolf.
Reading, unlike speaking, is not something our brains are born with.
(…) Given that reading is a complex act that involves synchronizing numerous emotional, cognitive, perceptual, and physiological processes, it is not surprising that some people cannot read.
What's even more surprising is that anyone can read it.
---From "Chapter 1: Children Erased in the Literacy Myth"
The pleasure of tracing punctuation marks and other symbols across black letters on white paper, the subtle body reactions that occur when encountering letters, shows how richly stimulating type can be, even to readers who focus solely on the surface.
(…) Anyone who reads books will be able to empathize with such affection.
---From "Chapter 2│The Child Who Opened a Book at the Age of One"
Francis Bacon declared, “Reading makes the complete man.”
A person who has lost the ability to read no longer feels like a 'complete human being'.
Psychologist Scott Moss confessed that after suffering a stroke that left him struggling to speak, read, and write, “I felt like I was half a person for a long time.”
---From "Chapter 3│If You Can't Read Overnight"
Physicist Richard Feynman, who was a synesthete, saw a tan J, a purple N, and a brown X in a common mathematical formula.
And then, with his characteristic indifference, he recorded this difference.
“What would this look like to students?” We should similarly ask ourselves about books: “What would this look like to a synesthete?”
---From "Chapter 4│If All Letters Bloom Like Flowers"
Anyone can have hallucinations.
The difference is that hallucinations usually occur at appropriate times and in appropriate contexts.
It is not surprising that people with mental illness distort text.
But few people are aware of how often ordinary readers experience unusual imagery (aphantasia, synesthesia, etc.).
---From "Chapter 5: People Who Wander Forever in Dreams"
Even those who cannot understand the words in a book are content to trace the letters with their fingers, recite the words while pronouncing the letters without understanding them, or look at the pictures in the book.
Sometimes I'm content with just having a book by my side.
So this chapter is partly about forgetting how to read, but it's also about finding ways to keep reading long after you've stopped reading in the traditional sense.
---From “Chapter 6: How Reading Becomes Life”
Remember, there is no such thing as a “typical reader.”
There are just countless readers, each with their own unique way of reading books.
In this respect, all readers are atypical.
We use the word reading too easily and assume that everyone reads in basically the same way.
But there are many ways to read, or rather, to not read, which are covered in this book.
(…) The goal of this book is to make reading strange.
---From "Entering: In Search of the Hidden World of 'Reading'"
“Literacy is a cultural invention,” says cognitive neuroscientist Marion Wolf.
Reading, unlike speaking, is not something our brains are born with.
(…) Given that reading is a complex act that involves synchronizing numerous emotional, cognitive, perceptual, and physiological processes, it is not surprising that some people cannot read.
What's even more surprising is that anyone can read it.
---From "Chapter 1: Children Erased in the Literacy Myth"
The pleasure of tracing punctuation marks and other symbols across black letters on white paper, the subtle body reactions that occur when encountering letters, shows how richly stimulating type can be, even to readers who focus solely on the surface.
(…) Anyone who reads books will be able to empathize with such affection.
---From "Chapter 2│The Child Who Opened a Book at the Age of One"
Francis Bacon declared, “Reading makes the complete man.”
A person who has lost the ability to read no longer feels like a 'complete human being'.
Psychologist Scott Moss confessed that after suffering a stroke that left him struggling to speak, read, and write, “I felt like I was half a person for a long time.”
---From "Chapter 3│If You Can't Read Overnight"
Physicist Richard Feynman, who was a synesthete, saw a tan J, a purple N, and a brown X in a common mathematical formula.
And then, with his characteristic indifference, he recorded this difference.
“What would this look like to students?” We should similarly ask ourselves about books: “What would this look like to a synesthete?”
---From "Chapter 4│If All Letters Bloom Like Flowers"
Anyone can have hallucinations.
The difference is that hallucinations usually occur at appropriate times and in appropriate contexts.
It is not surprising that people with mental illness distort text.
But few people are aware of how often ordinary readers experience unusual imagery (aphantasia, synesthesia, etc.).
---From "Chapter 5: People Who Wander Forever in Dreams"
Even those who cannot understand the words in a book are content to trace the letters with their fingers, recite the words while pronouncing the letters without understanding them, or look at the pictures in the book.
Sometimes I'm content with just having a book by my side.
So this chapter is partly about forgetting how to read, but it's also about finding ways to keep reading long after you've stopped reading in the traditional sense.
---From “Chapter 6: How Reading Becomes Life”
Remember, there is no such thing as a “typical reader.”
There are just countless readers, each with their own unique way of reading books.
In this respect, all readers are atypical.
---From "Going Out: Reading, Living, and Moving Forward in My Own Way"
Publisher's Review
“Who says this can’t be called reading?”
_ Kim Gyul-wool, writer
I've always thought reading books was a natural thing, but when I think about it, even I haven't always read books smoothly, nor have I always read books in the same way.
I read from back to front, read aloud, and even reread sentences I had already read.
Others would have done the same.
To some, a book is a vessel of moving letters, a bundle of pages that linger like a photograph the moment you look at them, a collection of unknown words.
And they read too.
Memorizing, copying, and losing the previous content.
Who would say this can't be called reading?
A wondrous exploration of reading, the most precarious and human of aspirations.
“Our brains weren’t built for reading.”
A provocative exploration that shatters all conventional wisdom about 'reading'.
Every year, the reading rate hits an all-time low.
On the one hand, a ridiculous literacy controversy is unfolding over “deep apologies” and “0 people recruited.”
In an age where both 'readers' and 'non-readers' are the objects of cynicism, it is clear that 'reading' is no longer a natural thing for people.
In fact, from a cognitive science perspective, it's not surprising that people find reading so difficult.
Rather, it is a miracle that you can read it.
Reading is a skill that developed relatively recently in evolutionary history.
The relationship between reading and the brain is dynamic.
First of all, reading may not necessarily require the entire brain.
Even patients who had one hemisphere of their brain removed were able to read fluently with practice.
On the other hand, no matter how great a bibliophile you are, you can never 'read' in your dreams.
This is because the brain cannot properly create the letters to be written in the dream book.
When your brain becomes overactive and hallucinations become severe, you need to escape from the book, not into it.
Reading the unique cases and fascinating testimonies in "People Who Can't Read" makes me realize just how complex a process reading is.
If even one step that seems natural—perception, language processing, attention, decoding, or comprehension—is disrupted, reading becomes impossible.
This book is the first to explore the history of reading from the perspective of those who "cannot read" due to neurological conditions such as dyslexia, dyslexia, hyperlexia, synesthesia, hallucinations, and dementia.
Their stories shatter our assumptions about 'reading' one by one.
*The illusion that everyone is looking at the same page _ Chapter 1.
Dyslexia: How Perceptual Differences Affect Reading
*You can read even if you don't understand the text at all _ Chapter 2.
Hyperlexia: The Paradox of Reading and Comprehension in Autism
*You too can lose your literacy at any time _ Chapter 3.
Dyslexia: If one day you suddenly lose your ability to read
*People who see and feel color, smell, and texture in plain letters _ Chapter 4.
Synesthesia: The Relationship Between Imagery and Reading
*The line between pathological hallucinations and pleasant imagination is blurred _ Chapter 5.
Hallucinations: Reading's Dangerous Companions
*Can I read it even if my ego and memories disappear? _ Chapter 6.
Dementia: How Reading Becomes Life
Are humans really forgetting how to 'read'?
Humans as 'reading beings' discovered from 'people who cannot read'
Historically, unique readers have always existed.
Kim Peek, the real-life protagonist of the movie Rain Man, read both pages at the same time.
The brilliant physicist Richard Feynman saw colored letters in black-and-white equations, and Sigmund Freud had to reread the same sentences over and over again because of hyperlexia, which made him pay attention to certain letters.
Even if it's not such an extreme case, we all read in some strange way.
Have you ever gone back to the beginning because you couldn't remember the sentence you just read? Have you ever felt a vivid scene unfold before your eyes? Have you ever been captivated by the smell of the paper, the texture, the physical properties of the book?
‘Reading’ is not an innate ability of our brain.
Paradoxically, it is precisely because humans cannot read properly that we cannot live without reading.
A dyslexic woman who learned to read anew after emigrating, a boy who never blinked while reading because his severe distractibility made reading difficult, a man who hallucinated a book at the moment of his death…
As their stories show, where reading has disappeared, a desire for reading remains.
"People Who Can't Read" is a story about learning to read or, conversely, struggling to stop reading, losing the ability to read, pursuing unique reading methods, finding solutions to read again, and adjusting to life after reading.
In today's age of short-form and superficial reading, are we truly forgetting how to read? According to this book, the answer is no.
Even at this very moment, someone is trying to read it again.
The common message conveyed by all the examples in the book is that reading is indescribably important.
In our own way
Keep reading, keep living, keep moving forward
Why should we listen to the stories of those who can't read? Because understanding different reading styles allows us to reflect on the nature of reading in ways previously unimaginable.
People who cannot read struggle to remain 'readers' through alternative methods such as rereading, rewriting, rereading, and even simply holding a book.
Those who cannot read know best the meaning and value of reading.
The brain is not monolithic but diverse, and so is the human mind.
There is no such thing as a 'real reader' or 'real reading'.
There are just countless readers, each reading in their own way.
“I have to read.
“Most of my life is reading.”
_ Oliver Sacks
Reading impacts every aspect of our lives.
Reading styles are as diverse as there are readers, and reading is more than just an activity for individuals.
Even in an age when the world, and even readers themselves, doubt the value of “reading,” “readers must press forward to the end” (p. 285).
Blending neurodiversity, disability studies, medical humanities, philosophy, and brain science, this captivating book will completely transform your perspective on reading and, moreover, offers a strange yet delightful encouragement to all the "non-readers" of our time.
_ Kim Gyul-wool, writer
I've always thought reading books was a natural thing, but when I think about it, even I haven't always read books smoothly, nor have I always read books in the same way.
I read from back to front, read aloud, and even reread sentences I had already read.
Others would have done the same.
To some, a book is a vessel of moving letters, a bundle of pages that linger like a photograph the moment you look at them, a collection of unknown words.
And they read too.
Memorizing, copying, and losing the previous content.
Who would say this can't be called reading?
A wondrous exploration of reading, the most precarious and human of aspirations.
“Our brains weren’t built for reading.”
A provocative exploration that shatters all conventional wisdom about 'reading'.
Every year, the reading rate hits an all-time low.
On the one hand, a ridiculous literacy controversy is unfolding over “deep apologies” and “0 people recruited.”
In an age where both 'readers' and 'non-readers' are the objects of cynicism, it is clear that 'reading' is no longer a natural thing for people.
In fact, from a cognitive science perspective, it's not surprising that people find reading so difficult.
Rather, it is a miracle that you can read it.
Reading is a skill that developed relatively recently in evolutionary history.
The relationship between reading and the brain is dynamic.
First of all, reading may not necessarily require the entire brain.
Even patients who had one hemisphere of their brain removed were able to read fluently with practice.
On the other hand, no matter how great a bibliophile you are, you can never 'read' in your dreams.
This is because the brain cannot properly create the letters to be written in the dream book.
When your brain becomes overactive and hallucinations become severe, you need to escape from the book, not into it.
Reading the unique cases and fascinating testimonies in "People Who Can't Read" makes me realize just how complex a process reading is.
If even one step that seems natural—perception, language processing, attention, decoding, or comprehension—is disrupted, reading becomes impossible.
This book is the first to explore the history of reading from the perspective of those who "cannot read" due to neurological conditions such as dyslexia, dyslexia, hyperlexia, synesthesia, hallucinations, and dementia.
Their stories shatter our assumptions about 'reading' one by one.
*The illusion that everyone is looking at the same page _ Chapter 1.
Dyslexia: How Perceptual Differences Affect Reading
*You can read even if you don't understand the text at all _ Chapter 2.
Hyperlexia: The Paradox of Reading and Comprehension in Autism
*You too can lose your literacy at any time _ Chapter 3.
Dyslexia: If one day you suddenly lose your ability to read
*People who see and feel color, smell, and texture in plain letters _ Chapter 4.
Synesthesia: The Relationship Between Imagery and Reading
*The line between pathological hallucinations and pleasant imagination is blurred _ Chapter 5.
Hallucinations: Reading's Dangerous Companions
*Can I read it even if my ego and memories disappear? _ Chapter 6.
Dementia: How Reading Becomes Life
Are humans really forgetting how to 'read'?
Humans as 'reading beings' discovered from 'people who cannot read'
Historically, unique readers have always existed.
Kim Peek, the real-life protagonist of the movie Rain Man, read both pages at the same time.
The brilliant physicist Richard Feynman saw colored letters in black-and-white equations, and Sigmund Freud had to reread the same sentences over and over again because of hyperlexia, which made him pay attention to certain letters.
Even if it's not such an extreme case, we all read in some strange way.
Have you ever gone back to the beginning because you couldn't remember the sentence you just read? Have you ever felt a vivid scene unfold before your eyes? Have you ever been captivated by the smell of the paper, the texture, the physical properties of the book?
‘Reading’ is not an innate ability of our brain.
Paradoxically, it is precisely because humans cannot read properly that we cannot live without reading.
A dyslexic woman who learned to read anew after emigrating, a boy who never blinked while reading because his severe distractibility made reading difficult, a man who hallucinated a book at the moment of his death…
As their stories show, where reading has disappeared, a desire for reading remains.
"People Who Can't Read" is a story about learning to read or, conversely, struggling to stop reading, losing the ability to read, pursuing unique reading methods, finding solutions to read again, and adjusting to life after reading.
In today's age of short-form and superficial reading, are we truly forgetting how to read? According to this book, the answer is no.
Even at this very moment, someone is trying to read it again.
The common message conveyed by all the examples in the book is that reading is indescribably important.
In our own way
Keep reading, keep living, keep moving forward
Why should we listen to the stories of those who can't read? Because understanding different reading styles allows us to reflect on the nature of reading in ways previously unimaginable.
People who cannot read struggle to remain 'readers' through alternative methods such as rereading, rewriting, rereading, and even simply holding a book.
Those who cannot read know best the meaning and value of reading.
The brain is not monolithic but diverse, and so is the human mind.
There is no such thing as a 'real reader' or 'real reading'.
There are just countless readers, each reading in their own way.
“I have to read.
“Most of my life is reading.”
_ Oliver Sacks
Reading impacts every aspect of our lives.
Reading styles are as diverse as there are readers, and reading is more than just an activity for individuals.
Even in an age when the world, and even readers themselves, doubt the value of “reading,” “readers must press forward to the end” (p. 285).
Blending neurodiversity, disability studies, medical humanities, philosophy, and brain science, this captivating book will completely transform your perspective on reading and, moreover, offers a strange yet delightful encouragement to all the "non-readers" of our time.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: May 29, 2024
- Page count, weight, size: 408 pages | 564g | 145*215*25mm
- ISBN13: 9791140709977
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