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The Conversation
The Conversation
Johanna Harris, Associate Professor, Literature, Western Civilisation Program, Australian Catholic University

How to read the classics in an age of distraction – and 3 short books to get you going

Over the past 15 years, I have witnessed university students’ shrinking patience for reading – especially for reading “long” books. Increasingly, students also opt for audiobooks. While speeding up the reading experience, these fundamentally change what is noticed.

The neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf suggests many students no longer have the “cognitive patience” to read long books due to the complexities of thought and sustained attention required.

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