Author Relearns 19th-Century Classics With 100-Novel Challenge as Screens Erode Deep Reading
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 2
Author Relearns 19th-Century Classics With 100-Novel Challenge as Screens Erode Deep Reading
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 2
Summary
A 32-book gap on the Guardian’s 100 best novels list pushed the author back to classics, but attempts at Sterne, Stoker and Dickens quickly exposed lost concentration and difficulty sustaining long-form reading.
Research and academics cited in the piece link that struggle to screen habits: Chartbeat says one in three readers spend under 15 seconds on an article, while constant digital reading fosters skimming, attention switching and text fatigue.
Scholars said classics now feel harder because readers are out of practice with long sentences, dense syntax and older contexts, especially after workdays dominated by emails, messages and other screen-based tasks.
To rebuild the habit, the author adopted practical fixes: reading Dickens a few chapters at a time, choosing annotated editions, considering shorter or more recent classics, and using audiobooks to ease re-entry.
That slow, structured approach helped restore enjoyment of Our Mutual Friend, supporting the article’s broader argument that deep reading can be relearned even if modern life has weakened it.