Re Films/books speed

[James Williams]

ManataRay claimed that 

"The pace of the reading might be dictated by the reader i.e.
s/he might decide to read three lines then sleep but the pace
of the novel is written by the author".

To which Patrick S. replies 

"The slowness i was talking about is the actual time it takes
to read or see a scene. Suppose we have a passage in a book
that is quite dense and has a rather weird narrative, this
means that the reader will probably read it quite slow. But he
can, if he wishes, or is used to these kind of passages,
read it quickly".

Patrick them goes onto note, the finite playing time of a film.

However both views are flawed in their concept of time. Linear time
is a concept which has no bearing upon an individuals definition of
speed i.e. a film or book being fast or slow. Terms such as fast and
slow are drawn from the individuals own concept of time, the feeling
of time elapsed (a some what Proustian concept). Even in reading books
such as GR or Ulysses by Joyce the linear concept of time maybe long
i.e. the actual reading speed of the book is slow but the readers speed maybe
fast. This is because the reader is following the old adage that 
'time flies when you having fun'. 

This idea is not so easy when converted to films but the basic concept
applies. Unlike books the film viewer has only a limited viewing time (not
taking into account the use of video or multiple trips to the cinema) however
to claim that this is the end of the viewer contemplation of what he/she has
seen is incorrect. I for one have spent many days contemplating what happened
in a film, stretching the viewing time as well as the concept of time needed to 
understand the film. The speed of a book/film is dependent upon the enjoyment 
derived by the reader not by the skills of the author. A good book stretches the
time taken to understand, because it is stretching the reader, while at the same
time shortening the time the the reader feels he/she is spending reading.  

Jim W.