Friday, September 05, 2008

How to Make a Book Seem Longer Than it Is

I have never before read an autobiography with double line spacing. It has taken me precisely six minutes to read the first 24 pages of Carol Thatcher's new book. The book is 306 pages long. With any normal book design I reckon it would be half that length.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's the saying? Be grateful for small mercies?

FonyBlair said...

Are you sure it's not a picture book? She isn't the sharpest tool in the box after all!

To be fair she does love the sound of her own voice so I would assume it's a case of using ten words where one would do!

labourparty said...

Count your blessings.

Anonymous said...

The idea is to read between the lines!!!!!
Honestly Mr. Dale, have you never heard the expression 'reading between the lines'?

Alan Douglas said...

You do have a weird choice in reading matter ! All those books most likely to be left on a train ...

Alan Douglas

Anonymous said...

How to Make a Book Seem Longer Than It Is.
Get Jeffrey Archer or John Prescott to write it.

Anonymous said...

If you returned from double to single line spacing the book would halve in size.

Really?

Word verification: ooyes

Anonymous said...

You're not with it, Iain. This is the new "interactive" style of autobiography, rather like video games which let you influence the final outcome. The blank spaces are for you to fill in your own thoughts, whereupon events later in the book will alter accordingly. With the right input, you can make Carol Thatcher morph into an Argentinian national hero, while Sir Mark gets to be President of Equatorial Guinea. Anything is possible.

Anonymous said...

Now you know what it's like having my reading speed of 900wpm.

I need to take 2 average size paperbacks per day of holiday if I'm not to run out before the end. I read Hannibal Rising in 4 hours. It's a complete bastard I tell you.

Chris Paul said...

Pithy then. Shame they didn't save the paper.