After reading Karl Young's "Notation and the Art of Reading," I've been able to see how much reading has evolved into the.. well, not-reading that we tend to do these days. In the end, Young talks about today's way of reading, or the contemporary way.. and he mentions that it's more of a speed-reading and that it's not about the entertainment anymore. We tend to read just to get the information we need rather than the entertainment we want. But before that, Young explains the ways of reading, the art of reading throughout different centuries.. and that it wasn't just about getting it done ASAP.

The earliest form of notation Young mentions is mnemonic, which Young says derived from Mexico in 1500. It put colors, icons, lines etc. together to create something that was simply unforgettable. It wasn’t about making them remember things, but rather to make them so different, and stand out so much, that the readers couldn’t forget what they saw or read.

Next is the beautiful art of calligraphy, which is originally Chinese. It really gives the artist the ability to expand on their spontaneity because the specific brush that was/is used requires the artist to work quickly. They have to plan out what they will say ahead of time.. And if not, then it’s right on the spot. As a reader, people would relate the calligraphy writings to other stories they have within their memory, and then get more out of the current reading.

Finally, Young mentions the art of printing as a way of notation, which came from England. It’s about how the artist puts the thoughts and words onto paper, in a way that a reader can get more from it. Poetry lines are designed to be shorter or longer, with indents or without. The reader can take the poetry and relate them to patterns within their lives, in a way to get more from it.

The most interesting point that Young made though, was the relation of sound, sight and speech when it comes to reading, and how there are inner sounds, sights and speeches while reading any piece of art.
We may be silent, speed-readers in this generation, but we still have the connection of these three. Though we physically are not hearing the story being told, there is a voice that reads it inside our head as we see the words, designs, print, etc.. and it all comes together to become a piece of art that is meaningful and unforgettable to us.