Reading Backwards

Perhaps it is because of my natural proclivity to look for other ways to accomplish rather obvious tasks, or perhaps I just like being difficult, no matter the wherefore, I have lately found that reading backwards is not only enjoyable, but preferable.  This does not work with novels, of course, but it works wonderfully for guides and reference books.  When I read through The Pocket Muse, I used two book marks, one indicating where I was in going from the beginning and one indicating where I was in reading segment by segment backwards from the end.  When I met at the middle, I was finished.  In reading Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones I read the foreword and the introduction, wherein Goldberg indicated that the book could be read in any order desired since each chapter is written as completely as possible, and then proceeded to skip merrily along to the epilogue.  I am a third in from the end now.

Earlier today I analyzed exactly why this reverse reading appeals to me and concluded that it all comes down to the bookmark.  When it is close to the end (or the beginning as the case may be) it makes it seem as if you are almost done with the book, and when it is near the beginning (or the end, you get it, I'm sure) it looks as if you're starting nice and fresh.  In the end it is nothing more than a mind trick that has, thus far, helped me to push forward (backward) with little heed to the logistics.  Something that I've picked up from reading these texts is that it is good to alter routine once in a while, find a new perspective, and shake things up and in reading backwards I am putting theory into practice in a small and tangible way.  In high school we were encouraged to edit for spelling by reading our own essays backwards thereby removing the context of each sentence and leaving the word naked and obvious in its errors.  Walking backwards works a completely different set of muscles, checking off the last item on a to-do list can make everything else seem more manageable, and starting a story at the end can free up a writer in ways they never imagined.