Use Emacs to read English classic books efficiently

Any particular reason why you're using w3m inside emacs instead of eww?

Or nov.el, for that matter.

> Classic books is difficult to read because they have ... **words** Wordless graphic novels are easier on one's head. Likewise video. (Just kidding. Dictionary etc. lookup aids can no doubt be quite helpful.)

If you have the neuroplasticity, seriously consider _not_ looking up the words. That way you get a chance to figure out the meaning yourself, which helps you actually remember the word (and thereby learn the language). This was how I learned big words in English and I am grateful to my parents for it.

I am learning Japanese. There is amazing extension for Chrome and Firefox called Yomichan that translates the word that ones overs on. I wrote a similar function for emacs: you highlight the word, and the translation (found using a command line tool) is overlayed as a hint that disappears after few seconds, and stays in the status bar until you press another key. It is also sent to a buffer for safekeeping, if you so desire.

I set up w3m ages ago. Too lazy to switch