Is it possible to use threads to speed up file reading?

Question

I want to read a file as fast as possible (40k lines) [Edit : the rest is obsolete].

Edit: Andres Jaan Tack suggested a solution based on one thread per file, and I

Answer 1

Yes, it's a waste of time. At very best you'll end up with about the same performance. At worst, it might hurt performance from the disk seeking to different parts of the file instead of reading through it consecutively.