diff --git a/src/components-object.tsx b/src/components-object.tsx
index 47deda5..31119a1 100644
--- a/src/components-object.tsx
+++ b/src/components-object.tsx
@@ -596,7 +596,9 @@ export const ObjectViewer: FC<ObjectViewerProps> = ({
       )}
 
       <div className="grid gap-5 lg:grid-cols-[1fr_260px]">
-        <div className="min-w-0 rounded-xl border border-border bg-card p-4">
+        {/* Opaque reading surface: long-form text sits calm, not over the theme's
+            background wash. The side panels stay glass. */}
+        <div className="min-w-0 rounded-xl border border-border bg-background p-4 sm:p-6">
           {outline.extracted_chars && outline.extracted_chars > 0 ? (
             <TextReader outline={outline} readText={readText} highlight={highlight} activeSection={activeSection} />
           ) : (