file reading by record separator (not line by line)

Dear all,
I would like to read a really huge file that looks like this:

name1....
line_11
line_12
line_13
....
name2 ...
line_21
line_22
....
etc

where line_ij is just a free form text on that line.

how can i read file so that every time i do a "read()" i get exactly
one record
up to the next ">"

many thanks
Lee

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