Customer Reviews
Higher literacy - By: Kurt Messick, 29 Dec 2005 
Imagine me - there I was, for decades of my life, thinking I knew how to read a book. I'd advanced through elementary school & prep, into college & finally to graduate school when I discovered, to my horror, that Iin fact did not know how to read! Perhaps that helps to explain my affinity to literacy programmes, with whom I will begin working again come this Wednesday.
But no, perhaps I overstate the situation. What I actually mean to say is that it was not until my graduate school days that I happened across the most excellent work How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading, by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren. This staple had somehow eluded me; familiar as I was with both Adler & Van Doren, I had never encountered this text.
This book was writtenin 1940, as World War II was beginning & the Great Depression ending; it was revisedin the 60s & againin 70s, with the assistance of Charles Van Doren, another person who had had some difficult dealings with Columbia, due to his involvementin the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. Van Doren moved away from the East Coast & landedin Chicago, near Adler, at Britannica, also again near Adler, & has the kind of intellect & unconventional circumstance that Adler admired. Adler of course had his own unique academic career, failing to get an undergraduate degree due to a physical education requirement that went unmet.
The book itself is divided into four main sections with two sizeable appendices.
The Dimensions of Reading
In this section, the authors look as types of reading & reading levels. They look at basic goals for reading, & discuss different types of learning. While they do not get into the theoretical complexities of learning styles as intricately as more recent educational theorists, they do make interesting & insightful distinctions between learning by instruction & learning by discovery.
This section is,in fact, full of rules. Rules for notetaking, annotating (highlighting, underlining, summarising, etc.), skimming, comprehending, etc. are all presentedin an almost overwhelming sequence. There is so much to remember while reading (and I remember how smug I felt at having discovered many, if not most, of the rules on my own). But the authors beg for the rules to be consistently applied so that they merge together to become simple habit. They use the analogy of learning to ski - the rules are important, eachin & of itself, but successful skiing transcends a mere application of rules until they become a natural impulse. So it is with reading.
Analytical Reading
This is crucial for true benefit & comprehension of any book. The authors talk about analysisin stages:
o Pigeonholing a book
o X-raying a book
o Coming to terms with an author
o Determining an author's message
o Criticising a book fairly
o Agreeing or disagreeing with an author
o Aids to reading
Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter
In this section, the authors look at critical differences between different styles of books. It is obvious to even the inexperienced reader that reading a technical manual is vastly different from reading plays, poems, or history texts. Even the most educated of people occasionally stumble when confronted with high-level material from outside fields, such as asking the social scientist to deal with mathematical & scientific texts, or asking the physicist to deal with history & psychology treatises. One might argue about their divisions, but within the chapters they cover a very broad area.
The Ultimate Goals of Reading
Why does anyone readin the first place? Here the authors talk about developing beyond individual books into fields of learning, introducing ideas of synoptic reading & understanding the importance for doing so. Again charting rules of engagement for multiple texts, the authors discuss the importance of reading for understanding & deeper comprehension.
* * *
The first appendix consists of a lengthy list of the great books identified by Adler, modified over time by the various people involvedin great books curriculum development. This is an admittedly Western-dominated list.
The list is certainly a long one. There are 137 authors, often with several works attached, recommendedin this list. One can find this listin physical formin the Great Books series that is a companion to the Britannica. Itself only recently updated & revised, it consists of several linear feet of bookshelves, & even their recommended 10-year plan is ambition & doesn't cover the entirety of the series. The list is presented (as the book set is organized)in chronological order; this is not the best orderin which to read the works.
The second appendix is actually a series of reading exercises for self-examination or group consideration. These are designed to be used for different levels of readers & different intentions. The authors tackle the question of arbitrary & cultural biasin manners of testing, coming to the pragmatic conclusion that, so long as academic & society advancement is tied to these kinds of testing & evaluations, it makes sense to learn how to do them, & however biased they may bein form or content, they still do provide a good measure, if not the best possible measure, for reading comprehension & retention.
One can tell that one's book has been successful when parody versions begin to appear. The year after the first edition of How to Read a Book appeared, there was the spoof How to Read Two Books; shortly thereafter there was a serious monograph by a Professor I.A. Richards entitled How to Read a Page.
Happy reading!
A Prequel to all books - By: Layla, 20 Dec 2005 This book is a must read for anyone who is serious about his/her reading. The authors offer some perceptive tips, suggestions & ideas that are aimed at helping the average person imporve his/her reading skill. This is a book for graduate students who need the best 'how to' techniques to help them get the most out of their reading. This is also a book for the serious reader who is not content with turning page after page - going through the mechanical motions of reading. This is a book for anyone who believes that reading a book is a small life-changing exercise.
The authors begin by distinguishing between 4 levels of reading & provide techniques & examples for each level. What I found to be especially interesting are the chapters on how to read the different subjects: The authors introduce a single methodolgy for effective reading & then proceed to customize it for reading books on the sciences, philosophy, literature, fiction, etc.
Even if you consider yourself an effective reader, you'll be surprised at some of the insights that you will receive from this book. This is an excellent book, well written & well researched & it should be on every reader's shelf.
Brilliant. - By: , 26 Jun 1999 This book is one of the best books I have read, & it has exerted immense influence on me. I now read actively -- I mean, as much as possible -- & can feel how much more I am gaining from reading. The book has shown me the way to life-long learning.
This Book Has Changed The Way I Read - By: , 04 Jun 1999 Frankly, though I have been a book reader for many years, I can say that I have always been reading the "wrong kinds" of books until I read this book. It has helped me to widen my scopein readings as well as expanding my mind! It is a must have & more important a must read book. Highly Recommended. It will forever change the way you read & your reading life will never be the same again.
A MUST share and MUST have resource - By: , 19 Apr 1999 I workin the computer field & constantly need to keep up with the latest technology by reading technical manuals & periodicals. How to Read a Book has given me a sound approach & blueprint to follow as I read these technical documents.
This book is truly a MUST have for everyone of all disciplines.
