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How to Read a Book (A Touchstone Book) (Paperback) (平装)
by Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren
| Category:
Non-fiction, Reading |
| Market price: ¥ 178.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested" (Francis Bacon). This is one of those books. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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The New Yorker (MSL quote), USA
<2007-07-04 00:00>
It shows concretely how the serious work of proper reading may be accomplished and how much it may yield in the way of instruction and delight.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-07-04 00:00>
1.1 Résumé of the book
"How to Read a Book: the classic guide to intelligent reading", is a practical guide for self-improvement that teach us the rules of reading any material, but especially analytical writing. They can be applied to reading the Great Books (primary knowledge) for understanding and pleasure but mainly to learn by reading the Great Books of the Western World.
1.2 The different types of reading
* Reading for information
We have gained more facts but we have learned nothing.
This method is used to read newspapers, magazines or anything that we understand totally by reading it once.
* Reading for learning (for understanding more)
Reading to understand more is to close the gap between the superiority of the author and the reader by learning through communication with the author.
* Reading for enjoyment
This type of reading is the most common, as it is used to read fiction and other books for pleasure.
1.3 The three different reading levels
* Level one - Elementary reading
The first level covers the basic reading skills we learn in the first years of school; we recognize words but do not necessarily understand them.
* Level two - Inspectional reading (preparation for Analytical and Syntopical reading)
The level two skills are based on two steps named skimming (or pre-reading) and superficial reading.
The different steps of skimming, which should take at least one hour for a book, are:
o Look at the title and preface
o Study the table of contents and understand the structure of the book
o Check the index (to learn the most important words and where the important paragraphs are)
o Read the publisher's blurb
o Look now at the main chapters (or the summaries) and read them carefully
o Finally turn the pages and dip in here and there, reading some paragraphs or some pages in sequence
The step of superficial reading is:
o Read a difficult book through without stopping to read footnotes, comments and references. Do not even consult a dictionary (except for a brand new word that seems very important for the author) or encyclopedia
* Level three - analytical reading (how to read a whole book well)
Analytical reading is defined by Adler himself as: "With nothing else but the power of your mind, you operate on the symbols before you in such a way that you gradually lift yourself from the state of understanding less to one of understanding more."
Analytical reading is the method, which is explained in detail. For Adler, it is the most important level for learning by reading, especially by reading the Great Books.
Analytical reading is split into three stages.
Stage 1 or the first reading (finding out what the book is about, based on structural rules)
o Pigeonholing a book
* Classify the book
o X-raying the book
* State what the whole book is about
* Enumerate its major parts in their order and relation and outline those parts
* Define the problems the author has tried to solve
Stage 2 or second reading (rules of interpreting)
o Coming to terms with an author
* Come to terms in interpreting the key words
o Determining an author's message
* Grasp the author's leading propositions by dealing with his/her important sentences
* Know the author's arguments by finding them or constructing them out of sequences of sentences (stated in your own words)
* Determine which of the problems the author has solved, and which he had failed to solve or ignored
Stage 3 or third reading (rules for criticizing)
o Answer to the author based on the rules of intellectual etiquette
* Do not say `I agree, disagree or suspend my judgment' until you can say `I understand'
* Do not disagree disputatiously or contentiously
* Base your critical judgment on knowledge and not on personal opinion, and give reasons
o Show how the author is uninformed, misinformed, illogical or his analysis is incomplete
Important note: use relevant experience, commentaries or reference books as aids to reading.
* Level four - Syntoptical Reading (based on inspectional and analytical reading - how to read several books on the same subject)
The different stages of syntopical reading are:
* Preparations or first reading
1. Find the sense of the subject to reduce the amount of material
2. Inspect all the material to have a clear idea of the subject
* Syntopical Reading or second reading
1. Find the relevant paragraph
2. Build a set of terms that help you to understand all the different authors
3. Clarify the questions to which all the authors give an answer ("Look to all sides but take no sides").
4. Define the answers (join and sort the different and perhaps controversial answers or views on the subject)
5. Analyze the discussion to shine maximum light on the subject
How the different views are ordered (from more general to less general) is the key point of the last step. Support the view or answers by citation of the authors
1.4 The keys questions to answer
* What is the book about as a whole?
The author suggests the reader should discover the leading theme of the book and how it is ordered in sub-themes.
* What is being said in detail and how?
Here we will have to discover the author's main propositions, arguments and ideas.
* Is it true (in whole or in part)?
Understand the book first, then give your opinion
* What of it?
We must ask about the significance of the book, for the author and for us.
Inspectional reading will solve the first two questions...
Analytical reading will not have been completed until all four questions have been answered.
The last question is the most important one in syntopical reading.
2 Key lessons from "How to Read a Book"
* Preparations
1. Find the main sense of the subject to reduce the amount of material
2. Inspect all the material to have a clear idea of the subject
* Key lessons
1. Find the relevant arguments and propositions
2. Build a common platform for communication
3. Get the questions clear, so everybody can give an answer
4. Define the answers
5. Analyze the discussion to shed maximum light on the subject
The most important step is to analyze the different opinions and to be able to defend them. If a solution cannot be found, the analysis will clarify the problem, so someone can solve it later on (see sample of the author on progress).
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Paul Dolinsky (MSL quote), USA
<2007-07-04 00:00>
I read this book in HS, many years ago, having discovered it on my own. It was very helpful. It made me realize that it was OK to re-read texts,and that I wasn't mentally slow, if I didn't get all the meaning on my first reading. It gave me an overview of reading, and was much superior to what I was getting in HS English classes, which focused only on grammar.
I recommend this book to people, in particular, who want to improve their reading comprehension, and writing skills. Let Dr. Adler be your tutor. He was the editor of the Encyclopedia Brittanica, and the editor of the Great Books, pub by the U. of Chicago. He wrote during a time when education itself was valued, not just education to pass tests or get a good job. This book could help you build a solid foundation in reading comprehension.
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Lee Say Keng (MSL quote), Singapore
<2007-07-04 00:00>
Since my college days, reading has been my life-long passion. It will continue to be that way. Currently, I am also a prolific & voracious reader. Amazon, followed by Alibris & Abebooks, plus Kinokuniya Bookweb, are currently my active sources of books.
Towards the end of 1991, as part of my journey through mid-life transition, I actually established a small retail store to deal exclusively in learning, thinking & creativity books & other resources, in conjunction with the formation of my own strategy consulting business. Since then (& till mid-2004 when I decided to withdraw from all retail operations), the store gave me abundant access to a lot of great books & other useful resources. At the same time, it fueled & bankrolled my relentless reading pursuits.
One of the first few books I have read & eventually sold in my own store was 'How to Read a Book' by Mortimer Adler.
It was also the first book that set the ball rolling in my continuing search for better understanding of the reading faster/better comprehension equation. This book introduced me to the four specific levels of reading & reading comprehension, each requiring a specific set of reading strategies:
- elementary reading;
- inspectional reading;
- analytical reading;
- syntopical reading;
In addition, for more effective performance in the academic environment, there are subject-specific reading strategies to follow. All these reading strategies are systematically covered by the authors.
The most productive personal learning experiences I got out of this wonderful book are the syntopical reading techniques, which allow me to digest several books in the same genre simultaneously. I absolutely love syntopical reading!
Hence, I have no hesitation at all in considering Mortimer Adler's book, despite the fact that it was originally published in the 1940s, the best & unparalleled in the genre. I strongly recommend this book to anyone, who wants to read faster & comprehend better, to get hold of & read this book in the first instance.
During the ensuing years, I came across a few other books which have influenced & helped in expanding my personal repertoire of high-performance reading skills & techniques:
- Super Reading Secrets, by Howard Berg;
- Breakthrough Rapid Reading, by Peter Kump;
- PhotoReading, by Paul Scheele;
I will review each of them separately & share with readers what I have learned specifically.
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J_Onyx (MSL quote), USA
<2007-07-04 00:00>
A young Army Officer who operated a tiny used book store just outside Fort Hood (Texas) handed me this book when I was waiting to be discharged from the army. What more can you say for a book than: 'it changed the course of my life'? It did.
How many intellectually oriented books remain in print for sixty years? Not many. "How to Read a Book" insured I would not be restricted to the shallow fare our University's spoon out and I learned not give up on reading the Western Canon, which most university students today do. They flee from the classics, after one course. I did not. I knew something my teachers did not tell me. I knew from "How to Read a Book": 1) do not get side tracked looking up strange words or reading the commentary on the bottom of the pages. Do that and know nothing from the first reading, except frustration. Just read the story, treatise of book through. You will be surprised how much you comprehend; 2) No one masters a classic from one reading. For a decent grasp, figure on three readings; 3) The only books truly worth reading are books that are over your head.
"How to Read..." is not what many people conclude from the title. It is not a 'how to read manual.' It is a how to approach and comprehend different kinds of books. Adler's primary aim is to introduce people to learning by reading the Western Canon (The Great Books), which academics have all but expelled from school. "How to Read" could have been titled 'What Your Teachers Forgot to Teach You' or 'What Your Teachers Could Not Teach You. Adler points out (he wrote his book in the 1940s, concerned at how gullible people were to war propaganda) that few professors know how to read a book. Several years later, an Adler collegue published a journal article titled: "How to Read an Essay"
"How To Read..." gave me confidence to believe what I thought I discovered when I read academic reviews. It seemed that half the reviewers did not bother to read the book they "reviewed" and others seemed to criticize the book that was not written (Adler warns readers about this). I also found true Adler's advice that many students are turned off forever to writers such as Shakespeare because their teacher did not tell them to not worry about mastering a play or Great Book on first reading. Many students walk away mistakenenly conviced some have what it takes to read great books, others do not. (Today, many higher mathematics teachers convey to students that one either does or does not have what it takes to master mathematics. Like any other subject, the average person can master it. Mathematics is a language, a language smaller & more consistent than English. Genius just learns fast and can go further.) Just read. Do not get side tracked reading annotations, lengthy introductions, expert notes, or looking up words. Just read the story or essay. You will be surprised by what you do understand by the time you finish the work.
Adler teaches you that the book that is most worth reading is the book that is over your head. You must understand that a great book must be read at least three times. Just read the story the first time. If you wish, look up words and read commentary and notes the second or third time. Each time you read a Great Book you get more out of it. Annotations, commentaries, teachers rob you of the greatist gift of a great book, self-discovery.
Before you decide not to buy "How to Read a Book" pick up a copy and look it over. All libraries have a copy. It is a classic. If you are interesting in learning, you will want your own copy! |
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George Latimer (MSL quote), USA
<2007-07-04 00:00>
Upon looking at the title, "How to Read a Book", the educated reader might think this book is not for them. They would be dead wrong.
This book teaches the reader "how to be a demanding reader". Through an ingenious system, it shows how to quickly find the core arguments of a book, *before reading it*, thereby getting the most from the text.
This book is invaluable for students doing research, as its system teaches how to find common questions (threads) across books. It reveals methods of finding the core questions of a subject matter. Using this method will help one become a better writer as well.
I give it 5/5 stars. Highly recommended reference tool for students, teachers, and the general public. The cover of the book is correct; it is "The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading".
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Henry Cate (MSL quote), USA
<2007-07-04 00:00>
This is a great book. This book can make a big improvement in how effective you are in reading. It mostly focuses on how to master a book. It talks about various levels of reading, but mainly the book is trying to help the reader to completely understand and own a book after reading it.
A reader or listener is like a catcher in a baseball game, it takes both the effort of the pitcher (author) and the effort of the catcher (reader) to transmit an idea. In reading only in part, only part of the idea may be caught.
The goals of reading: reading for information, reading for understanding. To gain understanding you have to work on the book. Reading for understanding is aided discovery.
The authors point how that there are different levels of reading:
1) Basic reading (See Spot run)
2) Reading with a limit on time, systematic skimming.
3) Reading for maximum understanding, or unlimited time
4) Reading several books, synoptically, this is the ability to do research from several books.
So in reading a book you need to decide what it is you want out of the book. For example you may decided after skimming the book that you are not interested in reading any more. "HOW TO READ A BOOK" gives tips on making that decision, and then how to do a good job of reading at a given level.
The authors give tips on how to skim a book, to check the title page, the table of contents, look through the index, and read the publishers jacket. At some point along the way you may decide you are no longer interested in the book. Next you figure out which chapters are important to the book, read them, and read the summary arguments of the book.
Much of the book is on the third level, where you try to own or master a book, so but the time you are done with the book you have increased your understanding of a topic.
The essence of active reading, trying to answer four basic questions:
1) What is the Book about as a whole?
2) What is being said in detail, and how?
3) Is the Book true, in whole or in part?
4) What of it? What does it mean to me?
There are several suggestions on how to mark up a book, so that when you come back to it later you can quickly remember the key points, and use it as a reference book. And marking up the book helps you to process the material at a deeper level.
This is well worth reading, and reading several times, until you own the book.
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R. Tiedemann (MSL quote), USA
<2007-07-04 00:00>
As a book reviewer for the past 20 years, with hundreds of reviews in print and electronic media, I think I know a little about reading books. I was fascinated to find that Adler and Van Doren have, in HOW TO READ A BOOK, clearly articulated what I had discovered on my own.
Most people read at an elementary level. Common print media - newspapers, magazines - are geared to this first level, that of eighth or ninth grade. Reading at this level is simple and unsophisticated. It is a fairly simple procedure. As someone once said, "You just pick up a book and look at every word until you've seen them all."
The second level of reading is inspectional. Two steps are performed simultaneously. The reader skims, or pre-reads, by studying the title page, preface, table of contents, index, dust jacket and a chapter or two. He thumbs through the book, reading a bit here and there. Then he reads the entire book superficially without bothering whether he understands it or not. I might argue that if you don't understand what you're reading, you're not reading at all. However, this is the kind of reading I do when I'm selecting a book to review. It is just the beginning.
Adler and Van Doren argue that this kind of superficial reading can prepare a reader for enjoying more difficult works. "The tremendous pleasure that can come from reading Shakespeare, for example, was spoiled for generations of high school students who were forced to go through 'Julius Caesar,''As You Like It,' or 'Hamlet' scene by scene, looking up all the strange words in a glossary and studying all the footnotes," write the authors. "As a result, the never read a Shakespeare play. By the time they reached the end, they had forgotten the beginning and lost sight of the whole...They should have been encouraged to read the play at one sitting and discuss what they got out of that first quick reading. Only then would they have been ready to study the play carefully and closely because then they would have understood enough of it to learn more."
The book describes how to be an active reader. A clue for the average reader: Active readers don't go to sleep over books. The third level of reading is analytical reading, which is what book reviewers do. The reader classifies the book, reads it carefully, determines the author's message and evaluates how well it's presented and compares it to comparable works.
Adler and Van Doren cover subjects like classifying books, x-raying them, determining the author's message, how to criticize a book fairly, and the role of relevant experience in reading. They then go on to describe the different approaches to various kinds of reading - practical books, imaginative literature, plays, stories, poems, history, science, mathematics, social sciences, and philosophy.
The highest level of reading, synoptical reading, is the reading of several books on a particular subject. They describe how to select a bibliography (which I found truly useful), how to narrow the subject, how to inspect the material. The five steps of synoptical reading are included in this chapter.
Reading is a search for truth, and truth can be found only through thoughtful comparison and discussion. "The truth then, insofar as it can be found - the solution to the problem, insofar as that is available to us - consists rather in the ordered discussion itself than in any set of propositions or assertions about it...thus, in order to present this truth to our minds - and to the minds of others - we have to do more than merely ask and answer the questions. We have to ask them in a certain order, and be able to defend that order."
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Joel Maners (MSL quote), USA
<2007-07-04 00:00>
I know that the title of this review may seem over the top but this little work has in fact changed my life. A friend of mine recommended this book during my first year of college. I had been struggling through my literature and history classes, bogged down with reading. In the book Mr. Adler taught me what it means to really read and listen and to extract meaning from a work. I have applied my reading skills not only to books but also my relationships. My GPA rose a full point after reading this and my critical listening skills were greatly enhanced. The book may seem a bit dry at first but it is well worth reading. Every high school student should have a copy.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-07-04 00:00>
Now in my last year of law school, I found myself extremely angry upon completing this book. How invaluable this book would have been if I had read it before reading the hundreds of books that were assigned to me in high school, college, and law school. Why didn't anybody tell me about this marvelous gem? But the good news is that I have my entire life ahead of me, and I will begin putting this book to use right away.
Anybody who hasn't bought this book yet, stop reading and buy it now!
Anybody who knows somebody about to enter high school, college, or graduate school, or who is serious about education and the pursuit of knowledge in general, buy this book for them NOW and they will be forever grateful!
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1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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