The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading - How to Read a Book

the educational system in brazilian schools have drifted perhaps irremediably from the liberal arts. the situation is so bad, we ended up not far from african countries at civil war in international test scores. by
appealing to the foundations of the intelectual thinking, this book shows the way to the higher strata.

I bought this book to help me comprehend technical books (programming books), but after reading it i found out this book wasn't for me. The author does a good job on structuring the different levels of reading and breaking down how to read different types of books, but i had a hard time understanding the author in some chapters, I often was wondering what the author trying to convey. To sum it up this book didn't help me with my reading comprehension.

This book was not what I thought! And it’s huge!! I don’t recommend it if you are hoping to learn how to read more quickly and learn more as you read quickly. This book was recommended by another author and I didn’t like it. And I laughed because it’s 400 pages of small words! I needed a course in quick reading to have time to thoroughly read this book. I think it just wasn’t what I had expected!

This book was originally written in 1940 and then updated about 30 years later in the 1970s. The book was written by a college professor, and it reads as such. It is a hard read (it was assigned to a 14 year old and I read it also as it was dense reading). The main problem with the book is that it takes simple ideas and elaborates on them with analogies and other stories that detract from the information that is imparted. It is a very slow read, as the pertinent information is buried inside sections. My child was to annotate the book, and we would find that the main point was in the middle of chapters. The writer bounces around in some sections-- talking about the reasons for reading, bouncing to aided versus unaided discovery, listing the types of 4 stages of reading, and dividing some of the stages into many other steps. Throw in some sport analogies (which many students will not follow) and some long explanations, and you have a book that takes straight forward instructions and unnecessarily complicates them. This book could have effectively imparted its information in 1/3 the pages, if the author had followed his own instructions and applied them to writing. We spent 3 weeks struggling through this book, simply because of the writing style. It was overly dense and rambling, as well as not being well organized to follow the material easily.

it may sound pompous, but if you haven't spent a good 15+ hours with this book, you do not know how to fully digest, think, learn, and read. I am currently working on the book. it is enlightening. the title was a horrible marketing scheme, but maybe the author was not so worried about this. if you read for more than an average of 10 minutes a day, if you read any books at all, this is the book to read. I'm sorry, but your own damn college professors need to read this. In fact, I have found no other even closely imitable work. It is head and shoulders above. If you question your profs. There is good reason to. It is a tragedy that this book is not taught in freshman year in college, or highschool... in fact, all of highschool lit. should just teach this work alone. One cannot accurately read without it. I know i sound over the top, and, it is just a matter of opinion that you won't be able to read like a champ w/o this, however, i stand by this firmly. If you wonder why you can't think truly creatively, if you wonder how others spend a lifetime reading, then this is worth skimming. If you are truly motivated to read this book, don't be taken a back by its demands. It is exhaustive. It will take a lot of time to consume and understand. However, that process will add to all your reading latter to it.

The only problems with the book are with it's structure and lack of prefacing its inclination towards reading expository works. It doesn't address the difference of books early enough in my own opinion. For one may be a literature reader before reading and take his rules towards expository works towards lit. and be confused in the end.

If you read it, apply his own damn rules of reading to his own book, otherwise you will short change yourself. i will say again, it is exhausting, but your mind will grow.

It will change your mind on intelligence being mostly nature, for, nuture definatly has a factor.

I'd give it 4.5 if i could, because it is not a 'perfect' book for reasons mentioned above. however, it deserves five just as well.

I bought this book because - as someone who reads a fair bit but would like to get more out of the pursuit - its title was irresistible. I was disappointed because (i) it is old (first edition was decades ago), (ii) its feels like you are being lectured to by a stuffy, self-important English professor, (iii) it is long and pedantic. If someone know of a more entertaining, friendlier book on the same theme, please share.

The book arrived in a timely manner and was undamaged in shipment. It was an older book and I guess the condition was more subjective than I thought. All in all, I am not disappointed because I have the book I wanted.

The author's style of writing Is overly wordy and dry. Some of the most boring reading I have done. It felt almost as if I was reading a technical manual. This is likely a great read for a college student. Then information here is useful.

I do not believe this book is as relevant as it was when it was first published in the 1940's. The book was published in an era when high literature and classical/scholastic source writings were still intellectual staple.

Adler's proposed methods on analytical and syntopical reading are well suited for someone reading books for academic purposes. However, the author's methods are not practical for much of anything else.
The tone the author takes in the book is one of a snobbish literati calling most readers, "bookful blockheads...(and) literate ignoramuses."
I will not completely disparage Adler's work as he does make an astute presentation of the need for more serious reading.
But...with that said, reading, "How to Read a Book" will more than likely kill any joy a person may have of casual reading. In short, my recommendation, only buy this book if you are going to read a lot for school or if you like to read more difficult literature; philosophy, etc.

“A man is known by the books he reads.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Read not to contradict and confuse; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.”
– Francis Bacon

This particular book is a book that helps you think better, shaper, more incisively.

At the behest of the author of Socratic Logic [review here], Peter Kreeft PhD, the following book was recommended. Holding Kreeft’s opinion in high respect – and after doing some research into the book – getting this book seemed to be more than a safe bet. In fact, it was much more than that.

How To Read A Book – The Classic Guide To Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren is a phenomenal book in various ways. Not only does it ‘teach’ the reader how to read different kinds of books – by reading proactively, by rather reactively – but it also provides essential tools for the synthesis of other great – and more meaningful – pieces of literature. However, it also features much more than that.

As a caveat, the authors make the distinction in the fact different type of genres should be read in different ways. To say it another way, poetry, plays or even fiction will be ready drastically different from nonfiction books. This is something that’s not taught to individuals for the most part, and sometimes we miss out because of it.

Adler and Van Doren cover an extensive set of tools for reader’s to learn and implement – if they so choose – in order to maximize one’s understanding of the information held within books. The book features a wide ranging set of suggestions that build on themselves throughout the chapters that help the reader navigate all the way from the basics to the more advanced.

Without a doubt, the authors show the lengths to which proper reading can be taken too, as well as the depth that can be gathered by undertaking their advice. As an avid reader and researcher, the information within the pages of this book have helped me considerably not only in pushing myself as a reader, but in understanding – and even merging – the depth and scope of information that is stated, as well as sifting out deeper implications when information isn’t obvious.

Furthermore, covered within How To Read A Book are topics such as inspectional reading, systematic skimming, problems in comprehension, ‘x-raying’ a book, coming to terms with the author, criticizing a book fairly, reading aids, how to read practical books, how to read imaginative literature, suggestion for reading stories, plays and poems, how to read history, how to read philosophy as well as much, much more.

Particularly of interest to me related to the above point was the topic of syntopical reading, which is what the authors call ‘The Fourth Level Of Learning’.. In laymen terms, syntopical reading is the ability to essentially synthesize information from various sources. Since synthesizing information is a process carried out [or attempted too] on nigh a daily basis by myself, the information for me in this particular section was quite noteworthy. Admittedly, some of it was already being done by me since one learns how to streamline various components of one’s learning when done long enough, but the book still offered more than plenty in this and many other areas.

A book like How To Read A Book should be an integral component in everyone’s education, and that is no overstatement. In an age where cognitive decline of education continues unabated, it’s those that push themselves into the realm of self-teaching or autodidacticism that will breakaway from the pack.

This book should function as a foundational piece in a school curriculum, because, after all, a large part of what individuals learn comes via reading.

All of the suggestions in this book seep into most if not all books [or reading] in some way shape or form. When carried out, this undoubtedly filters into an individuals’ everyday lives proportional to how much its concepts are used. It’s sure helped me in such a fashion. There really isn’t too many books out there that urge the reader to go beyond the conventional baseline understanding of data within books, but this book is certainly one of those precious few.

Appreciatively, the authors also make it a point to strive for a greater education as individuals, to seek to further one’s education beyond the bounds of modern schooling. Mind you, schooling and education are not the same thing, which is an important distinction because what society gets in America nowadays – given that we have strewn away from classical education – is barely a facsimile of schooling, and in no way shape or form the true education of times past. Authors like award winning teacher John Taylor Gatto’s in his landmark Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, Dr. Joseph P Farrell & Gary Lawrence’s Rotten To The Common Core , and Charlotte Iserbyt, who served as the Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, in her The Deliberate Dumbing Down Of America outline the deliberate dumbing down of America quite saliently, and these authors by far are not even the only ones talking about it.

In any case, at the end of the book the authors also thankfully feature a set of the greatest books of all time, and after having read the list it’s hard to disagree. Having read perhaps a dozen or so of them, out of the more-than-one-hundred books recommended, it’s definitely something that’s worth considering.

Furthermore, the authors postulate that there exists specific books which fall into the category of what they call ‘Great books’, such as The Illiad, The Odyssey, Organon, The Republic, Paradise Lost, The Divine Comedy, et al.

The authors also postulate that only 1% of the millions of book out there – if not less – fall within this category of ‘Great Books’. What makes this particular category of great books so unique? That the gems of knowledge contained within these books and growth the reader will attain will not only be extensive, given the depth and immensity of the concepts within the book, but these books will teach you the most about reading and about life. Moreover, regardless of how many times one reads these books, they are so profound and demanding of the reader that one will always learn something from them.

If you appreciate books, reading, classical education, or are striving to demand more from yourself or even plan on building a home-schooling curriculum, GET THIS BOOK! This book really is for everyone. Educated minds have great foundations, and this book helps lay those foundations in an ironclad manner.

Kindest Regards,
Zy Marquiez
TheBreakaway.wordpress.com

Not rating the content but the condition of the book itself. It arrived new HOWEVER there were a number of pages that were still connected to one another AND these pages extended beyond the others. I will have to take a razor blade or scissors and cut them to match the other 200 pages.

This is a book for book lovers, but I say that carefully.

It is a fascination and a challenge to learn from a writer who is more literate—with a more capable intellectual view—than myself.
Allow me to introduce Mortimer Jerome Adler.
Adler was a philosopher, an educator, and, in his time, a popular author. He was comfortable working and writing within the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions. You don’t see much of that today.
This canonical book intends to inspire the reader to do a better job of reading. Adler suggests, without any apparent sense of pessimism, that three readings are required to get the full force of an author’s oeuvre. His expectation is that the competent and enthusiastic reader will grasp the whole and the parts of the author’s presentation—both structural and interpretive readings—and also do a competent critique of the book to judge the author’s successes or failures. Okay, take some deep breaths, in a minute or so you’ll be able to open your eyes and proceed. He suggests that a skilled and experienced reader may well be able to do two of these readings simultaneously…
Adler is unself-consciously critical of education—both public education and college-level education. He says that typical students stop improving their reading skills in the 6th grade. Much of his 1940 critique of pedagogy and teachers sounds remarkably familiar and remarkably relevant in 2017.

I’ve read How To Read A Book once. I think I’ve made a good start.
Read more of my reviews here:
richardsubber.com

This book has some good advice and techniques to study and analyze a book, more specifically an ACADEMIC book. However, you will need a lot of patience to actually get to the good advice. Unfortunately, this book contains pages and pages of verbose, pointless paragraphs, with a pompous, condescending tone that is very off putting. At one point, the authors write that they "hope that the reader has completed an elementary education"!!!! The rambling is constant and a detriment to the purpose of the book.

If you are very, very patient, you will be able to get some good stuff, but you'll have to decide if you really want to spend reading 400 + pages of mostly nonsense metaphors and analogies and attempts at defining words which someone who is serious about reading already knows (seriously come on!).

A lot of the techniques in the book I have already learned by my experience in reading. This book is not worth that much time and money for the very little valuable study techniques it offers.

It’s amazing with all the books I’ve read that I’ve never before read “How To Read A Book” by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren.

This book was originally published in 1940, but there is a reason it has stood the test of time. You may have been reading before, but this book will show you how to really read a book for all it’s worth. The opening paragraph states it well: “This is a book for readers and for those who wish to become readers. Particularly, it is for readers of books. Even more particularly, it is for those whose main purpose in reading books is to gain increased understanding.”

If you read simply to be entertained or to escape reality, don’t waste your time on this book. However, if you read to learn new things, expand your worldview, or increase your understanding, then the science and insight packed into “How To Read A Book” will revolutionize your approach to reading.

This is a challenging read, and a couple of times I almost gave up on getting through all of the information. But I’m glad I persevered!

If you’re ready to read better than before, please spend some time with this classic.

Helpful guide to reading almost any kind of book - including fiction, poetry, science and math, philosophy, social science, history, and other practical books. Perhaps the highest praise I can give it is that I've already been putting its principles into practice (which, as they tell you in later sections, is the only appropriate response to an intelligent reading of a practical book). The authors' writing style is conversational, though on a more intellectual level, and it is chock-full of practical advice, easy to follow steps, and immediately applicable tips for reading more deeply and intentionally. It's definitely a book I will be returning to in the future, especially I do more "syntoptical reading" (e.g., reading through a long list of books for a broad overview of a topic) for future book projects or start reading more in unfamiliar genres like math, poetry, or history.

Side note: if you decide to read this, go ahead and buy a copy rather than borrowing it. You will definitely want to take notes, underline, highlight, or otherwise mark it up!

The best guide and practical book in my reading experience. This is my 3rd reading now, and I think that I will need at least another one until I have exhausted it.

Briefly, this book is not just a discussion on reading, it is a practical guide, and it concerns itself with almost every type of reading and elaborates on them quite well.

It divides reading into 4 sequential levels (Elementary, Inspectional, Analytical, and Syntopical), each one contained in the other, with the last one; Syntopical Reading being more of a cross between the other 3 levels and its own rules. They delve into each in an organized manner, and address the finer points separately without losing the whole.

The authors do not just provide rules, they provide arguments, examples, recommendations and dialogues. Their style is similar to that of the Aristotelian essays and some of the Platonic dialogues in the way they present their arguments. In short, they teach you to read their work while telling you about how to read others'.

What I found very interesting about the authors' style is their speech out of deep knowledge about many important Western works of literature, philosophy, and expository works. They give highly informative examples within the discussion, and provide full teaching and practice examples at the end of the book for those who wish to try (or teach others).

This book doesn't only guide you on how to read, it motivates you to do so, and cures the fears of many readers with regards to seemingly-hard (and repulsive to some people as such) and challenging topics (tackling each separately with specific sub-chapters) such as Philosophy, Mathematics and Sciences (they tackled these extremely well), Poetry, and History. They present and argue for the benefits of reading them as a lay person, for the joy they bring, and motivate everyone to become a true accomplished reader through being a "complete" reader of everything and anything.

The authors also criticize the current "Post-Modern" authorship style which they define as a "specialist-to-specialist" dialogue, which leads to the lack of interest among the lay-readers and consequently a narrowing effect of the sciences being discussed. Also, they warn against such elitist style, and against the dangers that it will bring to the society's intellectual health, which leads to major ripple effects into the social and political spheres (negative ones he argues).

Another point on the book is its focus on the Western intellectual tradition while somehow recognizing the existence of other traditions that are complex and quite comprehensive, though they didn't represent them well, and their argument against not delving in them is rather weak and shallow. Nonetheless they made it clear that this book is about the Western tradition and tackles reading it and motivates towards exploring it comprehensively (with a comprehensive recommended reading list provided by the authors as well).

All in all, a great read, highly beneficial, and extremely motivating. A must for every hungry and thirsty reader, and definitely a great tool for researchers, teachers, and those who wish to convey knowledge through mastering it on their own (through reading).

How To Read A Book is deservedly Mortimer Adler's best selling work. Its topic is of wide appeal, both to the general public and educators alike, and is dealt with admirably. If one could only read one Adler book, this is it; if one wanted to explore many of his works, this is the place to start. Here, as the title suggests, Adler gives instruction in the art of reading; here also he articulates why this art is so essential and draws attention to the lamentable yet remediable fact that reading skill is so little taught and practiced at its upper reaches.

Adler discerns four levels of reading and elaborates them in compelling fashion. Elementary reading, as its name implies, is the most basic-it entails figuring out "what the words say" in the most superficial sense of this phrase. The second level, inspectional reading, entails both systematic skimming of the books contents to help ascertain what the book is about and whether it is worth reading, and a superficial quick reading of the whole book, which, along with the systematic skimming, prepares the reader for more effective engagement with the text.

If inspectional reading represents the best possible reading of a book given limited time, analytical reading, the third level, represents the best possible reading of a text given unlimited time. This is an incredibly active task that, as a rule, entails multiple serious readings of a text, and which obliges the reader to answer 4 questions: What is the book about as a whole? What is being said in detail and how? Is the book true, in whole or in part? What of it? Adler's rules for criticizing a book fairly are 3 in number and enable the reader to adequately discharge his obligation to the text: Do not criticize until you understand; do not disagree contentiously or disputatiously; give reasons for any personal judgement you make. Legitimate grounds for criticizing a text involve showing that the author's analysis is 1)uninformed, 2)misinformed, 3)illogical, 4)incomplete.

Because of the vast knowledge accessible through books, students' analytical reading ability needs to be developed if they are to be more fully empowered as lifelong learners. Adler goes so far as to say that "a good liberal arts high school, if it does nothing else, ought to produce graduates who are competent analytical readers." He then adds, "A good college, if it does nothing else, ought to produce competent syntopical readers." This 4th level of reading, syntopical reading, involves relating 2 or more books to a topic and to each other. (Anyone familiar with high schools and colleges knows that these goals of Adler's are largely unmet.) Adler goes on to say about syntopical reading that the task isn't primarily to achieve an overall understanding of a specific book, but rather to use the book in a connection that is useful to the reader. "When you read a book analytically, you put yourself in a relation to it of disciple to master. When you read syntopically, you must be the master of the situation." Because syntopical (or comparative) reading skill is essential to conducting independent research and producing creative scholarship, Adler calls development of this skill one of the two ultimate goals of reading. The other is developing an intimate connection with a few "Great Books" that resonate with one and, as as companions, help one to grow throughout life.

Speaking of "Great Books," though Adler has much more to say about the art of reading than I could possible indicate here, ultimately the "how" is inseparable from the "what." Adler posits a symbiotic relationship that exists between reading skill development and "Great Books": reading great books will develop one's reading skill to an especially high degree (with the attendant "transfer effect"), knowing the time, effort and care that goes into good reading will ensure that much of one's reading time will be spent productively on books that really matter.

Adler makes many distinctions between types of books. I will not not elaborate here, except to point out that the basic distinction is between non-fiction and fiction. Adler's recommendations for how to read a book were formulated with non-fiction primarily in mind-he rightly thinks that non-fiction proves more difficult for most readers-though he does think that the recommendations apply, with certain modifications, to fiction as well. Among the various forms of non-fiction, Adler insists that his rules of reading apply best to the study of philosophy. Why? Because philosophy does not rely on specialized observation or experiment inaccessible to the lay reader. The philosopher thinks through-albeit in a profound way-experiences common to humanity. Hence the general lay reader can become engaged with-can master and evaluate-a philosophy text in a way not possible with, say, a book on nuclear physics. Adler also distinguishes the Great Tradition of philosophy from most contemporary philosophy, saying that up until about 1930 philosophy books were addressed to the educated layman, dealing with "first order" questions of universal concern. However, recent philosophy has broken with this Great Tradition and now deals with more specialized, "second order" questions.

Considering both the accessibility of philosophy and the relevance of the Great Tradition, this tradition emerges as a beacon of hope. As Adler makes explicit in another book, Six Great Ideas, philosophy is everyone's business, both in the sense that philosophy requires no specialized observation nor experiment, and that everyone must employ the great ideas in an effort to be a better citizen and more thoughtful human being. Philosophy is, in an affectionate term, "armchair thinking," its rewards open to all willing and able to examine texts with the requisite care.

How To Read A Book, then, not only provides instruction in the art of reading and attributes the greatest possible educational significance to this neglected art, it also forcefully argues that reading Great Books in general and the Great Tradition of philosophy in particular is central both to the development of reading skill and to the humanizing ends to which that skill can lead.

This explains why I think How To Read A Book is the Adler text to start with. Though Adler has much more to say as a philosopher and educational reformer than can be adequately gleaned from this text, How To Read A Book provides a good summary orientation of basic and vital issues that animated this champion of Liberal Education. The only criticisms I feel compelled to make given the limitations of an the store review are that 1) Adler is clearly more comfortable talking about non-fiction than fiction, and 2) many of the books that are most meaningful to me are not the justly venerated texts that Adler so clearly loves. (Though many are.) I've found marvelous reading treasures in plenty of unexpected places, and would hope that Adler's heartfelt celebration of Great Books would not lead his readers to turn up their noses at other types of quality fare. That being said, this book is essential reading!

Tuesday, 6 December 2011
About 130 years ago, Gustave Flaubert (Author of Madam Bovary) made the following remark,"What a scholar one might be if one knew well only some half a dozen books."To be a good reader has always been the aspiration of all great minds.
I realised very acutely the deficiencies in my reading skills when I found that my comprehension of some of the great books had been really low .By a stroke of chance , I reread some of these great books very slowly and analytically , and realised my mistakes.I am an ambitious reader but the time to read great books is just not enough , due to other demands on my time .You cannot buy time as you can buy books.This left me with the only option : To revisit the way I read books .I have realised that rapid reading need not be good reading .Also , wide reading need not be good reading. I also read Nabakov's "Lectures on Literature."I also understood with Nabakov(Author of Lolita) that to understand and appreciate a master writer or a master artist , the reader should have and use imagination, intelligence and energy.The reader has to be deserving.I am aware that in the era of Kindle and e-books , printed books are fast losing the race, but even to comprehend and appreciate a creative work on the cyber space , you need a similar skills- set, similar mind and similar imagination.
Mortimer J. Adler wrote this book in 1940 , but it is needed more now than when he wrote it . This book is a living classic.It is long , with 426 pages , and is a serious work about proper reading .It has been translated into five languages,French,Swedish,German , Spanish ,Italian.
What really makes a good reader? Vladimir Nabakov answers this question as follows:"A good reader is one who has imagination, memory , a dictionary and some artistic sense. .. ."He also says that the best temperament for a reader to have , or to develop, is a combination of the artistic and the scientific one.This applies to the reader of fiction as well as science.The boundary between the work of fiction and work of science is not as clear as is generally believed.In fact , a good novel has the "merging of the precision of poetry and the intuition of science.".While there is a case of improving ourselves as a person , there is always a scope to improve in the art of reading .
As Nabakov says , one cannot read a book:one can only reread it .A good reader , an active reader is a re- reader.When we read a book , the very process of learning stands between us and artistic appreciation.It is only on second or subsequent readings that we appreciate the book .

"How to read a book" describes the four levels of reading:
1.Elementary reading
2Inspectional reading
3.Analytical reading
4.Syntopical reading
Reading is an art.Our goal is to acquire higher levels of skill in this art.Reading skill is taught and learnt in the schools in the first six grades.But at that age and stage, we do not reach the limit of efficiency in reading .Often , we remain poor and incompetent readers.
The authors make it clear that good reading is not speed reading .The main purpose of good reading is to gain understanding and appreciation of the book .These rules of reading can be applied not only to books but also to newspapers,magazines , articles,pamphlets, and even advertisements.
Reading is active.It is less like receiving a blow and more like catching the ball in a game of baseball.Reading requires us to be alert and awake .We must not daydream while reading.
Books can be categorised into practical or theoretical books,imaginative literature(poetry,novels, plays, stories) or history, science or mathematics, Social sciences , philosophy, reference books , journalism and advertising.While the general rules of good reading remain the same , there are some differences when you read a fiction or non-fiction .Fiction satisfies many conscious as well as unconscious needs of a reader.When you read the work of fiction, you have the experience that the author tried to produce for you by working on your imagination and emotions.There is magic as well as sensual imagery."The logic of expository writing aims at an ideal of unambiguous explicitness.Nothing should be left between the lines.Everything that is relevant and statable should be said as explicitly and clearly as possible.In contrast,imaginative writing relies as much upon what is implied as upon what is said.The multiplication of metaphors puts almost more content between the lines than in the words that compose them.The whole poem or story says something that none of its words say or can say."You do not look for terms, propositions and arguments in imaginative literature.
It is necessary to read more than one account of the history of an event or period if we want to understand it.Similarly , in case of philosophy books , sometimes it takes years to read , and many reading and re-readings.
Reading has three purposes:
1.Entertainment
2.Information
3.Understanding /appreciating
Understanding and appreciating is the most important purpose.Our continuous education depends on books and reading them with understanding. To be widely read is not the same thing as to be well read.A person who reads too widely but not well is Literate ignoramus.He is at par with an ignorant person .
Reading is similar to listening .It is an active process.It is never effortless.Thinking as well as imagination is a part of reading.
Inspectional reading is also called skimming systematically .You allow yourself a fixed time(say one hour) and within that time , you complete the book or part of the book .You can then answer the question'"What is this book about?"The main aim of inspectional reading is to discover whether the book needs a more careful reading.Some important steps in inspectional reading are as below:
1.Look at the title page and the preface .Read these quickly.
2.Study carefully the table of contents.
3.Check the index , the kind of books , authors and crucial terms appearing in the index.
4.Read the publisher's blurb on the jacket.
5.Look at the chapters that seem pivotal to its argument.
6.Thumb through the book .Read a paragraph or two , sometimes several pages in sequence.read the last few pages .
Done in this way , inspectional reading can give a value for a reader.
Analytical reading is thorough and complete.In Bacon's words, it means "chewing and digesting " a book .
In syntopical reading , you read many books on the same subject and compare them.After comparing , you create an analysis of the subject , which may not be in any of the books.Syntopical reading is is the most active and most effortful reading.
We are expected to master our elementary reading in our primary and junior high school .If we have done so , we should begin a book with inspectional reading .A good inspectional reading will help us to decide whether we should go for thorough analytical reading .Finally , analytical reading of one book will help us to decide whether we should go for reading synoptically a number of other books on the same subject .
The preparation for an examination requires a synoptical reading on the chosen subject .
We need to institute courses in analytical and synoptical reading in high schools and colleges.Only the we can hope to become a nation of competent readers.
As the literacy spreads , we need more and more people to be trained in higher levels of reading .
Inspectional reading is done twice.First stage is systematic skimming.The second stage is superficial reading.In this , you read the book through at least once , before you do analytical reading ,pay attention to what you can understand and do not be stopped by what you can not immediately grasp.Concentrate on what you do understand.Superficial reading is the first necessary step in the interpretation of a book 's contents
Normally , inspectional reading is faster than analytical reading However , there is every need to read faster , depending on the material we are reading .One effective way to increase the speed is this;"Place your thumb and first two fingers together and sweep this pointer across a line of type, a little faster than is comfortable for your eyes to move Force yourself to keep up with your hand.You will soon be able to read the words as you follow your hand.Keep practising this, and keep increasing the speed at which your hand moves, and before you know, it will have doubled or trebled your reading speed."
Concentration in reading means not day dreaming, and not letting the mind wander.Speed reading achieves concentration.But concentration alone does not lead to comprehension or understanding.Sometimes comprehension requires days, or weeks, or even years.Speed reading therefore, need not improve our comprehension and need not be given too much importance.
It is generally desirable to skim or do inspectional reading of even a book that we intend to read carefully, to get some idea of its form and structure.

The four questions a good reader must ask are :
1.What is the leading theme of the book ?
2.What are the main assertions and arguments?
3.What does your own mind say about what the book says?Is what the book says true?
4.Is the book important to know?Will you seek what follows or is further implied or suggested?
Marking a book is an expression of your differences or your agreements with the author.Marking a book gives you intellectual ownership of the book.
Seven devices for marking a book are :
1.Underlining,circling key words or phrases, vertical lines at the margin.
2.Star or asterisk at the margin to mark the most important passages.
3.Numbers to indicate the sequence of points.
4.Numbers of other pages which make the same points or contradict them.
5.Notes in the margin, at the top, bottom and in the end papers at the back of the book.
6.The front end papers for a record of your thinking.
7.You can make notes during Inspectional reading also, not only during analytical reading.
There are three kinds of note making:
1.Structural notes at the time of inspectional reading .
2.Conceptual notes at the time of analytical and synoptical reading.
3.Dialectical notes at the time of synoptical reading.
The title of the book as well as the chapter headings need to be read carefully.
Analytical reading has 15 rules :
1.Classify the book according to kind and subject matter.
2.State what the whole book is about in a single sentence, or at most a few sentences(a short paragraph).
3Enumerate the major parts of the book in their order and relation, and outline these parts as you have outlined the whole.
4.Find out and define the problem or problems the author is trying to solve.
5.Find the important /key words and through them , come to terms with the author.
6.Mark the most important sentences in a book and discover the leading propositions that the author is making .
7.Locate or construct the basic arguments in the book by finding them in the connection of sentences.In other words , find if you can the paragraphs in a book that state its important arguments.But if the arguments are not thus expressed, your task is to construct them by taking a sentence from this paragraph ,and one from that, until you have gathered together the sequence of sentences that state the propositions that compose the author's arguments.
8.Find out what the author's solutions are.Determine which of his problems the author has solved and which he has not;and as to the latter, decide which the author knew he had failed to solve.
9.Do not begin to talk back until you have listened carefully and are sure you understand.You must be able to say with reasonable certainty,"I understand" before you can say any of the following things;"I agree", or "I disagree"., or "I suspend my judgement".
10.When you disagree, do so reasonably and not disputatiously or contentiously.
11.Respect the difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion, by giving reasons for any critical judgement you make.
12.Show wherein the author is uninformed.
13.Show wherein the author is misinformed.
14.Show wherein the author is illogical .
15.Show wherein the author's analysis or account is incomplete.
You should not read any commentary by someone else until after you have read the book .
Both inspectional and analytical reading can be considered as preparation for syntopical reading.The seven steps in syntopical reading are as below:
1.Create a tentative bibliography of your subject by recourse to library catalogues, advisers and bibliographies in books.
2.Inspect all the books on the tentative bibliography to ascertain which are germane to your subject and also to acquire a clearer idea of the subject.
3.Inspect the books already identified above in order to find the most relevant passages.
4.Bring the authors to terms by constructing a mental terminology of the subject that all, or the great majority of the authors can be interpreted as employing, whether they actually employ the words or not.
5.Establish a set of neutral propositions for all the authors by framing a set of questions to which all or most of the authors can be interpreted as giving answers, whether they actually treat the questions explicitly or not.
6.Define the issues, both major or minor ones, by ranging the opposing answers of authors to the various questions on one side of an issue or another.You should remember that an issue does not always exist explicitly between or among authors, but that it sometimes has to be constructed by interpretation of the authors' views on matters that may not have been their primary concern .
7.Analyse the discussion by ordering the questions and issues in such a way as to throw maximum light on the subject.More general issues should precede less general ones, and relations among issues should e clearly indicated.

Syntopical reading pose the following paradox"Unless you know what books to read , you cannot read syntopically, but unless you can read syntopically, you do not know what to read".

8

I should have read this book years ago. I am preparing for an intensive reading and writing course and I thought I would read this book to sharpen my abilities as a reader. For some time I've considered myself an avid reader (reading on average around 1-2 books per month depending on the length). This book has expanded my perception of what it means to extract information and knowledge from a book. It relates that reading a book is a conversation between author and reader; that reading is an active process and not just a passive one. It categorizes 4 types of reading:

Elementary reading:
-What you learned in grade school. The ability to read and then regurgitate what you just read.

Inspectional reading:

-Skimming (or "pre-reading") a book. Relates how to quickly gather knowledge and how to pigeonhole a book by reading the cover, table of contents, the dust jacket, the back of the book, and various passages.

-This section also expounds on what the authors refer to as "superficial reading." This means reading a book once all the way through, without bothering to stop and look up terms or stopping when the reader arrives at a particularly difficult section he or she does not understand. One quote that stood out to me: "Understanding half of a really tough book is much better than not understanding it at all, which will be the case if you allow yourself to be stopped by the first difficult passage you come to" (p.37).

Analytical reading:

-Explains the 4 basic questions a reader asks:

1. What is the book about as a whole?
2. What is being said in detail, and how?
3. Is the book true?
4. What of it?

-The importance of enumerating what a book is about, and how the different parts relate to each other to make up the whole. (Ever been asked, "What's that book about?" This book will tell you how to answer intelligently).

-Goes into the benefits of writing in a book and taking notes in the margins, underlining, etc.

-How to come to terms with an author and determine the message of the author.

-The importance of giving a book fair criticism. "The activity of reading does not stop with the work of understanding what a book says. It must be completed by the work of criticism, the work of judging." The caveat is that one must first understand what one has read. Rule 9. "You must be able to say, with reasonable certainty, "I understand," before you can say... "I agree," or "I disagree," or "I suspend judgement" (p. 141-142).

-"How do you know whether you are making proper use of your experience to help you understand a book? Ask yourself whether you can give a contrete example of a point you feel you understand" (p. 171).

Syntopical reading:

-How to read multiple books or sections of books that relate to the same subject concurrently. This includes how to select passages that relate to your subject, and how to locate those passages by way of skimming.

The book also contains information on how to read various sorts of books including literature, history, social science, mathematics, current events, etc. I think the book extends its reach a bit too far here. Some of the passages are fairly short, with dull advice such as reading a poem once, and then again aloud, in order to understand it. It also trivializes the value of what it calls extrinsic reading, the use of outside sources for assistance. To its credit, it also has sections on how to use those sources (How to use a dictionary, how to use an encyclopedia, etc.). It even has a recommended reading list which is essentially a list of the Great Books of the western canon. The back of the book also contains mini-exercises to test one's reading prowess. It's a fun little section to test whether you actually learned anything from the book.

I pulled a lot of knowledge from the pages and I'll return to them frequently to remind myself how to read a book.

I am a 6th-grade public school teacher. I teach Social Studies which are actually organized in the humanities department and have literacy-based standards in the Common Core. So, in essence, I teach reading and writing, using history and social issues materials.

Initially, I thought I might gain something from this book that would be useful to pass on to my students. I liked a few things about the book: the way it reinforces the emerging science of the plasticity of the human brain; the recommendation (rule, actually) and the steps to pre-read a book; the process of syntopical reading being spelled out; the encouragement to critically consider the message of the author or even argue with the author. All of these were instructive and encouraging to read.

But I find two significant faults with the book. A) The insistence on a set of rules (right way/wrong way) for reading, and B) the lack of relevance for modern readers.

A) I found that the insistence upon, and ad-nosium repetition of, a rigid set of rules, turned me off. It made me less interested in what the author had to say, and made the reading tedious after a few chapters. The idea that there are rules implies that there is a rule-maker, and the author has assumed this role. This made me not want to believe him or listen to his message.

B) The biggest problem I had with the book, however, is that modern readers don't read books anymore; not to learn about things, anyway. Young people, even members of my own generation, do not consult a book to learn something anymore. They read books for pleasure or inspiration, but if they want to learn about a topic they will research it on the internet. And why not, the internet can instantly answer any questions you have by giving the reader a selection of short, dense articles at a wide range of reading levels in any language, and in a range of multi-media formats. Syntopical reading is the default reading level when using the internet to study a subject.

Because of the internet, few readers will consult books like this moving forward. So, whatever good it may contain will be lost to future generations.

How do you begin to write a review of a classic? I've seen this book recommended so many times, by so many different sources, I knew I needed to read it at some point. I should have done it 10 years ago!

This is a practical instruction manual on how to increase your understanding of everything through reading books. He starts by explaining what he means by "learning how to read." We all know how to pronounce the words on a page, but how often to we really grasp what an author is trying to say, and how often is our understanding enlarged as a result? Adler blames the schools for not teaching us how to really read. Class upon class of incoming freshman (he taught at the University of Chicago) couldn't engage meaningfully with the books they were assigned to read. Adler explains why this was (and is) the case, argues for why we desperately need to remedy this, and then sets out to show us the way.

The bulk of the book is made up of "The Rules." This is where we learn how to read. We learn how to even approach a book, to understand its context, it's title, it's basic skeleton and form. We are shown how to come to terms with an author, how to follow his arguments, how to truly understand what he is saying. Finally we are given instruction in how to engage with the author critically, talking back and making judgments regarding his work.

He concludes with a plea that we read great books, that we learn to read books that are worth reading, that will repay the effort spent and will actually help us in our learning. "The place to begin, then, is on the great books. They are so apt for the purpose, it is almost as if they were written for the sake of teaching people how to read. They stand to the problem of learning how to read almost as water does to the business of learning how to swim." (p. 320-321) Included in the back is a list of "The Great Books" which have also been published together as Great Books of the Western World

Upon completing this book, I wonder if I've ever really read a book before. Perhaps the Bible. Adler knows that he has set up an ideal that is rarely if ever attained, yet one that is worth striving for to the degree that the book we are reading will repay the effort. My first reaction is that I've completed my first reading of How To Read a Book, and stand in great need of the second and third. I want my reading to be worthwhile, and this book has shown me the way to master this finest of arts.

This book will change the way you read, and allow you to get more out of a book. It really is a must read for the college student. It's been years ago since I read it, but every time I pick up a book I begin to think about what this book taught me. I look at the dust cover to find out who the author is, what slant he might bring to the subject. I comb through the table of contents, wondering where I will find the heart of the book. Is there a chapter with the same title as the book? Maybe I should start there. Maybe I should start with the conclusion, and then read the front matter to see if his conclusion is really supported by the material or not? Introductions are often the last thing written and will do a better job of telling you what the book is about then the rest of the book. And if you don't know what the book is about before you start reading it, you will not get as much out of the book. It's not speed reading, but it is about comprehension, and you don't always have to read the whole thing to get what you need. Just as crucial today as when it was first written.

The title of Mortimer J. Adler’s and Charles Van Doren’s book, How to Read a Book says it all. The authors discuss various kinds of books and written materials and provide a clear set of guidelines on how to go about reading and understanding them. Everyone can benefit from reading this book, either by focusing on the special kind of reading you do or as a general reader of a variety of books. As the authors suggest the way to read a book varies with the kind of book it is.

The authors begin by identifying the goals for reading as for information, for understanding and for entertainment. They then indicate that there are four levels of reading: elementary, which involves basic understanding of words and sentences; inspectional, which is skimming and getting a general idea of what the book is about; analytical, which is complete reading for the purpose of understanding; and syntopical, which involves reading several books on the same subject. Most of the book is devoted to how to read various kinds of books analytically. Here they state a number of rules and approaches for various kinds of books. For non-fiction works they examine how to read books on topics such as history, science and mathematics, philosophy and the social sciences. Works of fiction are divided into Imaginative literature (novels) and stories, plays and poems. They also characterize books as “practical,” those that give advice and require action on your part, and “theoretical, those that provide insights.
The appendices also contain a comprehensive reading list of great literature and some sample tests for measuring the ability to read in each of the four areas. This book is very valuable for anyone and particularly so for students and others who are required to read extensively.

I have read a translation of this book so my review addresses the essence of the book, not the particular edition.

I chose to read this book during my postgraduate studies, since the demand for quality reading and good comprehension at the shortest time possible was paramount. I only wish I had bumped into this book earlier in my studies and life.

First of all, since I believe some people may have gotten here hoping to find a speed reading manual, I have to emphasise that this is NOT a book on speed reading. The authors make that clear in their text.

A few words on the structure of the book. The book deals with the four levels of reading (elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical), discusses the role of each level and presents the rules for each. The emphasis is placed on the two latter levels of reading, namely analytical and syntopical.

Analytical reading aims to understand what the purpose of a single book is, what its topic is and how the author structures his/her approach to the subject and constructs the story or arguments depending on the type of the book.

Syntopical reading [syn+topos: syn = plus (in the sense of addition, many), topos = place, location] essentially refers to reading from more than one book as a researcher, i.e. the subject of interest is not determined by the author of a single book but by you, the reader. You have to choose relevant books on the subject, find out which ones contain the info you want and build your understanding on the subject by ploughing through different terminology, methods and opinions stated by different authors. As such this latter level of reading is indeed a challenging mental task.

The latter part of the book discusses how the rules for analytical reading are adjusted and applied to specific types of books (science, literature, poetry, practical books etc.)

The effects of reading this book were both direct and indirect. The direct effects are the ones related to the main subject of the book, i.e. advice on reading a book. The advice given is useful and has dissolved some misconceptions I had relative to reading speed and comprehension. It has also helped me to treat a book in a systematic way by paying attention to certain features, which are given by the author of a (good) book precisely in order to help the reader understand what is being conveyed. It has clarified the great amount of effort needed to read a good book. The advice has to be applied, however, in order to see its effects. Some advice may seem commonsense but applying it in a systematic way is a difficult task. Moreover, it has grounded my expectations to reality, in the sense that one must carefully select a book to read, not all books on the same topic are the same, and one must also put in much effort to allow the book to raise him/her onto another level. Thus, the image of a reader surrounded by many books, none of which is really studied in depth, becomes a mere illustration of the Sisyphean myth (I have experienced that).

The indirect effects of the book are equally important and maybe life-changing. It doesn't only teach you how to seriously communicate with a book but also tries to expand your mental potential by encouraging you to read good books and grow along the process. Since the authors suggest a series of actions that must be performed in order to comprehend a book, and point to the specific elements of the book (chapter titles, introduction etc) that an author has hopefully considered carefully, they indirectly suggest a method to distinguish a bad book from a good book. The good book tries to guide you and help you understand it and has many "red flags", whilst the bad book does not and leaves you confused. (In this latter case I am not referring to the confusion of a reader who reads a good book but too difficult for his/her current level)

In addition, the emphasis on the quality of the books you read is evident throughout the book and is also manifested in the list of good books (in the authors' opinion) at the end of the book. On a first level this is an encouragement to seek quality in the books you read and avoid feeding your brain with garbage books. On a second level this can turn in to a habit of appreciating quality in all aspects of your life and cultivating your self to achieve your potential.

After all (as I understood the authors' spirit) a good book must make you feel a little uncomfortable and must not be entirely within your level of comprehension, in order to help you grow and evolve.

Isn't this true for any endeavour worth undertaking?

P.S. I believe that the book could have been shorter without losing its value, since I think the authors are being too verbose at times. However, I do not think that this is a good enough reason to subtract one star from the rating.

First, I didn't know what to expect from this book, its titled seemed a little bit too academic. But after briefly browsing its pages and reading short passages, I decided to buy it. I am happy I did because very soon this book introduced me to concepts that no teacher ever taught me in school, or that I could have easily discovered or figured out by myself about reading books.

To begin with there are four different levels of reading a book, the first level is the most basic level and is the way we learn how to read word by word and the fourth level is a way of reading several books about a specific subject at the same time. There are many types of books and it is essential to understand what kind of book you are going to read before you read it. One reason for this is that sometimes it is not the book that we are looking for and another reason is because different books are read in different ways. Basically we have to understand the different categories to make better decisions about how to read it.

I found truly interesting the concept of coming into agreements with the author, understanding how he or she defines a specific word that might have many definitions. This is key to fully comprehending the author's idea. One must not judge a book before one is done reading it; doing this is actually disrespectful. It is like interrupting someone while he or she is talking.

You must create a dialog with the author, by asking questions and reading actively. Not two people understand a book the same way and this in many ways has to do with the "dialog" that we create with the author.

We must write on the books, underline, circle, mark, use the white pages to take notes, all of these are important to keep the reading active and the brain thinking. Also this is a sign of ownership. You must make that book your own.

The authors use the word reading as a way of using books to help us grow as human beings, of learning about life, as life changing experiences.

Of course the books is full of useful information and this is just a brief outline. It is very enjoyable to read, it reiterates important information to make things very clear and to connect previous ideas with new ideas.

I recommend this book to people that like reading all kinds of subjects. People that believe that books can change lives and see them as living objects. Also, this should be required reading for writers and students. Probably anyone interested in knowledge and learning in general will get something valuable from this book.

I have mixed feelings about this book which is why I have given it neither a positive nor a completely negative rating. Let me start with what I find valuable before being critical of this book. First, let me say that Adler and Doren give some good advice about how to read in a way that expands your mind. Seeking the propositions and arguments of a work and puzzling over passages you don't understand are good ways to increase your level of reading comphrehension. To me much of what they suggest is just plain common sense but it is good to be reminded of common sense at times. I generally liked their discussion of how to read particular works and their helpful list of classic literature in the appendix at the end of the book.

While many of van Doren's and Adler's tips are helpful, I didn't find their suggestions about the various "levels of reading" to be that helpful. This could just mean that I am too stubborn and impatient but I read for both enjoyment and to better myself. Trying to follow all of the authors rules for reading each time I read something would take too much time and effort. And it would suck the joy out of it. So, I didn't much like the propensity of the authors to create a multitude of rules for reading. Maybe others have followed it and received huge intellectual rewards from it. If they have, more power to them. It's just not for me.

Also, this book was more verbose than it needed to be. This does not mean the authors didn't give any good advice, on the whole they did. Rather I think they could have communicated it with less words. I did get the most out of their discussion of analytical reading which is the type of reading I find myself doing much of the time. I never really saw the appeal of synoptical reading but again that may just be a limitation I have. On the whole there is some good but not enough to make this a truly good read.

This is a comprehensive how-to book on improving your reading-skills, especially skills in reading expository (non-fiction) works.

Four levels of reading are considered: 1) Elementary, 2) Inspectional, 3) Analytical, and 4) Syntopical. Most of the bulk of the book is taken by the "rules" of Analytical Reading. That level is also divided into certain "stages", and I can't help objecting to how those stages are introduced in this book.

By page 94 the book has covered the first four rules of Analytical Reading, and then you are suddenly told that those four rules belong to a so called "first stage" of Analytical Reading. The book goes on with further chapters and further rules, but you aren't told in advance how many rules or how many stages Analytical Reading will involve in total. And pages go on and on, and rules keep coming, and still you are not told. Only by page 163 (roughtly at half the book) you are finally shown the list of all rules (FIFTEEN in total) of all THREE stages of Analytical Reading, which were being covered in this sort of blind way (for the reader) since page 59. This sort of bottom-up approach, at least for me, was seriously exasperating. Why the authors didn't simply start showing such list of stages and rules to be covered, I really can't say. Maybe they thought the "mystery" would keep the interest of some readers (?). I don't know, but for me that approach was a poor choice; it was annoying and infuriating. It took me a while to read this book just because of that.

The above can give you an idea of how the method is presented in the book: with lots of embedded lists and enumerations of rules, and stages, and steps. In other words, with lots of structure. Seems organized, but presented in the chosen bottom-up approach I described might appear to be not as clear, or too detailed or overstructured at first.

In spite of that rant, the book is a great read, and the recommended method (in spite of how it is presented) is definitely worth adopting.

One of the recommended rules is to always read the book through at least once, even if not understanding some points in it. Just as in a movie. A first viewing of a movie might not let you understand everything, but you have to watch it fully that first time, without interruptions. Same with a book. And in particular, I think the same applies to this very book on how to read.

The book states that reading and listening are basically the same art -the art of being taught. I definitely agree with that.

All in all, a highly recommended read.

This book started interesting but quickly lost momentum with its constant reinforcement of simple points. Most of the book was wasted on my simply because the methods that it teaches are so time consuming that it would take at least a month to get through any book, a point which the author concedes to. Another problem with the method is that much of it is completely outdated with the onset of the Internet, such as the point about skimming through the book to get an idea of what it is about - a task easily accomplished by a Google search. It is even more useless for people such as myself who use ebooks; a lot of the method consists of different types of marks and skipping around frequently - something that is not easily accomplished using ebooks. The last point is another that the author admits to, and that is that the book has a large focus on nonfiction rather than fiction. This is not a problem to me since I mainly read nonfiction anyway, but it is something to be aware of.

I did like the examples the author chose to use as demonstrations - many classic works were used, such as Aristotle's 'Politics' and Machiavelli's 'The Prince'. I just wish he used them more frequently.

How to Read a Book stands at odds with much of the dogma surrounding education today, but I found its prescriptions to be quite necessary for today's learners, especially as an antidote to the cult of easy learning. The book does not promise that you will get an achievement for scoring high enough on a quiz, learn Spanish by osmosis in your sleep, or understand quantum mechanics by reading a pop science bestseller. You will not learn effortlessly, you will learn effortfully, and it's by design. The plan that How to Read a Book lays out is simple, but it is not easy, because the works that have the most to teach us are the ones that are the farthest above us (how could we learn anything from an author if he or she was not, in some way, our superior?), and it's these books that this work is designed to help with.
It's true, Adler's style sometimes reeks of get-off-my-lawn-ism, but the underlying message is golden. The message is: most people don't get the most out of their reading because they read passively instead of actively--and here's a way to read actively. Adler then provides a step-by-step plan to analyze books that works not just for single titles but also for entire fields of knowledge if applied thoroughly. I've unknowingly used some of the tools in this book for years and had known of this book for quite some time, but this was my first actual reading of the book. I'm sorry it took me so long; I wonder what I could've learned in the past five years if I had disciplined myself and pursued more difficult yet meaningful learning and less mental cotton candy. I recommend this book for anyone who thinks today is a good day to start doing just that.

Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren have written an insightful guide to reading books that are worth reading. First published in 1940, their advice for understanding the written word has aged well. Their goal is to help us use the best books in our lifelong education. This version, rewritten in 1972, improves on the first release by incorporating recent research on the psychology of reading and reference to current additions to the growing population of worthy books.

This book discusses both how to read and how to decide what is worth reading. There are four different levels of reading. The first is Level 1 Elementary Reading, in which we move straightforwardly through text, absorbing the obvious. It is a perfectly acceptable way to read road signs and the backs of cereal boxes. It is not sufficient for most books. Level 2 Inspectional Reading consists of scanning the structure and skimming the content of a book to get a general sense of its message. It requires fluency in Level 1 skills and is necessary to make an informed decision about whether to invest more effort in a book.

Level 3 Analytical Reading is an advanced skill to which the authors devote seven chapters of carefully-considered description. Analytical readers need to classify a book and relate it to others that quote or supersede it. They need to outline or profile a book and understand its central messages. Analytical reading requires understanding the book's author, including the vocabulary of words, phrases and personal experiences the author uses to communicate and his or her purposes in writing the book. Analytical reading moves beyond understanding and accepting what authors tell us. It requires fairly evaluating their arguments and then taking a stand with respect to them. We haven't really read a book if we cannot clearly identify our points of agreement and disagreement with its author.

The Level 4 Interpretive or "Syntopical" Reader has master the skills of reading related books and synthesizing from them a grasp of the larger body of knowledge. To echo one critic of this book's first edition, they know "How to Read Two Books." The skills of Level 4 Reading are locating key passages in books, identifying the vocabulary, key questions and major issues of the subject area, and analyzing the ongoing discussion between authors of books on the same topic. Far from believing that this four-level approach is all the guidance we need, Adler and Van Doren present strategies for reading various types of books, ranging from poetry and imaginative literature to history, science and philosophy. They leave us well prepared to enrich ourselves from the pages of books.

This is a valuable book for anyone who reads seriously. I'll advise slipping it into the suitcase of a college-bound niece or nephew. It will also reward a snow-bound adult on a chilly afternoon. For those who write as well as read, The Craft of Research is a congenial companion volume. May your reading be rewarding.

How to Read a Book provides a good overview of, well, how to read a book! The book itself is built around the four levels of reading, with the author providing explanations about each level, and tips and techniques for moving to the higher levels. However, in my own case, having picked up Adler's book after I had already completed a master's degree, I didn't find many new tidbits. Rather, it served to confirm the lessons I had learned inductively over the past several years. From this perspective, I think the book would be an ideal instructional tool for high school and college students, but not much more than a reference or "friendly reminder" for people with more advanced education under their belts.

However, I did find several things handy in Part Three: APPROACHES TO DIFFERENT KINDS OF READING MATTER. Since much of my own reading has been specialized over the past 5-10 years due to my studies, I can't say that I have as much experience reading some other genres of literature. Adler provides a nice, short guide about how to approach each genre, which I think would help anyone who, like myself, has had his reading list constrained by syllabus requirements for far too long.

Finally, Appendix A: A Recommended Reading List is by itself worth the price of the book. Unlike so many present-day "must-read" lists one comes across, Adler provides well over 100 books and authors, all of which are worthwhile, edifying and important culturally and historically. Anyone would be well-served to read even a few books on this list.

I wanted to start reading through a list of classics and decided to read this first in order to get the most out of my reading. I'm glad that I did! What I didn't realize, though, is that my 4th grade teacher taught me most of the principles in this book. I had a fantastic teacher back then! I might try to look him up and thank him for that gift. That said, the book was an excellent reminder of all the things that I learned way-back-when.

I gave this to my fifteen year old daughter and asked her to read it before she tackled her high school reading list. She sort of nodded at me but didn't answer, so I thought she had forgotten. Months later, she came up to me and thanked me for giving it to her. I was astounded. She not only read it, but she took what she got out of it and applied it to her high school reading assignments. I frequently read the books that she is working on so that we can have the fun of discussing them. Since reading this book, our discussions have been much more thoughtful. Her writing assignments are scoring higher, too. I highly recommend it for any college bound high school student who wants to read more efficiently and more effectively.

This is a book about reading well. The authors point to four methods of reading: elementary, inspectional, analytical, and syntopical. Each method has its place, depending upon the work that one is reading. This book should probably be required reading in junior high or high school, but definitely by the time one gets to college. The authors even have a series of "tests" at the end of the book to see how good you are at each type of reading skill. The tests are somewhat arbitrary, but nevertheless, helpful. In my opinion, the first twelve chapters and chapter 20 are the most useful chapters to read. The other chapters are interesting, but didn't add much value. There is also an appendix with a list of 137 books which the authors consider the most useful books to be read with care. While I agree with some of them, there are others on the list that I would never subject myself or recommend to others.

The book does not explain how to read per se. It teaches one how to employ methods by which to actively engage your reading of a book: how to mark up a book, how to ask the book the right questions, etc..

I found this book stimulating and it created within me a renewed desire for serious reading and a greater respect for my own fundamental desire to engage in reading over the years. I was struck by Adler's almost simple faith in the power of human reason. There is one section where he flatly states a rather radical concept, to my way of thinking, and that is that if two men are in discussion and begin with differing positions they MUST ALWAYS COME TO AGREEMENT if they clarify all errors of fact and reasoning that have caused them to disagree.

It was also almost moving to me to read some of his statements in light of the year he wrote the book - 1940 or 1941- a time when the future of the Anglo-American/Western tradition of free inquiry based on reason was being seriously challenged by the repressive forces of Fascism, Communism, Hitlerism, and the Japanese Bushido warrior cult. And it wasn't entirely clear at that point which side was going to win out.

I liked his notion of gradually expanding the community of men and women who have read the Great Books with understanding, and are conversant with their content and concepts.

Although Adler did not make the following point, it did occur to me that although people of culture and learning will go to art exhibits to view the works of the old masters, or will attend the symphony or opera, you will rarely encounter someone saying "and this past weekend I also read volume two of Spinoza's great treatise." Why don't we hear that? Because as Adler points out most of us view reading the Great Books as too difficult. Whereas I suspect he'd agree with me that great art and great music you can more passively appreciate without the intensity of intellectual engagement that serious reading entails.

I am torn as to whether or not I should devote a portion of my future reading time to the Great Books that he lists. I was exposed to some of them during my college years, and others of them I may read just because I want to (such as Homer). But there are so many books and periodicals that I want to read that I have to be very selective due to my time constraints.

My expectations for HTRAB were quite high, based on all of the glowing reviews. To say I was disappointed after my first reading would be an understatement. There are a few strategies for analytical reading that I found interesting, but most of the book is full of common sense advice puffed up with sort of intellectual drivel you come to expect from academics. I decided that I must be the problem; therefore, I sat down and read it a second time: what a shame I can't get those hours of my life back. This book makes a few good points and would deserve 3-4 stars if it were "right-sized" to 100 pages in length.

I am an engineer by training, and since I have been out of grad school for a few years now, I enjoy reading books in order to occupy my mind. However, I was what Adler and Van Doren would call a "widely-read" person, which is to say that I should have been pitied rather than respected. This book really changed my perception of reading from being a casual hobby to a lifelong process of self-education, and so I am currently undergoing my conversion to being a well-read reader, or a person who reads for understanding not just information.
Others might scoff at my literary ignorance, but I was really impressed by Adler and Van Doren's suggestion that the Great Books should be read chronologically, in order to take part in this "Great Conversation" that has been going on since man learned how to write. Previously, I had regarded the Great Books as so many individual stars in a literary universe, with absolutely no rhyme or reason on where to begin reading. However, now, I am approaching these classics in a more disciplined way by following a chronological reading list, and this has added a dimension of understanding to my reading that I really had not encountered before.
Adler and Van Doren say a lot in this book that I agree with, and previous reviewers have done a good job of summarizing the levels of reading, and the activities associated with them. However, I felt that the authors' suggestions for reading fiction were a bit vague and insufficient. For example, Adler and Van Doren say that the "truth" of a work of fiction is determined by its beauty to the reader, and the reader should be able to point out in the book the source of this beauty. Such a suggestion leaves a lot of things left unsaid and I felt that the authors could have commented a little more on how the reader could go about analyzing imaginative literature.
Nevertheless, this book is a classic. If you consider yourself a serious reader, but have never been formally instructed in how to engage books, then I highly, wholeheartedly, and absolutely recommend that you read this book.

As someone who reads about a book a week, I wish I had been introduced to this work when I was in high school. The book teaches the very basic and fundamental steps that need to be taken to get the most out of reading a book. It's not just a matter of mechanically going through the book and getting the most you can via your recollection and knowledge; it requires more rigorous application of steps such as understanding the author's terms, propositions and conclusions and then deciding for yourself whether and why and to what extent you agree with the author or not. The discussion on syntopical reading is invaluable: the authors encourage and motivate readers to add their own insights and possibly expand the discussion and even add new knowledge to a field of experise via the reading and analysis of many books on the same topic. I think many casual readers feel that they are only receptors of the information and, because they are not certified on or in some way credentialed in a particular field, they have nothing to offer to the evolution of the discussion. The book also offers a humbling reminder to avid readers: you can read a lot and still not be well read; that is, if you are not in some way satisfying your reading appetite with some of the world's great works, you may be filling yourself but not getting all the intellectual nutrition you need.

Well, I certainly got a lot of "witty" comments from people as I carried around a copy of Mortimer Adler's "How to Read a Book." Being on the receiving end of redundant jokes was worth it though as Adler was a joy to read, even though I've read a number of books thus far.

American philosopher and academic Mortimer Adler's book is a slight misnomer in that he does not necessarily tell the reader how to read a book, but rather how to read a book well...or "analytically" to use his terminology. It's not simply enough to let your eyes look at each and every word in sequence, then put the book down with a sense of satisfaction. The time invested in a book is precious. Therefore, argues Adler, only the best book should be invested in and the reader should make sure he extracts as much in formation as possible out of the book.

For much of the book, Adler presents a list of "dos" to gain a full understanding of the author's message. He advises the reader to do some "pre-reading" first--reading the book's title, table of contents, index, even its index and the quotes on the back. This will prepare the reader's mind for the information he will receive and how it might be structured. He also highly recommends that the preface and introduction be read as this is where the author normally presents his thesis, purpose, and/or methodology. In reading body of the book, the thesis should always be kept in mind and the reader should be constantly examining how the author builds his argument. Finally, after the book is complete, the reader should be able to restate the book's premise and structure in just a couple sentences, reconstruct the argument, and be able to evaluate the book relying on logic rather than just emotional opinion.

After giving general rules for reading analytically, Adler briefly evaluates various genres of books, giving the reader their general characteristics and how these reading rules might be slightly adapted to the genre. In this section, Adler tends to be "hit and miss" as he is quite helpful in presenting works of philosophy, science, and social science; but less helpful in imaginative fiction and history.

Finally, Adler demonstrates how to read multiple books on the same subject in such a way as the books compliment one another, and provides a series of reading tests to reinforce the book's major premises.

While I found this book well written and was able to glean some gems from it, I generally found that I was doing most of what Adler suggested already. We could all be better readers and Adler certainly gives encouragement in this regard, but as a whole my time might have been better invested elsewhere. However, I recognize that not all people read carefully and consider that books are actually long detailed arguments. For these people, I would highly recommend this book to aid and assist your future reading. For others, it would serve as an enjoyable read as the prose is majestic, but not all that necessary.

Recommended.

The book I received has a different cover than shown in the picture. I was hoping for a simple handbook with some tips for scanning and retaining information, instead this is a 1.5" thick brick full of the most boring information about the history of books. YUCK.

How to Read a Book clearly explains the four levels of reading a book. These are elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical. The authors teach that each reading level builds on the previous one. It was shown that the ability to read at the inspectional, analytical and syntopical levels were required to review a book or research paper effectively. It is clear that learning to read actively and effectively is a complex skill that requires careful and detailed study.

The authors of How to Read a Book, Mortimer J Adler and Charles Van Doren, clearly and methodically delineate the four levels of reading, namely elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical. The authors explain how each level builds on the previous one. The authors have a deep understanding of a wide range of subjects. They presented propositions and arguments in a logical, thorough and convincing manner. This is reflected in their ability to simplify the subject whilst capturing its essence in a simple, easy to follow and understandable style.

How to Read a Book is divided into four parts. The first part teaches the distinction between the four levels of reading. In this section there is a detailed discussion of the first two levels of reading, namely elementary and inspectional. The second part focuses on the third level of reading, namely analytical. The rules of analytical reading are carefully explained. The three stages of analytical reading comprise the rules for finding what a book is about, interpreting a book's contents and criticising a book as a communication of knowledge.

Part three is an exposition of the different ways to approach different kinds of reading materials which include practical and theoretical books, imaginative literature, history, science, mathematics, social science and philosophy. Part four of the book focuses on the ultimate goal of reading, that is, syntopical reading. It teaches how to achieve a goal of lifetime reading.

I have never been formally taught to read properly. The book provided me with the opportunity to learn to carry my reading to higher levels of skill. The book enabled me to understand the complex art of reading and the flexible application of some basic rules to different types of reading.

My job involves carrying out a lot of research on various airline subjects that requires reading a number of related books. The book teaches me how to read the different books in relation to one another in such a way that I can clearly understand the complementary and conflicting aspects.

I need to continue learning throughout my life. The book teaches me how to choose the best books to read so that I can develop the habit of self-directed lifetime learning.

Anyone who is interested in educating himself should get this book. It is a thorough introduction to the world of serious reading, and it is the best one I am aware of.

The reading is introduced to the various levels of reading as defined by Adler and van Doren. It is made clear that the higher levels of reading ("analytical" and "syntopical") are rarely studied properly by high school or even college students.

The steps involved in proper reading are clearly outlined, along with suggestions for avoiding typical errors made by readers. A decent guide to criticism is included. Perhaps the authors under-emphasize the importance of the study of logic to proper critical reading, assuming that the common man will be able to think logically enough to ably criticize the "Great Books". I recommend a study of logic in conjunction with this book; this should prepare the reader for really acceptable criticism of all sorts of serious books.

The book is most readily applicable to works of philosophy; the authors try to use analogy to apply their techniques to the study of imaginitave literature with only moderate success, in my opinion. In fact, the entire book might be more properly offered as a tool for readers of philosophy, leaving the critical reading of literature, history, and science to be dealt with by other authors.

Such problems definitely do not detract from the usefulness of the book, and are helpful in many ways.

Several appendices are included, including a list of suggested books. The list alone is worth the price of the book; nowhere else have I been able to find as comprehensive source of the very best books written in all fields, through all times in human history.

Finally, I partly disagree with the authors regarding Western vs. Eastern book study. They seem to believe that it is enough to study the Western canon for your entire life without having much understanding of the East. They wrote this book, however, before the advent of modern super-communication. Adler's "Great Conversation" can now begin to take place across all cultures, and for this to happen, a good understanding of the East is essential and very readily available to someone who is willing to devote the required time. This book, however, remains the best guide to the study of the West, and should be read by everyone. Very highly recommended.

Wow. This book is 346 pages of instructions on how to properly read a book. Add the two appendixes, the first giving a list of books to read to further stretch your mind, the second testing your understanding of the material, and you get a great book.
Unless you have read the book, you probably wonder how it could take 346 pages to instruct you on how to properly read a book. However, the book shows that each page is necessary, and the fact you wonder that shows what little you know about how to read a book properly. Most people are only familiar with the first stage (which must be known to read this book) of reading, Elementary Reading. Few people understand the true activity involved in properly reading a book.
The book is broken into four parts.
The first part starts off with defining some terms, and analyzing different objectives for reading. It also shows that reading is an active effort that cannot be undergone passively. He also explains the beginning two levels of reading. Which are Elementary, and Inspectional Reading.
The Second part deals with Analytical reading. This is by far the meat of the book. It is also the most rewarding. Since it is here that people need the most guidance. Adler explains each of the rules necessary for analytical reading very well. So not one point is missed, or misunderstood. He starts the section off with how it relates to the first stages of reading. He than continues to the instructions.
The third part gives clearer instructions for particular types of reading material(ie. Social Science, History, Philosophy etc). It analyses each type of reading matter individually, first defining it (as best it can be) than giving either variations to the rules, or rules that are primary or more relevant.
The last and final part, talks about the ultimate stage of reading. This part describes Syntopical reading, and gives the rules for it. Syntopical reading involves reading several books for the purpose of understanding a certain topic, than giving an objective analysis of the topic based on those books. This part ends with a short explanation of what reading does in your life. How it is needed to grow, and how the mind, like all other muscles can quickly waste away unless properly used.
Such things that add to the books easy readability is the author's ability to structure the book so that each section coherently fits in your mind. At the same time, repeating certain principles that cause you to remember each instruction correctly. And the summary at the end of the chapters makes it easy to go back and review what you have learned.
One thing to remember about this book is that Adler is obviously gearing this book for the novice as well as experienced readers who share one thing in common. The fact that neither knows how to read a book properly. Because of this, you sometimes get the feeling that Adler is over explaining certain topics. Or that he thinks you have absolutely no common sense when it comes to reading. However, I think this is an inherent risk when writing a book like this. As you will soon find out when reading this book, as the author himself says ,"there is nothing arcane or even really new about what we have to purpose. It is largely common sense" (pg.29). Because of this, there are two factors that may cause one to over explain certain topics. One is that you can't assume the reader knows too much. You have to supply what is necessary for the reader to understand what it is you are trying to teach. The second is that the Author has to know what is common "common sense" for the reader. Because Adler is so knowledgeable about this topic, he may lose that ability to know what needs to be explained and what doesn't.
With this in mind, I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to get more from the books they read. This book will forever change your reading ability.

Imagine me - there I was, for decades of my life, thinking I knew how to read a book. I'd advanced through elementary school and prep, into college and finally to graduate school when I discovered, to my horror, that I in 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 and Charles Van Doren. This staple had somehow eluded me; familiar as I was with both Adler and Van Doren, I had never encountered this text.
This book was written in 1940, as World War II was beginning and the Great Depression ending; it was revised in the 60s and again in 70s, with the assistance of Charles Van Doren, another person who had had some difficult dealings with Columbia, due to his involvement in the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. Van Doren moved away from the East Coast and landed in Chicago, near Adler, at Britannica, also again near Adler, and has the kind of intellect and 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 and reading levels. They look at basic goals for reading, and 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 and insightful distinctions between learning by instruction and learning by discovery.
This section is, in fact, full of rules. Rules for notetaking, annotating (highlighting, underlining, summarising, etc.), skimming, comprehending, etc. are all presented in 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, each in and 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 and comprehension of any book. The authors talk about analysis in 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 and scientific texts, or asking the physicist to deal with history and 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 read in the first place? Here the authors talk about developing beyond individual books into fields of learning, introducing ideas of synoptic reading and understanding the importance for doing so. Again charting rules of engagement for multiple texts, the authors discuss the importance of reading for understanding and deeper comprehension.
* * *
The first appendix consists of a lengthy list of the great books identified by Adler, modified over time by the various people involved in 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, recommended in this list. One can find this list in physical form in the Great Books series that is a companion to the Britannica. Itself only recently updated and revised, it consists of several linear feet of bookshelves, and even their recommended 10-year plan is ambition and 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 order in 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 and different intentions. The authors tackle the question of arbitrary and cultural bias in manners of testing, coming to the pragmatic conclusion that, so long as academic and society advancement is tied to these kinds of testing and evaluations, it makes sense to learn how to do them, and however biased they may be in form or content, they still do provide a good measure, if not the best possible measure, for reading comprehension and 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!

The first time I ever saw this book was my first year in college where it was required reading . . . unfortunately, I pretty much tossed it aside after looking at the "embarrasing" title, which screamed: "Hey look, I'm illiterate!" Years after I graduated (and had sold my copy) I came across it again sitting face up in a used book-shop, staring me in the face as if to say: "We've unfinished business, you and me!". So, I decided to give it a second chance. It's now thoroughly underlined, highlighted, and thumbed through. I continue to use the reading list in the appendix as a lifetime must-read list.
This is one of those books that really should be required reading in college, and perhaps high-school (but I doubt most high school students would bother with it). The fraction that I did originally read in college stayed with me all these years, and brought me back to the complete book. I won't go into detail of how the book works (other reviewers have done that), but will say that if you follow Adler & Van Doren's suggestions for active, passionate reading you'll find yourself enjoying books more than ever. And, in my case, enjoying the act of reading for the first time in my life. Since first reading "How to Read a Book" some years ago, I've rarely been without reading material that I was enthusiastic about, and continue to use the suggestions in this "guide to intelligent reading" at various times to remind myself of such things as the difference between reading for information vs. understanding; or when and how to read long novels quickly and with immersion and not get lost or bogged down without taking forever to finish, if at all.
This guide is filled with information and recommendations which most of us probably think we already know, but since the subject of reading itself isn't usually well taught, becomes a classic, and vital handbook for any serious reader.

I have the good fortune to be the 100th person to review this book, yet I think it deserves as much attention as possible, especially now that our educational system has dwindled down to new historic lows. As a society in the United States, we have clearly selected a path to quantity in terms of literacy, rather than quality and although this has given us great employability, much of the great talent in this country is latent. The approach undertaken by Adler is to awaken a reader from a passive observer to an active and demanding participant in the educational process while also appealing to the intellect. There is sometheing here for everyone seeking better ways to capture information or gain understanding from the most important invention of all time, the written word.

I honestly thought I knew how to read a book until I was humbled into the realization that there are several levels to this activity, ultimately leading to the question of how to truly internalize a book and make use of it. It has in that respect increased my personal expectations of myself and thereby the selection of readings that I have undertaken. In How to Read a Book proves that an author can play the part of the teacher.

How to Read a Book is an effective blueprint on how to activately angage with an author who through his work reaches out to a reader. I feel that due to this, this book serves as an excellent aid towards personal development if this is the nature of the material one reads.

Adler was unquestionably a gifted teacher (through his writings at least) and has done great justice to the Aristotelian tradition of teaching through detached brilliance, codifying his observations.

The other great byproduct of how to read a book is the preponderance of the writer on how to actually structure the writing of a book. The writing process is thus greatly enhanced, as one should anticipate the needs of a highly discriminating reader and produce meaningful and accessible work.

I wish that this book was part of the curriculum for me in high school, it would have made a significant impact in my college years.

I first read this book when I was in Junior High School. During the intervening 40 years I have carried it from place to place in my library without giving it a second thought. On a whim I picked it up last week and decided to see what was there.
Wow! I'm sorry I didn't get more out of it when I was young. Fortunately much of what Mr. Adler writes is what I have discovered about reading, but I never articulated it. And now that he has, I can approach reading in a much more methodical way.
I was startled to discover that there is now a new edition with Charles Van Doren listed as the first author. I am hard-pressed to imagine what he might have done to improve upon the perfection of the original. It is very entertainingly written with a very personal flavor that I really appreciate.
I found it either discouraging or encouraging to read his diatribe against the American education system, realizing that he wrote it in 1939.
(My copy was printed in 1960.)

Reading is not unlike breathing. We inhale and exhale and scarcely pay attention to the process until we start gasping for breath. The analogy to reading occurs when the reader begins to gasp for literary breath, usually when faced with a daunting read of a complex text. In HOW TO READ A BOOK, Mortimer Adler addresses a complaint that was current when the first edition of his book was published in 1940. College professors moaned that their students could not read in a manner that allowed these readers to come to terms with the authors of assigned texts. Oh, readers could read in a literal sense, that is from word to word from the first page to the last. They even might know some of the big words used, but when professors asked their undergraduate readers to discuss in their own words the content of those pages, the results were too often literary asthma. Now flash forward to today. Same problem, same result. What Adler tried successfully to teach in the classroom and in this text is just as relevant today as then.

Reading, as Adler sees it, is divided into two types: there is the passive sort that requires that the reader to pay scant attention to the words on the page. Reading is a monologue in which the words of the author are filtered directly and uncritically to the cerebral cortex of the reader. The contents linger momentarily and exit the consciousness very nearly as quickly as they entered. The sports page and trashy novels are the feeding grounds for passive reading. Then there is the second sort--active reading. It is here that Adler insists that reading be an ongoing dialogue between reader and author. When the author begins the verbal conversation with the reader, that reader has the moral responsibility to treat those words just as if he(or she) were engaged in a literary debate with all the rules of the Princeton Debate Club applying. Adler demands that the reader do far more than merely read in a straight line progression from the first word to the last. The reader must engage in frequent stops to have a conversation with the author to make sure that the inner meaning of the words is transmitted as intended. Here, the standard tools of literary analysis apply: main idea, inference, conclusion, style, and tone. Most college professors would be ecstatic if their neophyte charges could read on that level. But to Adler, that is only the mid point on the road to reading the classics. What distinguishes the mid reader from the accomplished reader is the ability of the reader to render a judgment on the text based on ideas external to the text. Once the reader understands the intent of the author, a process Adler calls "coming to terms" with that author, then that reader is fit to pass judgment on the author's intent and ideas. Adler mentions plenty of tricks by which the neophyte reader can come to terms, most of which involve actively marking the text with pencil marks. It is only after these literary sleight of hand maneuvers have been accomplished can the reader aspire to the third and highest level, the black belt of reading: the critical reader. And it is precisely here that Adler suggests that reading is a self-perpetuating process: the more that a reader plows through the mind and deeds of the literary giants, the more that this reader will be able to do what the authors of these ancient texts have long desired--that their ideas will have been found, in the words of Francis Bacon, to be "digested" and "feasted." Bacon learned his craft from the greats of Roman and Greek classical antiquity. Adler urges us today to do no less.

The information contained within How to Read a Book justifies its price, yet it is apparent that Mortimer Adler may need to read a book entitled How to Write a Book. His prose isn't terrible but it makes the book noticably longer. As one other reader pointed out, he tries to evince the flaws in the education system, but he fails to acknowledge that it isn't an advertisement and the reader recognizes that reading education is faulty, otherwise he wouldn't buy the book. This is flaw this excellent book has. The content is superlative, yet it took me several reads to get through his desultory style of writing. But I feel the time invested has raked in 200% returns, and I am definately indebted to How to Read a Book for giving me more enjoyment out of the books I read. The reason I give it 5 stars is because the content surpasses the 5 star limit and the writing falls in the 3-4 * range. The content is just so important... This book is essential. Stocks are down so invest in How to Read a Book and reap in the returns :)

This book was challenging. I have been an active reader for several years, but now I realize that I have not been reading to my full potential. First, I have learned that the books I read are not challenging enough for me. The author of this book writes that if a book is not `over your head' you will not learn anything from it. Books that are hard for us to understand are the books that change our minds, make us grow. I tend to shy away from these types of books. Second, I learned how to read analytically. The method is simple, but time consuming. You must spend lots of time and effort to read a book analytically.
This is a great book for anyone who wants to harvest more from the books they read. The author writes, "Reading well, which means reading actively, is thus not only a good in itself, nor is it merely a means to advancement in our work or career. It also serves to keep our minds alive and growing."

Of course, probably all of us who browse the book section of this website know how to read a book. But do you know how to read to get the most benefit out of a good book, a book that is "above your head", that stretches your mind, that introduces you to unfamiliar concepts? "How to Read a Book" presents four kinds of reading, but spends most of its pages discussing "analytical" reading. There is a lot to analytical reading, and casual readers probably won't want to make the effort. Those serious about reading, however, will benefit from using the concepts presented here. The book talks about how to read different types of books, both fiction and non-fiction. Then it moves to a brief discussion of "syntopical" reading, which is basically the type of reading necessary for researchers and college students attempting to write a paper. This is a very valuable book, but I had to dock it one star for a little too much subtle advertising for the well-known set of books the authors have assembled.

While this book assumes the reader knows how to read, this book also teaches the reader to read each category of reading material: books, newspapers and magazines, with specific questions in mind.
And the most important thing that I have gained from reading this book was how important it is not to read books in a hurry, but to read, as you have a conversation with the author. Expect more from the authur. And reread each book, to draw out more of yourself.
This book also helped me to publish my first articles, as a Journalist - my proudest identification.
I suggest that every parent, and teacher encourage high school students to read this book, before completion of high school. And to read it not just once, but at least 3 times. This is what will impress upon them how to get the most out of their lives, and be productive people.

"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.

How to Read a Book is a classic guide to intelligent reading and my opinion is that it should be standard reading, particularly for the college-bound student. Don't let the title fool you. This book is not a simplistic review of what you learned in the second grade. The book is divided into four parts.

Part one includes what Adler calls the first two levels of reading: elementary and inspectional reading. In total he sets forth four levels of reading: elementary reading, inspectional reading, analytical reading and syntopical reading. He proceeds to tell us that reading is an active process since the teacher is not available to deliberate. In keeping with this activity we are told how to read faster while comprehending more, how to find answers to our questions from within the book and how to make the right kind of notes in the book.

Part two contains the third level of reading: analytical reading. "Reading a book analytically is chewing and digesting it" (p.19). We now learn how to determine the type of literature we are reading, what type of structure it has and we learn that we must come to grasp with the author's vocabulary. The point of all this is to understand the message of the author. If we are unable to state the author's message concisely in our own terms, we have learned nothing. Only after we first understand what the author is saying, can we begin criticize him fairly. Once we have read analytically, we can agree with the author, disagree with him or we can postpone judgment until we have learned more if we wish. Adler suggests that we do not consult other study helps until we first have read the book analytically. This will deaden our ability to read and think for ourselves as well as confuse the message of the author.

Part three tells us how to read different types of literature including practical books, imaginative literature, stories, plays, poems, history, philosophy, science, mathematics and social science. Each type of literature has its own vocabulary, propositions, arguments, and questions that must be asked of it. This section is particularly helpful in applying the basic rules of reading to the type of literature that is to be read.

The final part of the book is dedicated to the ultimate goals of reading. The first goal is the fourth and final level of reading: syntopical reading. Syntopical reading is the reading of different works on the same subject with a view to constituting a general view on the subject. The idea is to read a number of books on a given subject, as objectively as possible, and withhold judgment and criticism of all the books until you understand the different perspectives. This is the bread and butter of research and is the best way to understand any given subject matter, which is why this book is vital to the college student as well as anyone with academic pursuits. This is also the way to become educated as opposed to being indoctrinated. The last of the two ultimate goals of reading is to expand your mind for further understanding. Your mind is like a rubber band in that when it is stretched, it never fully returns to its original shape.

I found this book to be highly organized and thoroughly outlined. The back even contains two appendices with a list of recommended books and exercises at the four levels of reading. It is essentially a "how to" book therefore its contents are very practical and immediately helpful.

I so wish someone had shown me this book before but nevertheless am grateful to have found it now. Over the last 2-3 months I have been bitten by the reading bug and cannot stop reading. However I noticed, with trying to read all these books, there simply wasn't enough time to enjoy them all, or rather, I wasn't efficient enough in my reading skills. So a thought came to my mind. Wait a minute, maybe I should be reading a book on how to read first! And so with a simple google search, I found this book. I must admit not all of it is gold but still what it has is worth its weight in gold. I must admit I havent even finished it yet. In fact I only read maybe 1/6 at most. But with what I was able to learn, I have exponentially improved my reading speed as well as my retention. I went to a book store today and was like a kid in a candy store. I found a book on perfection and decided to sit down and skim through it. The next thing I know, I had finished the entire 200 page book in an 90 minutes. Obviously I did not read every word in the book or even from every page. But with the skills given I was able to read and retain 80-90% of the information the book wanted to convey. I had never accomplished such a feat and must admit it feels incredible, almost like a superpower.

[Helpful? Not? Please vote.] :: Truly, I admire anyone who reads every word of this book (as I did). To say the author is verbose is quite an understatement. A family member of mine met the good Dr. Adler, and was not quite star struck either. I found this out after reading "How to Read a Book", and was relieved we had reached the same conclusion. MJ Adler wants to make absolutely, positively, incontrovertibly, wholly, unambiguously, categorically *CERTAIN* you know exactly, precisely, ..(blah-blah).. , and clearly what he means. Easily two-thirds of the book is reiteration of an already clearly-made point. This isn't to say that it's a valueless book. Its intellectual treatment of the subject of reading a book is nothing less than complete. It's also quite a bit longer than it need be. I would ideally be allowed to rate it at 4.5 stars. I had to take 1/2 star, rather than give 1/2 for being more than a bit too thorough. It was, in short, a drudgerous read.

If I were you, I would definitely grab a used copy of this book, or check it out from the library. I would then employ its wisdom (most of which is in the first third of the book), and make a good outline of the book's major points. This book is a recipe for extracting the marrow from books, considering their finer points, and finally weighing the impact on your life and/or larger issues. If you really like the author's style, read on, and be impressed with how well-read he is. If it's dull to you (as it became for me), rest well knowing that if you have the general ideas from the book in mind, like a recipe for reading, you will still have benefited from it, and almost certainly will have improved your reading in some appreciable way. I detract only for missed opportunities in brevity.

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.

This was a very informative book, it was slow to read at times but it did teach me a lot. I felt like I could take away so much more from the books I was to read after reading this. there were so many tips and techniques, this should be a required book to anyone in the teaching field. if you are an avid reader(especially non-fiction) I recommend this to you. even the dialect is written in a dense form, although that could be because books from that era isn't full of fluff and it gets right to the point, but I felt like the paper and ink wasn't wasted away with mindless words and pointless thoughts.

I read this book in junior college, then went on to earn a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees. I credit this book for teaching me how to read a book and how to succeed in school and in life. Should be required reading for every human being.

Also recommended: "Jenna's Flaw," a novel about the death of God, the crumbling of Western civilization, the lost art of reading, and more.

This book is a must read for anyone who is serious about his/her reading. The authors offer some perceptive tips, suggestions and 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 and provide techniques and 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 and 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 and well researched and it should be on every reader's shelf.

It's an ironic title. Who needs a book about how to read a book? Well, as more books like The Dumbest Generation emerge, it becomes clear we all need this book.

In it Adler teaches practical steps in critical reading and thinking skills. It is one that I go back to over and over. While most of us read only superficially, Adler gives rules for tearing a book apart--analyzing the text, seeing how the parts relate to the whole and each other, how to find the structure, the main ideas, the support of those ideas, how to evaluate what is being said, synthesizing what is said in one text with others, and rules of etiquette when agreeing or disagreeing with an author. (There is a lot here that reminds one of SQ3R, the old study technique to boost reading comprehension, but this book is much more thorough.) Adler and Van Doren also show how active reading can be done in different fields of knowledge--history, science, philosophy, literature, etc.

It's a great guide to thinking critically about books, and it would make a good gift for a high school or college student who wants to increase reading comprehension and analytical skills in general. Adler was a champion of the Great Books of the Western World program, and this book is a natural segue into reading and understanding the classics and joining in The Great Conversation as he called it.

With all the great controversy going in Grammar Schools on how to read books, one thing is still clear: most students can't read that well. Teacher often leave that big job on the shoulders of students to acquire all the subtle facets of reading.
Today's educators still place the responsibility of acquring expertise in reading on students and yet they never give them good text guides to help them gain those skills in good reading.
And since most technical writers can't write clearly because they often begin assuming everybody can read their minds, this book even helps this large group of people dispersed among the rest of us in society.
So this simply and direct book now becomes a must read for all High School or College students who need to know once and for all the basics skills for reading a wide variety of material they will face in their lifetime.
...

This is, without a doubt, the most useful book I have ever read. You may experience the same, even if you don't read all of it (which I did, but don't always recommend). The later chapters on syntopical reading (multiple simultaneous books on the same subject) and some of the specific types of reading (CH14-19) may be best read as needed, or some cases, re-read to sharpen your reading skills for a particularly important or challenging read.

Another reviewer has written a good high level summary, so I won't repeat her outline of the book's argument, but I will say that I recommend this book to everyone who has even a passing interest in gaining more from what they read.

To the few who claim this is a boring book, I say: it is a serious book about how to read better. If you're not even a little excited about the benefits of that, you probably won't like it. If you only read books for entertainment the way one might watch a movie, this book is likely of little use to you and best avoided. For anyone with a job and/or passion that requires detailed and critical understanding of anything written, I happily introduce you to your new favorite book.

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. the store, 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.

A book that was written 70 years ago does not need another typical review. The jist and contents of this book can be widely found, if you just attempt to search. What this book probably needs more is a contemporary apology, both in the sense of "I'm sorry" and in the sense of justification.

First of all, this book is some kind of hell when you first start it, but the attempt would benefit anybody and everybody that would persist. I bought this book going on four years ago and attempted to read it then. But I found the effort that it demanded to be too much. It wasn't until I read Zinnser's "On Writing Well" that I discovered that the difficulty I was having with "How to Read a Book" was mainly the authors' voice. I decided to finish the book because I believe that just because I don't like the way somebody talks doesn't mean that they don't say something intelligible or intelligent. I was rewarded (although I gave myself the freedom to edit the words and phrasing and transitions and section arrangement to my liking. I would say that everyone should read the last section of Chapter 5 first. And then the second section of the same chapter afterwards). The real gem to this book is Part 2, which delineates the Rules of Reading. This material should be a pamphlet to all high school students and college freshman.

Second of all, this book needs to be edited to reflect the changes in "standard" English that have risen because of second-wave feminism. Being male, I cannot understand and can only guess about how annoying it would be to see every "indefinite" pronoun implicitly referring to a male. This book has some great information in it, but the historical, implicit sexism reflected in the language certainly distracts from the core messages today.

Third, the moral recommendations in this book would greatly help our society today. I was amazed by the sheer number of phrases and passages which emphasized the importance of both objectivity and sympathy. Today it seems that the dogmatic political tribes have no sympathy for each other, and both are ignoring facts that would undermine their world-view. The authors recommend adopting the dogma of a faith you don't belong to (so long as you are reading the dogmatic theology), emphasize the importance of being able to change your mind, contend that you must be able to defend your views with logic instead of feelings, and establish that you must be able to demonstrate that you understand what was said before undertaking any criticism (and never employ ad hominem). I can't think of a modern-day politician that would do all these things.

This book is neither perfect in its content nor is it exhaustive in its scope (although the second part which concerns reading expository works analytically is very near perfect and exhaustive). The authors readily admit when they're ignorant and do not attempt to feign knowledge in such cases, but this book would greatly benefit from an expanded and updated third part (which describes how to read certain subject material analytically). And it would benefit from an edited fourth part (which describes how to read syntopically) where the author put as much care and thought into the process of syntopical reading as Adler and Van Doren put into reading analytically. Also, the first part needs totally re-ordered.

But damn. I would pay for a sequel.

I can understand Mortimer Adler's motivation for writing "How to Read a Book" in 1940. Absolutely dismayed by the quality of discussion in his university seminars and certain that his students either did not read the assigned books or did not know how to properly digest them Mr. Adler decided to write a book that spelled out in painstaking and often insulting detail how to read a book.

Knowing the genre of the book and understanding the title are according to Mr. Adler that important first step. Reading the table of contents and skimming the index come next. Inspecting the book, and understanding the different constituent parts will permit readers to better grasp the author's viewpoint and how he constructs his arguments. Then there's the pinpointing and understanding of the author's key words and key sentences, which will permit the reader to better understand the author's reasoning. Once fully confident of the author's thinking may the reader begin to question his logic, reasoning, and completeness of thought -- and the very experienced readers will be able to compare and contrast with other books.

It's a fine public service that Mr. Adler has mechanically systemized a reading process. Teachers and professors show either ignorance or indifference when they just assume that their students have understood the text, and do not do enough to actually pressure the students into comprehending the text. Seminar discussion, papers, and examination questions are too open-minded so as to allow students to bluff their way through, and the SAT is a test which can be coached and beaten. So it's good that finally comes an author, experienced in the tactics and strategies of college students to do the least work for the best grades, who demands that readers actually focus and concentrate on reading.

Unfortunately, the co-authors Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren do it in the most pedantic and professorial, laborious and long-winded manner possible (that's why, I suppose, they didn't do a sequel to their best-seller and entitle it "How to Write a Book"). Consider the classic "Elements of Style" By William Strunk and E.B. White, and how with economy and wit they're able to distill the parts of writing into their most basic and most easily understood constituent parts. Running at 419 pages "How to Read a Book" could easily have just been 50 pages.

There is no doubt that this is an excellent and enlightening book teaching average readers like myself on how reading should be properly done. Utilizing the technique the authors teach in this book, the single most important word in the this book is, ACTIVE. There are generally three purpose for reading:amusement, knowledge, and understanding. This book is mainly for people who want to gain knowledge and elevate their understandings of a particular book they are reading. But it is also true for reading for amusement. The authors teach all kinds of tricks and steps on active reading. As being a practical book, the most difficult and time consuming job still lies on our shoulders. This means that we can only be better by practicing more, which is always true in many other situations.

The author makes many good points about reading skillfully, including how to determine if you should bother reading a particular book.

The main point is that different books should be read differently. If you agree with that premise, this book will train you how to do it. If, on the other hand, you read the USA Today the same way you would read the Communist Manifesto or a technical journal, then you may have no use for the book.

Unfortunately, Adler is a little wordy at times, but the book contains instructions on how to deal with verbose authors too!

Being foreing to English language I still find M. Adler's book, redited 1972, exceptional. His 1940 original version which I read in Spanish in early 70's, shifted my life. This newer version takes me also to another shift. I'd loved to have had a word with Mr. Adler, and now to his partner Mr. Van Doren. Please help.me to reach him. Is there a club or a blogg or an group.of followers? Please advise.

Do you remember being amazed by the disparity between reading abilities amongst your class-mates? I do.
Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren assert that most people never learn to read for deep comprehension. In those remembered classes, I was amongst the stronger students. Only once I was beyond college did I realize I wanted to read more closely and tackle more challenging texts.
HOW TO READ A BOOK tackles the essential skills you need to read intelligently and learn from the greatest teachers of all time.
It teaches how to read a single work on its own, how to read different genres effectively (including an interesting section on dramas and plays, which are essentially blueprints of complete performance works), and how to read books in relation to each other so one can understand the great conversation amongst books (so fascinatingly visited in The Name of the Rose).
I feel that I have made a leap in my comprehension and analytical skills by working through this book. Unfortunately, "working" is an appropriate verb. The authors are verbose, making their points over and over, to the detriment of clarity and simplicity.
If you are interested in learning to analyze philosophy and practical works, are engaging in higher studies and find your skills falling short of your expectations, or just want to push yourself, take the time to read this handbook. Expect to draw comments from everyone who sees it in your hands -- for everyone believes that reading is a simple skill. Know that you are working towards making it an art!

The correct title of this book might be "How To PROPERLY Read A Book". You are not offered any shortcuts, but in fact are told that by its very nature, reading should not involve shortcuts. This is especially the case for important reading (for work or school or business) but even in leisure reading, you should not just go through the motions. A good book is one you can understand, learn from AND enjoy.
Among its many great qualities, this book has the unique ability to allow one to practice the techniques it teaches as you go along. It certainly isn't the type of typical "how-to" book, the type which promise you can read once, put away and be miraculously improved.
I hope to use the book's tips and advice for the rest of my life and greatly enhance my reading skills!!

How to Read a Book divides readers into 4 separate groups. Elementary readers, inspectional readers, analytical readers, and synoptical readers. The issue with this book, however, is it is not very practical. He draws on and on giving example after example, which becomes useless. Anyone who has graduated from high school, perhaps even those who are just freshmen in high school, will have already developed the strategies presented in this book. The book basically tells you to be more competent by examining all aspects of the book. I.E. Title, index, table of contents, chapter titles, bold words, italics, underline, etc. The author tells you to find words not used in common language in order to find out what is important in the chapters, and to basically, form your own opinion of the book.

I cannot help but feel this book could have been narrowed down to 20 pages. The author gives way to many examples, and draws on and on about useless topics. Quite literally, you could just read the last few paragraphs of every chapter, and the intro paragraph to every chapter, and come out with an understanding as if you read the entire book.

I would not recommend this product to anyone unless you wish to bore them. It was a complete waste of my time. Seriously: If you want to dread ever picking up a book again, read this. The only reason I gave it two stars, is because if you're a complete moron, this book may be useful to you. But then again, if you're a complete moron, you cannot read and thus this book will be useless for you. Maybe I should change my rating...

I managed to literally ‘survive’ this book until page 80, but that’s when I gave up. There might be some great content and a few nuggets in this book, but the way it is written is just plain boring. The author has a ‘drawn-out’ style for bringing his points across, which is just a big waste of time. If one can get through the mass of common sense however than there are some good reading tips buried throughout. I would recommend this book to people reading books for academic purposes, and people reading a lot of non-fictional books.

If you still want to get the value out of this book without actually wasting your time, I suggest considering these two resources:
http://www.oxfordtutorials.com/How%20to%20Read%20a%20Book%20Outline.htm
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/06/17/how-to-read-a-book/

This is a review of "How to read a book" by Adler (May 2008).

This book was recommended to me by several authors I liked so aftr reading the positive reviews I decided to buy it. I can see that some see this book as 'timeless' and I think that is true, but I have also some criticism.

Pros:
- I see the main value of the book in teaching you the ability to structure your reading process/effort so that you get maximum value out of reading any book. For experienced readers (age 35+) this may be already a kind of automatism, but for less experienced (either in terms of #years or in terms of type of topic) this is probably not the case.
- I liked in particular the fact that the author not only discusses how to read book with emphasis on analytic content (rational / scientific / factual type of books), but also other kinds of literature.

Cons:
- The book is way too long. The author takes many pages to make a point that can also be done in 30% of the space. Fortunately, the author provides summaries of his 'rules' and tips. Nevertheless, an author who writes about how to efficiently read a book, should be brief himself! Just as you may expect from a dedicated reader that he reads efficiently, you may expect from a good writer he thinks through how to make a point, and be brief in the end, not forcing a reader to read many superfluous pages. Adler failed here. This makes me downgrade my rating.

Bottom line: If possible get it from a library; I would not recommend buying this book if you are in the second half of your 'reading life'.

This book changed my life. I think it should be required in school. Or at least it should be required reading for anyone who wants to be an English teacher. I will definitely pass on this information to my future students. I have always been a good reader. In fact, I was so good that no one bothered to find out what exactly I was doing when I read and give me helpful suggestions for improvement. If you think of yourself as an educated, thoughtful person, and still you find that you often finish a book and are unable to articulate much about it six months later, get this book. I read more slowly now but I know what I'm reading. You might also try Susan Wise Bauer's The Well Educated Mind. I would check out both from the library and then select one to buy as a reference. Or buy both if you're a collector like me.

As the title suggests, this book professes to be a how-to manual for literacy. However, a large portion of the book is devoted to bemoaning the decline of education in America. It is interesting to observe the similariy of the complaints noted in this book and the complaints of today's education critics.
In any case, the tips and suggestions offered in this book are sound. Adler advocates a structured approach to reading to increase comprehension. The general gist of his recommendations hold equally well for writing as for reading.
The reader should be warned that Adler's writing style can be irritating. His tone ranges from nagging to condescending to hectoring. However, once you get past the tone and down to the actual material, this book provides for some very instructional reading.

My kids had a good laugh when they saw me reading this book. After all, I am reading all the time (even if I haven't written a review in almost a year!). But I'm about to go back to school--specifically seminary--and the powers that be recommended we read this book. Some of this was a little dry, and some of it dated (how, for example, should we read the information we gather on the Internet?), but I still find it helpful information as I get ready to plunge into the depths of theology. Some of which, I should point out, is pretty thick reading, indeed. I especially appreciate the advice of just plugging my way through the book once, then going back again. I appreciate the questions I should ask myself of the book I am reading. It helps me to get more out of the book, and it is helping me retain more of what I am reading. Someday, my kids will read this book, and I will have the last laugh!

I commend both the authors for this book. The authors were not pretentious in tackling such a monumental task; how to read a book. If you are considering to read this book, do it. Here are three reasons:
1. People are under the false mindset that they know how to properly read, this book dismantles the mindset and rebuilds it carefully to approach books knowing the category.
2. It delineates different stages of reading that will be most useful (particularly as a college student).
3. You can use it as a reference for later when you are venturing to read books that are not your expertise.

In reading a book, it is important to differentiate between the three levels: entertainment, information and understanding. Gathering facts is not the same as gaining insight. Learning is not the same as discovery. There are four types of reading, each building on the previous: elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical. Elementary reading is reading as a child. Inspectional reading includes: title page, preface, table of contents, index, publisher's notes and pivotal chapters. Dip in here and there and read the last few pages. This process should take no more than one hour. This is most important for expository works. Even a difficult book should be read through without stopping. Remember speed-reading is actually variable speeds of reading as appropriate to the book in hand. The four basic questions are, 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 part? 4: what of it-significance? The first four rules of analytical reading are: 1:classify the book, 2: find the unity, a single short statement that captures it's essence. 3: analyze the parts of the book. 4:determine the problems the author is trying to solve. The next four rules are: 5: come to terms with the author through key words and phrases. Important words help to increase understanding enormously. The approach is both top down and bottom up. 6: find the most important sentences and discover their propositions. 7: locate the basic argument of the book from the key sentences. Restate this in your own words to confirm your understanding. 8; find the authors solutions. If a book is over your head it is an opportunity to increase your knowledge. The last 4 rules concern criticism. 9: you must be able to understand before you can criticize. 10: when you disagree do so reasonably. 11: respect the difference between knowledge and opinion. Read other criticisms only after you have read the book, this can be very pleasurable. 12; show where the author is uninformed, misinformed, illogical or incomplete. The three sets of rules of analytical reading are therefore: structural, interpretive and critical. Degree of difficulty x size of audience=constant appears to be a rule. Great comment on Plato: wherever I go in my mind I meet Plato coming back. Syntopical reading involves creating a tentative bibliography, reading all the books inspectionally. Short-list the relevant books. Bring the authors to common terms. Establish a set of neutral propositions. Define the issues and analysis to throw maximum light on the subject. Ask questions as a child would and try to answer them. There is no limit to the amount of growth and development that the mind can sustain. Bibliography could do with bringing up to date from 1970 when to revision was written.

It's a common misconception that a person who has read a large number of books is therefore "well read". To be in fact well read according to this book's author, would be indicated not by the amount of books read, but by how well the books were read. Reading well is what "How To Read A Book" is all about.

This book is a course on the anatomy of a book, the peeling of its contents in exposing the central theme or message of its author. This is accomplished by the structured, methodical autopsy performed by the reader, who, in extracting the central contents, is rewarded with a much deeper and increased understanding.
Reading is looked upon by the author as an art. The reading of a good book, one that stretches you mentally, takes a high degree of skill and is a major exertion. It is very active. The reader, armed with pen in hand, is taking notes, underlining principle ideas, noting structure, asking questions of the author, thinking, concentrating. It is by no means passive.
This book comes highly recommended and is a real treasure. It will be with you for life (I am currently on my second copy, the first having been retired and permanently shelved following much use). One final word of note- It is the authors' goal to present the "Ideal" form of reading, however it is also the authors' understanding that not many readers have the time nor the desire to read every book in this manner (given the unlimited amount of time in both analytical and syntopical readings described in the book, it could take years of study if a person elected to do so). It is the authors' assertion that "you are a good reader to the degree in which you approximate it".

A book lovers bible. Simply read it!

My comment is regarding this particular revised printed publication.

I was very surprised and disappointed to find out that the font size is conspicuously SMALL! I do have 6/6 vision but I find it difficult to read, especially that the print color is bright black (or dark gray) on a grayish paper… Compared to any other book in a book store (picked randomly) this is too small and again, colors don't help with clarity. The funny thing is that this is a classic! Sort of a bible for book lovers. This is, if I understand correctly, the only revised edition, therefore, not sending it back to store. Can keep it as a reference. But if I want to read the book from A to Z I will have to try older editions that probably have normal size font and black on white or at least black on yellowish print rather than vague black on a grayish…

Really, I think Simon & Shuster should take on board my comment/complaint!

HOW MANY OTHER "HOW-TO" BOOKS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1940 STILL PERTAIN TODAY? THIS BOOKS OFFERS PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS ON GETTING THE MOST OUT OF A BOOK, BY READING MORE ACTIVELY AND ATTENTIVELY THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE. THE BOOK DOES NOT SUFFER FROM THE MOST COMMON COMPLAINT OF OTHER PRACTICAL BOOKS; YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO SET THE BOOK DOWN IN ORDER TO PUT YOUR NEW SKILLS AS A READER INTO PRACTICE. THE 13 PAGE RECOMMENDED READING LIST ALONE IS WORTH THE PRICE OF THE BOOK.

Best book that will ever be written on this topic The writing style is as excellent as the material. This is book is not for the local 'Village Sewing Society.' It is for serious Bookworms. Or 'wannabe Serious' Bookworms.
I'm 75 years old, A 'high level' reader for 60 years with 30,000 books read. I believe I know whereof I speak. This book will add new levels to your book-loving. [email protected]

There's no doubt that effective reading is a skill which has to be developed through deliberate practice, and this book provides mostly good advice which should help develop that skill more quickly (but I don't agree with all of Adler's advice).

Adler's advice pertains to aspects such as doing preliminary reconaissance of a book by systematically skimming it, classifying the book by genre, identifying the author's aims, grasping the way the author uses terminology, distilling the central message of the book along with its implications and the structure of its supporting arguments, judging the book fairly, and drawing on multiple books on the same subject in order to reach a synoptic understanding of the subject. The main point is that reading books effectively comes down to reading them actively, motivated by a sincere desire to understand, learn, and grow; without that motivation, the reader is really just going through the motions and perhaps shouldn't even bother trying.

Readers who are already skilled will have picked up most or all of the strategies and techniques recommended by Adler on their own, through trial and error. Therefore, the value of the book is that it should expedite the development of this skill for less skilled readers, and it should reinforce (and validate) this skill for those who are already skilled readers.

All of this sounds pretty good, so why 3 stars? Because Adler has made the book much too long, with the result that his key points can easily get lost in his endless babbling, not to mention making the book very tedious to read. If Adler had cut out the fat and trimmed the book from 400 pages down to 100 pages, the book probably would have easily deserved 5 stars. It's as though Adler is so impressed with his own erudition that he loves to hear himself talk and can't help showing off. Or perhaps he's so pompous that he feels the need to overexplain things to the reader, as though he's lecturing a child. Whatever the reason, the end result is still that Adler's verbosity obscures his key points and makes the book a chore to read, thus greatly diminishing its value. Readers can partially compensate for this problem by reading the book quickly but, ironically, that option is less feasible for the beginning readers who could have potentially most benefitted from the book.

I can recommend the book only with major reservations, and hopefully my review will help you decide whether this book is a good choice for you.

A book with great ideas IF you're attempting to tackle the "great classics". He shows a lot of disdain for secondary, derivative works, as he hates the idea of someone dumbing down the originals. To that, he has a point. You can only make a photocopy of a photocopy so many times.

You'll find this book useful if you see yourself tackling difficult material in the near future. This means anything written by one of the "greats" (culturally significant) or any sort of difficult college-level-and-up literature.

He bemoans that in our times, not enough people are reading /critically/, and even less are looking at the "classics". Therefore about 1/3 of the book is dedicated to railing against the Western education system. Lots of stuff about how magazines and newspapers are toxic to society. An interesting read, but takes far too long to get to the crux of the matter.

Essentially, this book is a plea for readers to care about books, and to think critically while reading books. When he finally gets to specific tactics (outlining, summarizing, reading other titles in the genre), there is no a-ha eureka lightbulb moment, just a series of semi-obvious ideas that you find yourself nodding along with in agreement.

The author says something near the start of the book that captures his general idea: Give books the same mental energy you would to a love letter, or a car manual when your auto breaks down on the highway in the middle of the night. Examine every aspect and angle with your full attention.

The first book of my first doctoral class was about reading itself. And I'm glad it was. Thanks to Van Doren & Adler, I'll read more specifically & thoroughly. Some portions of the book may not apply to you, but you will grow from the book as a whole. Reading is a skill. Learn to use it well.

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.

My reasons for reading this book are many. The initial one was curiosity, because the title intrigued me. Another reason, and a more important one, was the fact that I am now studying for a Doctor of Business Administration degree, which is purely based on my learning from reading. Being someone for whom English is a second language, it is my opinion that my skills can always be improved and it was in that spirit that I took this book into my daily life.

In fairness, this is not the easiest book my hands have ever touched or my eyes have ever rested upon, but having spent the time to read it, my opinion is that it will make a significant difference to my reading and learning in the future.

It is easy to fool oneself by thinking that one knows all or most of what there is to know about reading, since most people's reading starts at an early age. Some people is likely to have that kind of attitude and dismiss this book, however if they read it they would come to discover that there is so much to be learned by reading it. "How to Read a Book" is now amongst the books that I treasure. It is a joy to read as one learns the principles of reading from its pages, and then later applies them to reading the book itself as it will have to be read in more than one sitting. I now find that my reading has been improving and my understanding of what I am reading is growing thanks to applying what I am learning from it.

I believe that anyone who reads can benefit from "How to Read a Book", even more so the ones who really need to learn from the books read, as the right techniques can make all the difference to the enjoyment as well as the benefits obtained from reading a book.

The authors have written such a valuable work because not only do they describe how reading a book should be approached but also whether a book should be read at all, so at a minimum the reader would save time after reading it, if not improving their skills in reading; however I think they will achieve both things.

I now find that my reading has been improving and my understanding of what I am reading is growing thanks to my usage of what I am learning from it, as I revisit it often. I believe that anyone who reads can benefit from "How to Read a Book", even more so the ones who really need to learn from the books read.

Amongst the many things learned from the book is how to read the work of poets and philosophers, which have always attracted me. Not having English as my first language, I did not have an early exposure to the works of people like Shakespeare; therefore I am glad that now I will be able to do it the right way and therefore obtain maximum enjoyment from it.

I am sure others can write a much better review than I did, so I will stop here and just say that this is a great read and I thoroughly recommend it to any reader, not matter now advanced they think they might be, because this book will make them better readers.

Although it seems this book is written for those reading at the college or even graduate level, I wish someone had given it to me in high school. It shows how reading a book well is not just starting at page 1 and ending up on the last page. It guides you through various levels of reading, from the elementary all the way up to the "synoptic", showing step-by-step how to pay attention to both the details being presented, and to view the book from a broad perspective. It also has a section for how to differently approach works of literature, poetry, science, history, philosophy, and other genres. Once I read this book, I felt more confident in approaching the more difficult books like those of Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, etc... This was the key to help open up these worlds to me.

I picked up this book in a state of vexed frustration. I had forgotten how to read. At least, if felt like that. It was becoming an increasingly difficult practice for me to finish novels; this I rightly ascribed to one of my most damaging shortcomings: perfectionism. I kept telling myself that I had stopped reading books PROPERLY, or that I was being lazy - in a word, that I wasn't assimilating as much as I should be. My standards, though, were unattainable: I seemed almost to expect that, after one reading, I should be able to recite every word, without fail. It is ludicrous, peurile, yet I couldn't seem to disentangle myself from it. I even considered investing in a punchbag, because there was no one in proximal distance upon whom I could feasibly unleash my anger.

I finished this book today, and already I can assert that it was a successful panacea to my reading woes.

The most important thing that I took from the book - the remedy, if you will - concerns first readings. Rather than attempt to absorb everything, rather than constantly consulting the dictionary - one should just immerse oneself in the novel, ideally in a single sitting. If one keeps stopping, then one is apt to forget, or even lose interest. Then, if one wishes, one can reread the novel with an analytical eye. More than one too many ones in that paragraph.

Adler's insistence that you should read the most challenging books, ones that will stretch your imagination, rather than reading exclusively for mere entertainment - is also admirable. I agree with other reviewers that this book should be compulsory for high-school children (not to mention high school children).

I gave it four stars because most of the book is devoted to the art of reading NON-fiction, and only some of the advice is applicable to imaginative fiction. That is just a minor personal criticism, though.

The name of the book is appalling. Not that this had any bearing on my rating, but the title is deceptively simplistic, and you might want to cover it when in public, lest one be mistaken for an illiterate oaf.

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".

The suggestions about reading in this book are invaluable for anyone who wants to get (or give)a great education. It will tell you some rules that you think you have to follow but you don't, and other rules that you would never have thought of. Not only that, you get a little philosophy in the bag. Check it out before you start into that serious book you've been planning to make yourself read.

I purchased this book many years ago. My wife thought I was crazy to buy a "How to" book on reading. This book truly changed the way I read (and think). I can no longer sit down with a serious book without having a pen in hand to write down comments and questions as I go.
This book should be mandatory reading for all high school students and for all education professionals.

Wow. Where to begin? I'm honestly dumbfounded as to how anyone can give this trash heap of masturbatory navel-gazing even half a star. I'll sum it up for you: read actively, take notes, and reread as necessary. The most impressive thing about this book is the amount of words the author uses to convey his obtuse approach to reading. So many words spilled to describe the author's truly strange and unnecessary taxonomy of books. Also... The prose. It's terrible. I'm supposed to trust that a guy who can't write can instruct me on reading? Don't buy this.

I really enjoyed the book initially but as it moved towards explaining how each category of book is to be handled, I got the feeling that I was being spoon fed. I would absolutely recommend the previous version of this book, written around 1945, to everyone who wants to get into serious reading. You will regret not reading this book earlier as it will help you read everything else in the future.
I disagree with the author on one point which is the fact that absolute translations of a book can be made. I do not agree to this statement specially when it comes to poetry and prose. In any case, pick it up before you read read anything else from this point on.

On one hand, it feels weird to read a book about how to read a book. So very meta. Yet I came away from this tome with a lot of insight into the difference between widely read and well-read.

There are salient points (and useful advice) on finding themes and reading with an analytical mind. I really wish I would've been able to read this book before I went to university.

Even the advice on reading novels for entertainment, while probably common sense to many, is useful. In addition, there is a (rather intimidating) reading list at the end.

So, overall, a must-read. Only four stars, though, because at time the text can be a little dry and turns into a struggle.

You may think you can read, but you can't (at least, not well). It is impossible to be a good reader unless you can perform, with mastery, the skills that are outlined in this book. There are advantages to both, but I actually think the 1st edition of this book is superior to the 2nd (the one written by Adler alone). It is easier to read and less convoluted. If you want to become a successful reader, get this book.

This book is basically a bible for anyone who values knowledge. It used to take me months to painstakingly get through one expository work. Adler made me realize the extreme errors of my previous approach to reading. The book is very well organized and structured, also I can't recall a single page that doesn't offer valuable information. I feel very optimistic and prepared now to tackle the long list of books that I've been wanting read for long time.

My friend sent me, a YouTube video of a Mortimer Adler interview, in which Mortimer explained the power of reading a book properly for understanding. So, to find out more, I purchased his book.

The book provided me with useful insights, even on some topics that weren't of particular interest to me, i.e. the chapter on Imaginative Literature (my interests lie with Science). In my opinion, it is well worth the read; for those that need a practical guide for their reading or to get rid of bad habits.

OUTLINE OF BOOK ([...])

Adler, Mortimer J. and Van Doren, Charles. How to Read a Book: The Classic
Guide to Intelligent Reading, rev. ed. (New York: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1972)

Part 1: The Dimensions of Reading

Chapter 1- The Activity and Art of Reading
A. Two types of reading:
1. For information (more data: the `what')
2. For understanding (more discernment: the `why')
B. Two types of learning:
1. By instruction (more passive: to know what)
2. By discovery (more active: to know why)
C. Goal of this book:
1. Learning to learn by discovery, for understanding
2. Learning how to learn from "one who is absent" (author)
3. Learning "how to make books teach us well"

Chapter 2- The Levels of Reading
A. Elementary: "What does the sentence/book say?"
B. Inspectional: "What is the book about? What kind of book is it?"
C. Analytical: "What does the book mean?"
D. Syntopical: "How does it compare with other books?"

Chapter 3- Elementary Reading
A. Four basic stages
1. `reading readiness' (early physical development)
2. simple reading (small vocabulary; simple skills)
3. expanded reading (large vocabulary; diverse subjects; enjoyment)
4. refined reading (understand concepts; compare different views)
B. Need for remedial instruction in elementary reading
1. at the high school level
2. at the college level

Chapter 4- Inspectional Reading
A. Systematic skimming or pre-reading
1. Look at the title page and preface: try to pigeonhole type of book
2. Study table of contents: look for structure/road map for trip
3. Check index: estimate range of terms and topics; look up some
passages that seem crucial
4. Check the dust jacket: read the publisher's blurb
5. Look for chapters which seem most pivotal: read opening and/or
closing passages/pages carefully
6. Thumb through entire book, reading a few paragraphs and/or pages
here and there, esp. at the end, looking for the main argument(s)
B. Superficial reading
1. Read through "without ever stopping to look up or ponder the things
you do not understand right away"
2. "Go right on [until] you come to things you do understand. Concentrate
on these. Keep on in this way." (e.g. "reading Shakespeare"! : )
C. On reading speeds
1. Learn to read at different speeds
a. "many books are hardly worth even skimming;"
b. "some should be read quickly;"
c. "a few should be read... quite slow...allow[ing] for complete comprehension"
2. Even difficult books have some material which can be read quickly
D. Fixations and regressions:
1. The mind can grasp a sentence or even a paragraph at a glance
2. For faster reading try sweeping your thumb and first two fingers
like a "pointer" across the line forcing your eyes to keep up
E. Problem of comprehension
1. Speed isn't enough; speed alone doesn't bring comprehension
2. This book seeks to improve comprehension
F. Summary of inspectional reading
1. "Race through even the hardest book" the first time through.
2. "You will then be prepared to read it well the second time."

Chapter 5- How to be a Demanding Reader
A. Four basic questions a reader asks:
THE FOUR STAGES OF ANALYTICAL READING:
1. "What is the book about as a whole?" (Subject/Classification)
2. "What is being said in detail, and how?" (Terms/Interpretation)
3. "Is the book true, in whole or part?" (Truth/Evaluation)
4. "What of it?" (Significance/Response)
B. How to make a book your own:
1. Underlining key sentences
2. Vertical lines to mark key sections
3. Marginal doodads likes asterisks and stars
4. Numbers of other pages in the margin
5. Circling key words or phrases
6. Writing in margins, or top and bottom
C. Three kinds of note-making
1. Structural- about the content of the subject
2. Conceptual- about the truth and significance
3. Dialectical- about the shape of the argument in the larger discussion
of other people's ideas

Part 2: The Third Level of Reading: Analytical Reading

THE FIRST STAGE OF ANALYTICAL READING

Chapter 6- Pigeonholing a Book
RULE 1. CLASSIFY THE BOOK: "YOU MUST KNOW WHAT KIND OF BOOK YOU
ARE READING, AND YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS AS EARLY IN THE PROCESS AS
POSSIBLE, PREFERABLY BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO READ."

Chapter 7- X-Raying a Book
RULE 2. RE-STATE THE POINT OF THE BOOK IN YOUR OWN WORDS:
"STATE THE UNITY OF THE WHOLE BOOK IN A SINGLE SENTENCE, OR AT MOST A
FEW SENTENCES."
"Every book has a skeleton hidden between its covers.
Your job as an analytical reader is to find it."
RULE 3. OUTLINE THE BOOK: "SET FORTH THE MAJOR PARTS OF THE BOOK,
AND SHOW HOW THESE ARE ORGANIZED INTO A WHOLE, BY BEING ORDERED
TO ONE ANOTHER AND TO THE UNITY OF THE WHOLE."
The art of outlining a book: "A piece of writing should have
unity, clarity, and coherence... we must find it."
RULE 4. DETERMINE THE AUTHOR'S GOAL: "FIND OUT WHAT THE
AUTHOR'S PROBLEMS WERE." [WHAT QUESTION IS HE TRYING TO ANSWER?]

THE SECOND STAGE OF ANALYTICAL READING

Chapter 8- Coming to Terms with an Author
RULE 5. INTERPRET KEY WORDS: "FIND THE IMPORTANT WORDS AND
THROUGH THEM COME TO TERMS WITH THE AUTHOR."
1. Find the key words (words which are emphasized, repeated,
defined, and/or italicized; `fighting' words)
2. Find the meanings of those words from the context, like
"putting a jigsaw puzzle together"

Chapter 9- Determining an Author's Message
RULE 6. GRASP THE MAIN PROPOSITIONS: "MARK THE MOST IMPORTANT
SENTENCES IN A BOOK AND DISCOVER THE PROPOSITIONS THEY CONTAIN."
Propositions are the author's judgments about what is true or false. They are also
the author's answers to questions, his or her major affirmations and denials.
These are the heart of his/her communication. They are the most important
things the author has to say. Unless these propositions are supported by reasons,
they are nothing but expressions of personal opinion.
RULE 7. FIND THE MAIN ARGUMENTS: "LOCATE OR CONSTRUCT THE BASIC
ARGUMENTS IN A BOOK BY FINDING THEM IN THE CONNECTION OF SENTENCES."
Arguments are statements which offer the grounds or reasons
for the author's judgments and conclusions.

How to find the key sentences and propositions:
1. Look for signs: underlining; italics; location
2. Look where you seem "to be perplexed"
3. Look for statements containing key terms
4. Look for a sequence in the argument(s)
5. Separate complicated sentences into more than one proposition
6. See if you can state the author's argument in your own words
7. See if you can give your own example to make the same point

RULE 8. DETERMINE THE AUTHOR'S SUCCESS/FAILURE: "FIND OUT
WHAT THE AUTHOR'S SOLUTIONS ARE."

THE THIRD STAGE OF ANALYTICAL READING

Chapter 10- Criticizing a Book Fairly

RULE 9. COMPLETE YOUR READING FIRST: "YOU MUST BE ABLE TO SAY,
WITH REASONABLE CERTAINTY, `I UNDERSTAND,' BEFORE YOU CAN SAY ANY
ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THINGS: `I AGREE,' OR `I DISAGREE,' OR `I SUSPEND
JUDGMENT.'"

1. Recognize your "responsibility of taking a position" in response
to the propositions you have now read. "Reading a book is a kind
of conversation...The author has had his say, and then it is the
reader's turn."

2. Recognize the "role of rhetoric" in this process, i.e. the attempt
in all communication "to convince or persuade." This attempt
is "the ultimate end in view... rhetorical skill is knowing how to
react to anyone who tries to convince or persuade us."

RULE 10. CONTROL YOURSELF: "WHEN YOU DISAGREE, DO SO
REASONABLY, AND NOT DISPUTATIOUSLY OR CONTENTIOUSLY."

RULE 11. PRESENT GOOD REASONS: "RESPECT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
KNOWLEDGE AND MERE PERSONAL OPINION, BY GIVING REASONS FOR ANY
CRITICAL JUDGMENT YOU MAKE."

Chapter 11- Agreeing or Disagreeing with an Author
A. Three ideal conditions for a well-conducted disagreement:
1. Acknowledge your emotions
2. Make your own assumptions explicit
3. Make an attempt at impartiality
B. Four practical ways to criticize a book negatively
1. "You are uninformed"
2. "You are misinformed"
3. "You are illogical"
4. "Your analysis is incomplete"

Chapter 12- Aids to Reading
A. The Importance of Context
1. Intrinsic reading- the context within the book itself
2. Extrinsic reading- the context of sources outside the book
B. Using other books as Extrinsic Aids
1. The `Great Books'- a "prolonged conversation" in Western civilization
which "provide[s] an even larger context that helps you to interpret the
book you are reading."
2. Commentaries- should be "used wisely, which is to say sparingly," since
they "are not always right" and "may not be exhaustive." So: "you should
not read a commentary by someone else until after you have read the book."
3. Reference Books- cannot help until you first have some idea of what you
need to know and where to find it
4. Dictionaries- "are about words":
a. as "physical things" with uniform spelling;
b. as "parts of speech" with grammatical roles;
c. as "signs" with many meanings, some "totally unrelated"
d. as "conventions" with "a history, a cultural career" of "transformations"
5. Encyclopedias- "are about facts":
a. as ideally "true propositions" and "reflections of reality"
b. but "to some extent conventional... and culturally determined"
c. requiring the user "to ask the proper questions"
d. containing "striking omissions," e.g. "no arguments"

Part 3: Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter

Chapter 13- How to Read Practical Books- "What are the author's objectives & means?"
Chapter 14- How to Read Imaginative Lit.- "Don't criticize until you fully appreciate..."
Chapter 15- Reading Stories, Plays, and Poems- "Read quickly...suspend disbelief"
Chapter 16- How to Read History- Ask author's purpose/audience/knowledge, etc.
Chapter 17- Science and Mathematics- Recognize math as a language to be learned
Chapter 18- How to Read Philosophy- Identify question(s) and historical context
Chapter 19- How to Read Social Science- Identify point of view & mix of fact/fiction;
read syntopically (i.e. in relation to other books on the same subject)

Part 4: The Ultimate Goals of Reading

Chapter 20- The Fourth Level of Reading: Syntopical Reading
A. The Five Steps in Syntopical Reading
1. Find the relevant passages
2. Establish a common terminology
3. Clarify the questions
4. Define the issues
5. Analyze the discussion: Look for the truth:
a. "in the order discussion itself,"
b. and in "the conflict of opposing answers"
weigh the evidence; seek to be objective)
B. How to use the Syntopicon
1. Greek = "collection of topics;" 2 volume index to the 60 volumes entitled
Great Books of the Western World published by Encyclopedia Britannica
2. Lists 103 "Great Ideas" (e.g. "Democracy, God, Happiness"), each with a
basic definition, introductory essay, an outline of related topics, and lists
of references, cross-references, and additional readings

Chapter 21- Reading and the Growth of the Mind
A. "Active reading" = "asking questions" and looking for answers
B. "What good books do for us" = "stretch our mind;" "improve our reading
skill;" "teach us about the world and ourselves"
C. Difference between "good" (few thousand) and "great" books (less than 100)
1. Good books need have no more than one meaning and one reading
2. Great books have many meanings and need to be read over and over again
D. The test of a great book
1. "Marooned on a desert island": Which ten books would you select?
2. "The book seems to grow with you;" "You see new things" every time
you re-read it; The book is able to "lift you" over and over again.
3. "You should seek out the few books that can have this value for you."

Appendix A. A Recommended Reading List
(137 authors, from Homer to Solzhenitsyn)

Appendix B. Exercises and Tests at the Four Levels of Reading
A. Exercises & Tests at the First Level: Elementary Reading
B. Exercises & Tests at the Second Level: Inspectional Reading
C. Exercises & Tests at the Third Level: Analytical Reading
D. Exercises & Tests at the Fourth Level: Syntopical Reading

How to Read a Book by Adler is a great book for people who have completed 9th grade. It covers the four levels of reading that build on one another to enhance your understanding of any book you read with out the help of an instructor. I am very happy that I purchased this book.

Adler does exactly what he promises in the title. He tells you how to read a book. I read this book for a high school rhetoric class and though we read it in three weeks, I was so impacted by it that I have tried to apply his many suggestions.
He covers reading very thoroughly. Ideally, when we read a book, we first grasp what the author is saying (the who's and what's), then what he means, then how that relates to our life. These three steps fit into the first three levels of reading. The first asks 'What is the book saying?,' the second 'What type of book is it?,' and the third 'What does the book mean?.' There is another level which basically is a topical study- reading books to find what various authors say about a given topic.
Adler recognizes that we often don't get much from a book because we don't know how to read well. (He covers the relationship between reader and writer and their responsibilities toward each other)So for each level he gives rules and suggestions for how to read on that level. Often these are in the form of questions to ask that book.
Another thing Adler recognizes is that not all books are equal. Many books only need to be read on the first level, some on the second, and a few on the third. This also affects how fast one reads. The speed should match the difficulty, importance, and quality of the reading- even within the same book.
In addition to covering the four reading levels, Adler takes different types of books and gives specific applications of his suggestions to these books. You would not ask the same questions of a history book that you would of a play.
Oh and Adler provides exercises and a very good reading list to get you started on the road to good reading.
So Adler is very thorough and logical in his presentation and the reading is very enjoyable. His style is easy to understand and interesting at the same time. He covers some other topics here and there like reading education and the great books. This is an excellent book for both students (life long learners included) and those who just want to learn and enjoy books more.

I work in the computer field and constantly need to keep up with the latest technology by reading technical manuals and periodicals. How to Read a Book has given me a sound approach and blueprint to follow as I read these technical documents.
This book is truly a MUST have for everyone of all disciplines.

Excellent. I just re-read it again after nearly 20 years. It inspired me years ago to go to a great books college for a Master's degree. I found its advice quite useful there, and, returning to it after all these years, I still found it helpful when dealing with texts. It's also a good deal more nuanced then I remembered, with good advice on how to place texts in context, for example.
If you've never read it, and you have a vague sense that your education is somehow incomplete and you'd like to remedy that, this is your book. Period.

This book is an excellent overview of how to get more out of what you read. Some of what it contains will be common knowledge to most college students. However, there are some excellent points made about dissecting a book and such. I especially enjoyed the section about how to read different types of books and how to read syntopically. Even if you are used to reading analytically, this book is worth picking up.

This book is indispensable in helping a reader develop critical-thinking skills, in sharpening the mechanics of reading, and in revealing the widely scoped canon of Western literature that's freely available to anyone who wants to educate him/herself.
I'd especially recommend this book to home schoolers at any level beyond elementary and students preparing for college/university. If I ran the US Dept of education, I'd mandate that every school district provide a copy of this to every student in the entire US education system. It's THAT widely accessible and helpful.
Thank you, Keith Berry, for turning me on to this book. It's the most valuable thing you ever did for me.

how to read "how to read a book": flip to chapter 21 entitled "reading and the growth of the mind." written in simple yet elegant english, it is perhaps the single best essay on what makes certain books great and why (and how) we should read them. magnificent stuff for all readers, young and old alike.

I read this book and subsequently had to read the book again because I realized that I previously didn't know how to read it. Paradoxically I couldn't help but realize I hadn't read the book the two times before and so I am currently reading it a third time. I really can't put it down. I want to put it down, but it inherently will not let me.

Restored my passion for reading.
Growing up, I had always stuck to fiction books and thought the classics were too hard to tackle. This book has reminded me why we read and the monumental pleasures one can unlock from reading a good book. If you would like to read some of the best books of mankind, be sure to read this book first.

I read the original version of this book which was first published in 1940. I was so enamored with the book that upon finishing the 1940 version (which I had obtained from the library), I went out and bought the updated edition and read that! The updated edition (published in 1970) is even better than the original. The material is more logically organized and topics such as speed reading which were absent from the original edition are now discussed. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. If you are an avid reader you will learn how to get so much more out of your reading than what you get already. And, perhaps most importantly, you'll get the courage and confidence to tackle a more difficult yet more rewarding class of books. Read this book before you read anything else!

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).

Mr Adler was a diligent reader and he did have given some inspirations. However, the book is tediously long and wordy - I must confess it is the most boring book I have ever read. And this became particularly a torture as I had already read Zinsser's 'On Writing Well', Strunk's 'The Elements of Style', and Owell's six principles on writing. Mr Adler should have READ How to Write a Book before he WROTE How to Read a Book. I would have no interest go on to check his other works such as 'How to Speak, How to Listen' - I can imagine how many clutters are there as well.

I was also disappointed at Mr Van Doren. As a co-author of 2nd edition, he seemed to have made no efforts on making the book a bit more succinct and intelligible. I shall also avoid his other writings in future.

In my view, the book could have been shortened to 1/4 length and still held its value. If you do want to read it, I would suggest a skimming and scanning for the first two parts, and a bit more engaging read in Part 3 and Part 4. Better to dedicate one day to it without interruptions, or you will easily get lost in the nonsense details and waste numerous hours.

By the way, considering Mr Adler's first name as Mortimer, I have to conclude that 'more time' is his innate style. And he did have lived for 99.5 years, partially attributed to his active reading method. Maybe this fact can serve as an additional encouragement.

Just thought people would be interested in some information on the Syntopicon mentioned in an earlier review. The full title is "The Great Ideas: A Syntopicon", and was part of the "Great Books and Great Ideas Series" published by Britannica. Use a used book search engine such as ABE books to find copies. They sell for around $15. Apologies if this was innapropriate.

"how to read a book" is more then just another book. this book has more then an "ordinary" value which we always find at books we usually read. the book is very practical. the book's goal is to teach us how to read a book properly, namely : to read and get a complete understanding of the book : what is the book's subject, what is the main idea, and what the reader can lern from the book's thesis.

"how to read a book" puts an emphasis on reading as an activity which, if done as it should be, demands high involvement of the reader. this is because reading is not merely looking at a row of words. one who reads must get a comprehensive understanding of the book.

it seems that we can say without a doubt that the book can be very helpful to people who wants not just to read, but to read and really understand what they are exactly read. in this sense, it is very good for students, since they have to read a lot of material during their studies.

How To Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren is a very useful book for anyone wishing to give their books a more thoughtful, in-depth reading.
The book does have an agenda to push. That agenda is to see more people go beyond high school reading levels. The authors begin by reviewing how America got to the point where almost everyone could read, but very few people could read well. They offer the techniques in this book as a path from this superficial knowledge of reading to a deeper understanding of how to read more effectively and more deeply.
The book breaks down the levels of reading. They present four levels of reading: Elementary, Inspectional, Analytical, and Syntopical.
The most time and attention is given to Analytical writing. The authors present ways to read more analytically. They also lay out rules for giving a book a fair analytical reading. I found this part very helpful personally.
The other three levels of reading are treated in much less detail. Each is more presented than taught. The authors demonstrate how each level is dependent on the one preceding it.
This book is very well put together and nicely laid out. One can tell that this was a labor of love by the authors. A feature that I found particularly interesting was the suggested reading list in the back of the book.
How To Read A Book will be helpful to any reader who desires to learn how to read more deeply. I recommend it.

This book was inspiring and captivating. Each page turn made me ask " how could I have been reading these books wrong all these years? " I felt sad at all of the books I had read prior and know I did not get the full effect. Like in Titanic "after all this time, I never took it all in", and I didn't. Now, thanks to this book, I can finally experience Curious George and Ramona to the depth that they were meant to be dove into. I won't just read the books, I will READ the books. Thank you for this.

Pedantic. Unnecessary. The author spends more than half the book telling you why the book is so important and necessary and eventually it's like, 'I think he doth protest too much.' There is about a paragraph of useful info in the whole thing, which surely can be more pleasantly acquired elsewhere.

Absolutelly awesome. Just an advice. Read it...and PRACTICE it. It's worth it. Don't read anything before this incredible book. Don't be one of those lazy people who take a glance the book in 2 minutes and throw it away because they alredy "know" all that stuff. This is a practical book. The fact that the book is easy to read and understand, and that is a matter of common sense, doesn't mean that it's a bad book. Take at least 30 min a-day, a full month. Only when you put all that text into practice you will know how incredible book you had in your hands. I did.

nothing in this book is revolutionary. these are things any reader already knows and does, things that one had to learn to get through college. If you have a thirteen or fourteen year old definitely make him or her read it. The last section is sort of a plug for a different work by the author, which doesn't make it bad, just approach it with the necessary skepticism. On the whole a good and interesting read. The list of books at the end is mostly crap. There is a difference between being educated and well rounded and a crusty old lit snob. one could waste an awful chunk of ones life reading dusty old greeks or Proust instead of Beard of Lewis or Vonnegut. Update it yourself and don't tread it as a holy document, (which is pretty much how it was represented to me) and remember that its probably just articulating better than you could things you already know.

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 scope in readings as well as expanding my mind! It is a must have and more important a must read book. Highly Recommended. It will forever change the way you read and your reading life will never be the same again.

Adler and Doren believe that reading well is an art. This book gives a step by step method to reading difficult books well. I like this book because it has helped me to read 3 books that I found difficult to read (Homer's Illiad and Odyssey and Plato's Dialogues including The Republic).

The authors provide a Great Book list in the Appendix.

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."
Sunnye Tiedemann (aka Ruth F. Tiedemann)

Yes this is the same Charles Van Doren Of Quiz Show fame. Learning how to read a book for many people helps them to ENJOY reading much more. For those of us that already enjoy reading, we can learn to get even more out of a book.

Until now, I've never read a book or even knew how to, I was always confused, and it turns out when I read this book, every book I've read before was upside down, like wow! I'm surprised and I'll give this book a 5 star

I hate to say this, but I think maybe I found this book too late. I majored in English as an undergrad, and had learned most of these strategies the hard way. I really was excited about this book and wanted to get into it, but I found myself employing the book's strategies while reading the book. I skimmed, I skipped sections that struck me as repetitive, and critically analyzed the book as I went along.

In searching for The Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman I serindipidiously tripped over this book. I discovered that this was what I was taught in my Public Education in The United States; namely, how to read anything, get out of that which I was looking for while enjoying the author's view of the world while writing a Book, a Newspaper Article, a Bible Study, a Witches' Manual, a Scientific Article, say like one about crop production in Canada that would stir me to move there after reading about rust and crop circles...This has a list of recommended reading, but does not compare with Fadiman's Third Edition of "The Lifetime Reading Plan" See my review there. One should also read of Van Doren and his Patriotic works Of The United States of America. He's quite a Patriot. If you feel afraid that every time you read a book that YOU MIGHT CHANGE, learn how to filter out stuff through this tomb. Of course, if you read at all, and do not change any in your view point, well.....Also available in Hard Back on sale at some National Booksellers' in Major Cities near you!

This book had good info, thoughtful info, about how to read a book systematically. Useful primarily for scientific and non-fiction reading. Writing is dated and far too detailed for most readers. This reads like a college text on How to Read in Order to Write an Analysis for Your Professor. I got more useful (and shorter) suggestions from the Internet--and didn't have to read 400 pages!

THIS BOOK SHOULD BECOME MANDATORY READING FOR ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. IT GIVES YOU PRACTICAL ADVICE ON HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU READ. IT TEACHES YOU HOW TO QUESTION, AND ANALYZE A BOOK IN ORDER TO GET THE MAXIMUM BENEFIT OUT OF IT. IN THIS CASE FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND AND COMPREHEND WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU'RE READING. GET IT. READ IT. IT HAS OPENED MY EYES.

This is a great book for young readers. It helps soo much in developing a strong curricullum for a variety of learners. I think it would also be good for homeschoolers or parents who want thier children to follow classical readings and become well-rounded.

I wanted to master reading comprehension skills. This book is not written for that.

Furthermore, this book is written in exactly the way I despise - wordy and trite. It reminds me of why I hated reading for school. Ironically, I read a lot since graduating.

400+ pages on how to read yet I get no gems of wisdom for my effort. Maybe it's just me because there are many 5 star reviews, but I hated this book and I did read all of it.

We have recently made an exciting discovery--three years after writing the wonderfully expanded third edition of How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren made a series of thirteen 14-minute videos on the art of reading. The videos were produced by Encyclopaedia Britannica. For reasons unknown, sometime after their original publication, these videos were lost.

When we discovered them and how intrinsically edifying they are, we negotiated an agreement with Encyclopaedia Britannica to be the exclusive worldwide agent to make them available.

For those of you who teach, this is great for the classroom.

I cannot over exaggerate how instructive these programs are--we are so sure that you will agree, if you are not completely satisfied, we will refund your donation.

Please go here to see a clip and learn more:

[...]

When I first heard about it, I thought of it as a very interesting book, but as I read along, and I read it through, my interest began to slow down. I'd say it is an interesting book, as it gives the reader the possibility of a a different approach when reading a book. And that's it. cheers! Raul

Mortimer's "How to read a book" is a 400 page saga on rules of reading literature, science, maths, history and poetry.

I am sure that when it was first published in 1940s, it was the ground breaking first book ever that taught people how to read. Its analysis on different levels of reading and types of books must have sounded very revealing to readers. However, today, 60 years after it was first published , "How to read a Book" doesn't impress as much. Since you are interested in this book, I will assume that you read a lot of text and are primarily looking for something that will :

1) Increase your Speed

2) Increase your comprehension.

This is not the book for your goal.

The book starts with the Goals of Reading and quickly moves on to different levels of reading (Elementary, Inspectional, Analytical and Syntopical).

In a nutshell all that Mortimer wants to communicate is that there are 2 types of reading, one that you do for entertainment and one for aquiring information or understanding. In both cases, it pays to be an active reader (more in 2nd than in first). To become an active reader, you have to follow these simple rules:

1) Look for the theme, crux of the book

2) Look for outline, structure or organization of the book

3) Understand what author is trying to say

4) Understand why author is saying that

5) What arguments he gives to support himself

6) Arguments against what he wants to disprove

7) Terms and language he uses

That's it! This is pretty much the summary of the book. He takes examples of Homer and Hamlet but all that Mortimer does is to add lots and lots of padding and useless words to drive his point across. It took me an hour to go through first 50 pages as I was really trying to give this book enough time. However, once I realized that there is little meaningful text hidden between tons of useless babble, I started speed reading and found that it was enough to read just the title of each paragraph and a line or 2 in caps. I raced through rest of the 300 pages in another hour and I haven't missed anything!

CONCLUSION: This book may be a good gift for your child (10 to 13 years old) if she has any interest in reading. It could teach him some basic rules and tricks.

But if you are looking for speed reading book, this is not the one.

I'm reading the very beginning of the book, but I've listened good things about it. The language is very simple and clear, I think I'll understand something about learning, about liberal education and about unaided discovery.

I recieved this book from treasurehopper in acceptable condition. I was glad to have recieved a detailed note with the book explaining the condition of the book and how to contact the seller should I need too. I would continue ordering from this seller. I recieved this book very fast and in time to read with my homework textbooks. Thanks!

I bought this book because it is said to be the best on the subject. After having read the book i can only give you the advice not to read this book if you want hints and tricks to improve on your reading skills. This book was born in 1940 - and it shows. They tell you to read the new testament! However, the release dat can also be positive. It's a rich, logical and very formal language. You won't find so much perfection in a book nowadays.
The authors EXPALAIN HOW A BOOK IS STRUCTURED AND HOW IT WAS WRITTEN, but they don't give you much hints, which would help you. They just say: Read carefully, read slowly, compare the books to other books. But hey, don't YOU know that? They explain WHAT DIFFERENT KINDS OF BOOKS EXIST - but: who cares! I want to know "how to read a book" and nothing else!
I read the book completly, but it was not an enjoyment for me.

I suppose it's my fault for buying a book that would teach me to read. But the title is very misleading. I excitedly opened this book expecting my world to change and opportunities to open up with my new-found abilities to read; not the case. All I saw were the same old jumblygook contained in every book I open. A bunch of weird symbols that have meaning to most, but not to me.

I suppose it's a helpless cause at this point. Perhaps I should have payed attention in Elementary school, but there were girls always wanting to party, and come on, you're only young once. But now I pay the price. It would be nice to be able to read. Then maybe all my jobs wouldn't be shipped overseas. Maybe I could take a girl out on a date and not have order what she's having; I HATE salads. Maybe I could watch a subtitled movie, just kidding, I would never read a movie. But it would be nice to be able to read, then I wouldn't have the urge to pick fights with the smug kids walking out of the library.

Maybe one day the answer will come, but until that day, I'll be the guy in corner scowling at you as you read your magazine.

dictated but not read

This was very upsetting for me and my family. I really wish there were some instructions included, as I could not figure out how to open the package. To put a book about how to read a book in book form is kind of ridiculous; It'd be like writing a ship book "How to use a ship" on a ship.

I read several pages of an online version of this book (which is available for free in its entirety on the internet) and found no part of it to be interesting or insightful in the least. I checked the book's excerpt on the store and confirmed that it was indeed the same text.

Many years ago I read a book called "How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less" where one of the main ideas was that you have to make a point that the audience cares about every 30 seconds or you will lose your audience (that may not apply when one is dealing with some overly academic types or people who have tons of time on their hands and really like to read). But for my money and time, had Mortimer Adler been able to read that book before writing his book telling us how to read, he might have produced a book that I could have found interesting.

I would recommend the prospective buyer of this book read the store's preview excerpt of this book. After reading the excerpt, ask yourself what you could share with a friend about what you have read--or even what might be useful for others to know. That's a simple enough test, and maybe you'll like it. I didn't.

I am sure this is a good book and all, but since I don't know how to read a book, I wasn't able to make heads or tails of it. Maybe they could offer an audio book version? That way I could move on to the printed one once I learned the ropes.

This book is made to show people how to dive into the higher levels of reading, specifically it aims at collegiate reading. However, there is a huge paradox tied up with this book. If you don't know how to read at a higher level, you won't get anything out of this book because you won't be able to connect with a lot of the information presented. If you do read well (and by this, i mean are not a complete moron) then this book is a huge waste of time and you will really learn nothing. The best thing I learned from this book offered another paradox. It says to learn to recognize books that are not worth your time and effort and do not give them that effort. Because of that, I am able to tell you all to not give this book a second of your life. PLEASE.

I might not be a Fulbright Scholar, but it seems to me that a book titled 'How to Read a Book' has serious retailing problems. Anyone who can read doesn't need to buy it, and those who can't read wouldn't understand a single word of it.

i bought 'how to read a book' because i have many books at home and can't figure out how to work the darn things.
i thought this book would help... but it's just another book.... like the other books! how can i read this book if i don't know how to read a book! i am going around in circles here... maybe there is an audio version of this?