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Title: How to Read a Book by Charles Van Doren, Mortimer J. Adler ISBN: 0-671-21209-5 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 15 August, 1972 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.64 (59 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: More Skillful Reading
Comment: 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!
Rating: 5
Summary: And I Thought I Knew How To Read...
Comment: 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 applys 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 applying 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 applying what I am learning from it, as I revisit 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.
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.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Art of Reading 101
Comment: 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.
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Title: How to Speak, How to Listen by Mortimer Jerome Adler ISBN: 0684846470 Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 April, 1997 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer ISBN: 0393050947 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: How to Think About the Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization by Mortimer J. Adler ISBN: 0812694120 Publisher: Open Court Publishing Company Pub. Date: December, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Six Great Ideas by Mortimer Jerome Adler ISBN: 068482681X Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: A Rulebook for Arguments by Anthony Weston ISBN: 0872205525 Publisher: Hackett Publishing Co. Pub. Date: January, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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