About The Book - How to Read a Book
Don’t worry—How to Read a Book will teach you how to read like a pro. This book will unlock the code for efficient reading. It is for those who struggle to remember the content and who can’t understand the author’s actual point of view. This is classic and intelligent guidance for reading lovers.
Book lovers enjoy reading the latest and best books, but they often fail to grasp the actual knowledge or forget the previous chapter as they move to the next one.
Mortimer J. Adler is the of “How to Read a Book”.
This book was first written in 1940 and in 1972 was updated for the new generation of readers.
In the latest publication, many changes were made.
Art of Reading
If you want to become a good and smart reader, then your principles of reading books should be clear. Your purpose for reading a book could be anything, like gaining knowledge, entertainment, understanding, etc. However, you should be able to answer and seek the four questions, which are:
- What is the book about?
This means understanding the overall theme and the message of the book. - Core Ideas:
What kind of ideas and arguments does the author want to share with the reader? - Is everything true?
Determine whether what is written in the book is true or fictional. What are the sources and reasons for the story provided by the author? - So what?
If you agree with what is written in the book (title, topic, ideas, sources), then how are these things impactful for you, and how would they be helpful in your life?
There are four levels of reading in this book will help you a lot in answering these questions. This book is complete and detailed guidance for readers.
1st Level: Elementary Reading
The first stage is early reading. The author also calls it elementary reading. This level is very similar to your early school years because, as a kid, you are given a book just to read.
At this stage, as a kid, when you read something, you understand the grammar, vocabulary, and overall meaning of the sentence, but you don’t understand the deep meaning of what is written.
Here author teaches you the basics of reading a book with the help of two methods: Observational Reading and Superficial Reading
Method 1: Observational Reading
The author says you should start observing things. You find out what the book is about and how things are structured to explain. There are two stages of the second level: pre-reading and superficial reading.
- Quick Skim: You just skim the book from the first place to the last, and then you decide if you want to read the book or not.
- Check out the title category, etc.: The second thing you should check out is the title, the face, and the category of the book.
- Study the table of contents: You get to know how the book content is structured.
- Understand the index: You understand the index thoroughly to see what kind of topics are discussed.
- Read the publisher's note: You can find the publisher's note on the last page of the book. Reading the publisher's note is a good idea because, in the note, you can find a summary of the book.
- Read important chapters: Look at the random chapters.
- Read the end paragraph: In the end, you open random pages of the chapters and read the start paragraph and end paragraphs. You should especially read the end paragraphs because, in the last paragraph, the conclusion is mostly given.
Method 2: Superficial Reading
- Rule of the Theme: You try to understand the overarching idea and central concept of the book
- Rule of the Author: You try to understand what is the intention and perspective of the author. You also check out his background and expertise to know what motivated him to write the book.
- Rule of Treatment: You understand how the theme is developed and what kind of key arguments, pieces of evidence, and examples are used in the book to make the reader understand.
- Rule of Evaluation: You evaluate the author on how effectively he can convey his message and how solid his arguments are.
The author says, “I’m not telling you to speed up the reading.” He actually says, “With superficial reading, you will get an idea if the book is worth it or not.”
You try to understand the outline of the book, like the theme and messages, and you will get the answer to the first question, which is, “What is the book about?”
The author wants you to follow the 4 rules to understand the complete outline of the book:
2nd Level: Interpreting
- Rule of Terms: You understand the key terms that are used by the writer again and again.
- Rule of Proposition: You understand the central claims and arguments of the writer and how he used evidence to prove these points.
- Rule of Argument: After reading about claims and arguments, you start making logical connections, and you also draw a conclusion while looking at everything like thoughts and experts' opinions.
- Rule of Assumption: You assume things like what the beliefs, principles, and values of the author are.
3rd Level: Critiquing
At this stage, you will receive the answers to the third and fourth questions. Those questions are: “Is everything true or not?” If yes, then so what?
Again, you have to follow a set of three rules:
- Rule of Charity: Now you are able to judge the book, but you have to do it with fairness and generosity. You should do it while favoring the author's intention and arguments.
- Rule of Clarity: Your reasons should be clear, logical, and well-structured when liking or disliking something.
- Rule of Humility: While judging the book and the author's work, you must keep your personal biases aside. You should think as a human being because, as human beings, we have limitations and our own perspectives on things.
4th Level: Synchronized Reading
The author says this level is the most complex and organized level compared to the other three levels because the author advises you to read several books on similar topics. When you do this, you will understand the structural pattern and develop a better understanding of it.
For example, if the reader is reading a book on psychology, then he must read similar books on the same topic because if he finishes only one book on psychology, he will miss out on the different perspectives of other authors.
Eventually, he would be able to judge what is right or wrong.
How to Do Synchronize Reading
- Make a list of books: Select different books from different authors. Different perspectives and ideas must be covered in the selected resources.
- You should make a list of vocabulary that is used in the selected books. This technique will help the reader establish a relationship between chapters and give you clarity when comparing the ideas.
- Analyze why authors have different perspectives on the same topic and why each of them is telling different things. That's how you will understand your topic broadly.
With Synchronize Reading, you will be able to form your perspective and draw a conclusion.
Sum up:
Now you know how you can become an effective reader with the help of “How to Read a Book.” The author of this book teaches you what the book is about:
- What is the book about? Understand the main topic of the book.
- How does the writer convey things through his writing? Try to identify the connection between the how and why.
- Whether the content of the book is true. Think of the answers and make notes.
If you use the author’s knowledge while reading the book, you can gain mastery in reading.