Useful, but much longer than necessary

books:


	• How to Read a Book Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren Simon & Schuster, 1972 - 426 pages average customer review:based on 102 reviews
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highly recommended

How to Read a Book WELL

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.

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How to Read a Book

A great book on a seemingly obvious subject. Very insightful and a must for any begining researcher.

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Good, but fairly obvious.

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.

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Useful, but much longer than necessary

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'.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

How to Read a Book, originally published in 1940, has become a rare phenomenon, a living classic. It is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader. And now it has been completely rewritten and updated.

You are told about the various levels of reading and how to achieve them -- from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading, you learn how to pigeonhole a book, X-ray it, extract the author's message, criticize. You are taught the different reading techniques for reading practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and social science.

Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests whereby you can measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension and speed.

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