How to Read a Book [Paperback]

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.

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.