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Derrick's Reviews > How to Read a Book
How to Read a Book
by
by
I picked up this book thinking that it would help me to read better, and in some ways it did, but the signal to noise ratio is extremely high, and the applicability rather low. Most of what is taught applies only to expository works.
The author makes a few good points throughout, but it's hidden between heavy prose. I'd say this book falls somewhere between the writing styles of yesteryear, with the dryness of a academic paper. The author seems like an old man, with a romantic view of the older days. The kind with a top hat and monocle, out of place even in the 70s (when this book was written), and laments of the newer generation of people are failing to read "correctly".
Reading, according the author, is distinguished between reading for understanding, and reading for knowledge. The focus here is on the first.
Now, some techniques that are taught.
Books are to be approached in at least a two-pass fashion, with the initial being prereading (going through the table of contents, skimming, and looking at the index). This first pass is use to build an outline of the book, determine its themes, as well as decide if one wants to seriously read it. This was good info, because had I done this, I would not have read this book.
"Normal" reading is then done in next pass. If problems are encountered, the author doesn't recommend that you stop to look things up, or refer excessively to footnotes, but rather just soldier through, and the general picture would present itself even if you only understand half of it. He blames schools for picking out a scene in Shakespeare, and then dissecting the hell out of it before the story is even finished, which gets in the way of allowing the students to genuinely enjoy the story.
There's some truth here, but to read in the way the author advocates is extremely time-consuming, requiring multiple passes of reading a text. Add in the numerous other things that the author advocates for, no one will be able to finish any text. This is all fine and important if you're spending years in graduate or doctoral school tearing apart a single piece of work, but not for most readers.
If you're looking to improve your daily reading skills, you've looked at the wrong place. The only way to improve is through more reading, and not "meta-reading" this book.
The author makes a few good points throughout, but it's hidden between heavy prose. I'd say this book falls somewhere between the writing styles of yesteryear, with the dryness of a academic paper. The author seems like an old man, with a romantic view of the older days. The kind with a top hat and monocle, out of place even in the 70s (when this book was written), and laments of the newer generation of people are failing to read "correctly".
Reading, according the author, is distinguished between reading for understanding, and reading for knowledge. The focus here is on the first.
Now, some techniques that are taught.
Books are to be approached in at least a two-pass fashion, with the initial being prereading (going through the table of contents, skimming, and looking at the index). This first pass is use to build an outline of the book, determine its themes, as well as decide if one wants to seriously read it. This was good info, because had I done this, I would not have read this book.
"Normal" reading is then done in next pass. If problems are encountered, the author doesn't recommend that you stop to look things up, or refer excessively to footnotes, but rather just soldier through, and the general picture would present itself even if you only understand half of it. He blames schools for picking out a scene in Shakespeare, and then dissecting the hell out of it before the story is even finished, which gets in the way of allowing the students to genuinely enjoy the story.
There's some truth here, but to read in the way the author advocates is extremely time-consuming, requiring multiple passes of reading a text. Add in the numerous other things that the author advocates for, no one will be able to finish any text. This is all fine and important if you're spending years in graduate or doctoral school tearing apart a single piece of work, but not for most readers.
If you're looking to improve your daily reading skills, you've looked at the wrong place. The only way to improve is through more reading, and not "meta-reading" this book.
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