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542 reviews for:
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren
3.81 AVERAGE
542 reviews for:
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren
3.81 AVERAGE
Alder wrote a clearly detailed book about the approach of reading and learning from a book. He broke down the techniques thoroughly giving an insightful journey to the hobby we humans tend to do: reading.
This is a book everyone should read in their lifetime. My future reading/writing deals with Synoptical Reading which he explains perfectly here, overall making this worth the read. The end has exercise and a recommended reading list worth checking out.
This is a book everyone should read in their lifetime. My future reading/writing deals with Synoptical Reading which he explains perfectly here, overall making this worth the read. The end has exercise and a recommended reading list worth checking out.
informative
fast-paced
informative
slow-paced
This book is one of the best nonfiction books that I have read in a long time. Adler lays out a series of rules for not only reading a book actively, analytically, and synthetically, but also for disagreeing with the author. I think that this book should required reading for any college freshman. His chief impetus for composing the book was the cultivation of minds that can be part of a democracy. Without freedom of thought, there can be no other freedoms. Most of his prediction, however, have sadly come true. In today's world, we cannot disagree without becoming belligerent. The division of society into the "them" and "us" has fractured the democracies of the world, and the people of the "free" nations of the world are led as sheep to the slaughter by political orators because of a lack of mental discipline. I heartily recommend it to anyone. My one critique is that in a few place Adler can be a little pretentious.
informative
slow-paced
Originally published in 1940 and revised in 1972, How to Read a Book remains a timeless and transformative guide—not just on reading, but on thinking clearly, asking better questions, and engaging deeply with ideas. It’s not about reading more—it’s about reading better.
Here’s what makes this book a must-read for every lifelong learner:
Here’s what makes this book a must-read for every lifelong learner:
medium-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
some useful tidbits but mostly self-explanatory. still, i thought it'd be useful as the introductory book to my further study. i think the part that stuck with me most was the idea of trudging through even difficult prose and emphasizing reading quickly as to live the book densely rather than passively
It's a good book, there is valuable information in there. Achieving a certain level of reading ability has its worth if you want to get more out of your reading. I can also see how the knowledge might make someone a better writer.
But, I just couldn't bother to go through with it right now.
Maybe it's because of the book, maybe it's because I didn't see the value in quadrupling the time I would spend on reading a book to the extent the author suggests, or maybe I just wasn't enjoying myself reading this one.
I am sure existing summaries of this book would be similarly valuable if not more, though.
But, I just couldn't bother to go through with it right now.
Maybe it's because of the book, maybe it's because I didn't see the value in quadrupling the time I would spend on reading a book to the extent the author suggests, or maybe I just wasn't enjoying myself reading this one.
I am sure existing summaries of this book would be similarly valuable if not more, though.