Adler, Mortimer Jerome, and Van Doren Charles Lincoln. How to read a book. New York: Simone & Schuster, 2014, 202 pp. $7.38
Biographical Sketch of the Author
Mortimer J. Adler was a Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, both co- founder and Chief Editor of The Center for Great Ideas, Chairman of the Board of Editors of Encyclopedia Brittanica and Chief Editor of the Great Books. He authored or edited more than 50 books amongst many other things. Charles Van Doren was also a professor at Columbia University, TV personality and an editor for the Encyclopedia Brittanica. He authored many books including his best-known work A History of Knowledge amongst other things.
The authors Dr. Mortimer J. Adler and Van Doren Charles Lincoln are more than competent to write a book on how to read a book. With a resurgence of reading of the Great Books many people that wanted to read them found themselves not knowing how to read them. So unlike many authors that would urge you to read the analytical literature, they provide the apparatus on how to read it.
Summary of the contents
Where teachers are not present we seek to understand through books, yet this is not a passive but active activity that requires skill if the reader is to grasp the intended meaning. The goal of reading is to understand and for that to happen one needs to approach someone else who possesses insights that they lack. This begins a process of overcoming the inequality between the reader and the author regarding that information. When that equality is achieved enlightenment or communication has been achieved. At this point, the reader moves from knowing "what the author says" to "what he means" and "why he is saying it". Asking the right questions of the book is the key.
Adler and Van Doren begin a journey of introducing levels of reading that are necessary in order to understand more. They caution that one cannot achieve the highest level without mastering the first. The first level is the elementary reading that seeks to know “what the sentence says”. The second is the inspectional reading, it seeks to know the structure and what the book is about. It involves simply examining the title, author, table of contents, index, foreword, introduction and the summary at the back. It is at this moment that the reader decides whether the book is worth reading or not. Superficial reading is included in this level too but it goes a little deeper than what is previously mentioned.
The third level is analytical reading, which aims at chewing, digesting and understanding. Asking the right questions does this. Adler and Van Doren call this level is the best and most complete reading level given unlimited time. This explains why the majority of the book focuses on this level. In order for this reading to occur certain rules have to be followed. The authors provide eleven rules. First, one has to be able to tell the kind of book they are reading whether it is practical or theoretical. Next, the reader has to unify the whole book in a couple of sentences. Thirdly, one has to number the major parts by their order and relation. Fourth, the reader has to know and define the problem the author is attempting to solve from looking at the theme, main point and the outline of the book.
Fifth, Adler and Van Doren say the reader has to come to terms with the author by interpreting his key words and terms. By terms, he refers to the basic element of communicable knowledge. Next, recognize propositions and mark them. Seventh, construct or locate basic arguments in the book, they can be noticed when we have to slow down in an effort to understand what the author is communicating.
The eighth rule calls readers to make a decision whether the author has satisfactorily solved the problem he/she raised or failed. This comes with a warning to never think a book is perfect or it has no fault at all. Ninth, before the reader can say I agree, disagree or I suspend my judgment he/she has to be able to affirm with certainty that they understand, they grasp the intended meaning by the author.
Tenth, Adler and Van Doren call for humility when one is in disagreement with the author. They advise that readers should disagree reasonably not disputatiously. This comes with self-control. Every argument has to have learning as its objective, holding on to the concept that knowledge can be communicated and that discussion can result in learning. The last rule is that one must present respecting the difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion, by giving reasons for any judgment one makes.
The last level is syntopical reading and it seeks to ask how books compare with each other. The reader is able to put books side by side and gain an understanding that is not in the book. This is useful for any readers interested in doing research on the same subject but different authors.
Another major point of this book is to help a reader differentiate between theoretical and practical books. In section three the authors take time focusing on how to read different kinds of reading matter. These are books that would give readers problems. They cover how to read practical books, imaginative, interactive stories, plays, poems, history, science, Mathematics, philosophy and social sciences. This section indeed makes the book a guide one needs close by when approaching any type of literature.
Critical Evaluation
This is a practical book that is about the art of reading for the sake of increased understanding. As one is reading this book evaluation of what level you have been reading is happening. It tells you how to purposefully move from one level of reading to the next. I remember in graduate level school taking a class where there was an extensive reading of material that included some of the great books. I am a slow reader and also struggled through the material until my professor pulled me aside and was willing to give me money to buy a book that would help me grasp the meaning of what the authors were saying. He recommended “How to Read a Book” and I remember the difference that it made as I read through some of the materials in that class.
This is a book that could be used for a first-year experience class for any college student before they are bombarded with books required to read. It is practically relevant because the authors themselves were people immersed in reading difficult books to read or material that is not easily grasped by a person. In other words, it seems as if they are taking you through terrain that they have traveled over and over.
Whether it is in a classroom or in a church, the teacher has to discern the reading level of his students in order to be able to lead them to understand. This book and the distinctions between different reading levels would help determine what material to use for the classes. It would also be instrumental to parents who are trying to help their children develop reading skills. Overall this book would be instrumental to anyone who is interested in getting better at reading.
While this is a book about reading books, it also informs authors of what good books are like and what to aim for when they are writing books. just like the authors describe what books look like, writers need to aim at writing books that will keep people awake leading people to more understanding. More writers need to start thinking like invisible teachers and anticipate the questions that readers would have in mind.
One of the beneficial things that the book helps with is coming to terms with the author’s vocabulary and understanding how the author is using it. It helps never to assume that vocabulary is the same when different authors use it. This is seen for example in how an author like Johnathan Edwards and Tim Keller would use the word religion to mean totally opposite things.
Part three of the book is a gold mine for any reader because it walks the reader through how to read different forms of literature. just like in science one needs correct apparatus to complete an experiment, this book stands as a useful apparatus to review before one approaches different forms of literature. It is a book to revisit over and over in order to internalize and for the rules mentioned to become second nature.
Although this book clearly spends more time walking someone through analytic reading, it zips through syntopical reading, which is the next level of reading. This is the level where the bulk of the work is carried. The author should have spent more time working through how to compare different types of literature.
The authors are convinced that one should never say that I “agree” or “disagree” unless they totally say “I understand”. It is not possible for one to fully grasp the full meaning of what the writer intended. There is a gradual grasping of what the writer meant. There are ways by which the books develop their own character apart from the author and end up meaning more than what the author intended. Books are static while the author continues to grow.
As we move a more digitalized world there are some pages within the book that seem to need revision so that books like this could remain relevant to readers. For example, “how does one take notes in an electronic version of the book?”. What if they read better by listening to audio? It seemed like the author assumes you will have a physical copy with you to fully utilize some of the methods he recommends.
Overall, Adler and Van Doren’s work remains a classic on how to read a book because they solve the problem that they raised. They go above and beyond to help the reader even with the tiniest things like how to highlight books. There will never be a time when this is not a useful resource to many readers.
