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Show Page 10 The Ogden Valley news Volume XXII Issue IX July 1, 2014 How to Read a Book: A Book Review By Forrest Brown Do you, like me, read too slowly? Do you remember enough of what you read? Do you feel like you’ll never get through all of the things you want and need to read? Some years ago while attending George Wythe College, I was advised by my mentor to read Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren’s classic and popular bestseller, How To Read A Book. At the time, I thought this odd advice because I already knew how to read a book. You just satart reading! However, as I have examined this manuscript, I discovered that I really didn’t know how because I didn’t realize there were various levels of reading—from elementary to skimming and inspectional reading. From this book I also learned how to pigeonhole a book, x-ray it, extract the author’s message, and even logically criticize it. The authors teach the different reading techniques for understanding practical books; imaginative literature; plays; and books about history, science, mathematics, philosophy, and social science. Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list, and supply reading tests that allow you to measure progress in reading skills, comprehension, and speed. Join me as we delve further into this most fascinating book. First, a little about the authors; Adler was born in 1902 to Jewish immigrants and dropped out of school at age 14 to become a copy boy for the New York Sun. Later, after returning to school to take writing classes at night, he discovered the works of men he would come to call heroes: Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and others. He received a doctorate in psychology from Columbia University. Eventually he was hired by the University of Chicago’s law school to teach Philosophy of Law. Alder and the president of the University of Chicago, Robert Hutchins, worked together to develop the Great Books of the Western World, a fifty-four volume of books that are part of “the great conversation” that exists among the elite class of intelligentsia. Before his death in 2001, at the age of 98, Mr. Adler had been a philosopher, an educator, and a popular author with interests in philosophical theology, metaphysics, and ethics. Charles Van Doren was born in 1926 and is an American intellectual and writer. He became an editor with the Encyclopedia Britannica. The first part of our book looks at the dimensions of reading, including the art and different levels of reading. The authors say, “There is some feeling nowadays that reading is not as necessary as it once was. Radio and especially television have taken over many of the functions once served by print, just as photography has taken over functions once served by painting and other graphic arts . . . but it may be seriously questioned whether the advent of modern communications media has much enhanced our understanding of the world in which we live.” What Adler and Van Doren hit upon in 1972 was that even though advances in media technology, such as TV and radio, may not necessarily have helped us understand our world any better. Even with the advent of the Internet and cell phones, most experts believe that our overall intellect and ability to think critically have worsened. In essence, while we have much more information at the tips of our fingers, unfortunately, we do not comprehend humanity and our world any better. The book also reviews the different levels of reading and the primary goals of reading. This includes reading for entertainment, information, and understanding. The authors write, “The effectiveness with which he reads is determined by the amount of effort and skill he puts into his reading. In general, the rule is: the more effort the better, at least in the case of books . . . (books) are therefore capable of raising us from a condition of understanding less to one of understanding more . . . (and) reading, like unaided discovery, is learning from an absent teacher.” Obviously, like everything else, you get more out of something if you put more into it. The book explains that the first level of reading is Elementary Reading. Most of us know how to read, as taught in grade school. Typically, we were taught and learned to recognize the letters of the alphabet. We also learned how to write, which goes hand in hand with reading. Many of us still remember the first books we read from. At this level, the reader learns about sound and how to pronounce and recognize words. The second level of reading is called inspectional reading. It is also known as syntopical reading. At this level, “You must be able to read an author’s text more or less steadily, without having to stop to look up the meaning of many words, without stumbling over the grammar and syntax. You must be able to make sense of a majority of the sentences and paragraphs.” At this level, you push your mind to understand more as you advance in your abilities to understand and comprehend. You are able to systematically skim and pull out the most important facts and issues. The authors spend some time discussing reading speeds, which, they say, center around level 2 (inspection), and is considered the art of getting the most out of a book. We read at various speeds, sometimes fast in order to quickly know what a book is about and sometimes more slowly in order to take in every bit of information. Adler and Van Doren suggest they “are wholly in favor of the proposition that most people ought to be able to read faster than they do. Too often there are things we have to read that are not really worth spending a lot of time reading; if we cannot read them quickly, it will be a terrible waste of time . . . . A good speed-reading course should, therefore, teach you to read at many different speeds, not just one speed.” This is great advice since there is much to be read, and we need to be able to get through it as quickly as possible, but we, as the book suggests, should also be able to slow down and enjoy what we are reading. The writers also discuss some of the problems of comprehension. It is a global problem we see in most schools—even at the college level. Most newspapers and magazines are written at a fifthor sixth-grade level. Expert John Gatto wrote an entire book about the dumbing down of America, essentially the systemic failure of educational organizations. What is pointed out in How to Read a Book is the following issue. As you MARCY PETERSEN, KELLER WILLIAMS PROPERTY MANAGER & REAL ESTATE AGENT www.marcysproperties.com 801-644-8511 marcysproperties@gmail.com raise your level of reading, do you also increase your comprehension level? Apparently, the results from school testing doesn’t necessary validate this point. However, the book does suggest a technique whereby all of us can increase, not only our reading speed, but also our comprehension. It is the hand method, which utilizes your finger or some other object to scan across a page of words. Your finger server as a timer “not only to increase your reading rate, but also to improve your concentration on what you are reading. As long as you follow your hand (finger), it is harder to fall asleep, daydream, or let your mind wander.” This is important, but, as the authors declare, “concentration alone does not have much of an effect on comprehension . . . .” Comprehension involves much more than merely being able to answer simple questions of fact about a text . . . . Comprehension also involves being able to discern what the text is trying to say? Additional questions that, when correctly answered, imply higher levels of comprehension, are seldom asked in speed reading courses, and instruction regarding how to answer them is seldom given. This is failure is key! It is one of the reasons why the U.S. has fallen behind other nations in academic achievement, and why we have so many issues with our educational system. Comprehension is more than taking notes when reading. It entails writing down and answering questions, such as those listed below: • In summary, what was the storyline? • What are some of my favorite quotes from the book and why? • What are some insights that I gained from reading the book? • What are some ways that I can apply what I read (be specific)? • What are the words from the book (and their definitions) that I am not familiar with? • What questions are raised from reading this book? Adler and Van Doren also look at the third level of reading—sometimes referred to as analytical reading, which delves into the detail or “meat of a book.” Analytical reading allows you to pigeonhole a book, x-ray, or, in other words, outline the book, determine the author’s message, and criticize the book in a fair and proper way. The authors teach you how to classify a book (fiction or non-fiction), what you can learn from the title of a book, is it a practical or theoretical book, how to determine the plot, discover the author’s intentions, and, finally, how to criticize the book (agree or disagree with the author and why). The last section dwells on various approaches to different kinds of reading. Topics include how to read practical books; how to read imaginative literature; how to read stories, plays, and poems; and how to read history, science, mathematics, philosophy, and social science. All in all, this is a great book to read, so take the step, read the book, and let me know what you think about it. 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