How to Read a Book
Adler and Van Doren's manual on the four levels of reading
Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren wrote it for readers who want understanding rather than entertainment. The first edition came out in 1940. A revision followed in 1972. Reading sorts into four levels here: elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical. That last level, taking several books on one subject and weighing their contradictions against each other, is the one most readers never reach. Rules for skimming a book before committing to it, for marking up a text, and for putting questions to an author are the parts people carry away. Long and prescriptive, which is why summaries of it circulate so widely.
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- Shane ParrishRecommends
Writer · Farnam Street and The Knowledge Project
On his own site he summarized Adler's four levels of reading and teaches them as the way to match effort to the book in front of you. Most people stop at reading to inform, he says, and most of the value comes at the last two levels.
Source: fs.blog: the best summary of How to Read a Book
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Book entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.