How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent ReadingThe best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader, completely rewritten and updated with new material. A CNN Book of the Week: “Explains not just why we should read books, but how we should read them. It's masterfully done.” —Farheed Zakaria Originally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and elucidates the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading. Readers will learn when and how to “judge a book by its cover,” and also how to X-ray it, read critically, and extract the author’s message from the text. Also included is instruction in the different techniques that work best for reading particular genres, such as practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and social science works. Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests you can use measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension, and speed. |
Contents
The Activity and Art of Reading | 3 |
The Levels of Reading | 16 |
Inspectional Reading | 31 |
How to Be a Demanding Reader | 45 |
Pigeonholing a Book | 59 |
Coming to Terms with an Author | 96 |
Determining an Authors Message | 113 |
Criticizing a Book Fairly | 136 |
Suggestions for Reading Stories Plays and Poems | 210 |
How to Read History | 229 |
How to Read Science and Mathematics | 249 |
How to Read Philosophy | 264 |
How to Read Social Science | 289 |
Syntopical Reading | 301 |
Reading and the Growth of the Mind | 328 |
of Reading | 355 |
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Common terms and phrases
able active analytical reading answer apply arguments Aristotle author’s book’s CANTO chapter Charles Van Doren common concerned course critical Dante Darwin difficult disagree discover discussion Divine Comedy encyclopedia Euclid example experience expository book fact fiction human ical idea important inspectional reading interpretation John Stuart Mill kind of book knowledge level of reading lyric mathematics means mind natural selection nature Newton novel Origin of Species passages person philosophical Plato poem poetry political practical book principles probably problem propositions questions Read a Book reader reading actively reason relation relevant rules of reading scientific sense sentences skill social science solve sort speed reading stage of analytical statement story syntopical reading Syntopicon table of contents tell things Thucydides tion treatise true truth understand unity Western World whole words writing