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Whistle Stopper - How to Read a Book (A Touchstone Book)
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List Price: $16.00
Our Price: $9.02
Your Save: $ 6.98 ( 44% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Touchstone
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 028
EAN: 9780671212094
ISBN: 0671212095
Label: Touchstone
Manufacturer: Touchstone
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 426
Publication Date: 1972-08-15
Publisher: Touchstone
Studio: Touchstone
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good, but fairly obvious.
Comment: nothing in this book is revolutionary. these are things any reader already knows and does, things that one had to learn to get through college. If you have a thirteen or fourteen year old definitely make him or her read it. The last section is sort of a plug for a different work by the author, which doesn't make it bad, just approach it with the necessary skepticism. On the whole a good and interesting read. The list of books at the end is mostly crap. There is a difference between being educated and well rounded and a crusty old lit snob. one could waste an awful chunk of ones life reading dusty old greeks or Proust instead of Beard of Lewis or Vonnegut. Update it yourself and don't tread it as a holy document, (which is pretty much how it was represented to me) and remember that its probably just articulating better than you could things you already know.
Customer Rating:
Summary: How to Read a Book WELL
Comment: Well, I certainly got a lot of "witty" comments from people as I carried around a copy of Mortimer Adler's "How to Read a Book." Being on the receiving end of redundant jokes was worth it though as Adler was a joy to read, even though I've read a number of books thus far.
American philosopher and academic Mortimer Adler's book is a slight misnomer in that he does not necessarily tell the reader how to read a book, but rather how to read a book well...or "analytically" to use his terminology. It's not simply enough to let your eyes look at each and every word in sequence, then put the book down with a sense of satisfaction. The time invested in a book is precious. Therefore, argues Adler, only the best book should be invested in and the reader should make sure he extracts as much in formation as possible out of the book.
For much of the book, Adler presents a list of "dos" to gain a full understanding of the author's message. He advises the reader to do some "pre-reading" first--reading the book's title, table of contents, index, even its index and the quotes on the back. This will prepare the reader's mind for the information he will receive and how it might be structured. He also highly recommends that the preface and introduction be read as this is where the author normally presents his thesis, purpose, and/or methodology. In reading body of the book, the thesis should always be kept in mind and the reader should be constantly examining how the author builds his argument. Finally, after the book is complete, the reader should be able to restate the book's premise and structure in just a couple sentences, reconstruct the argument, and be able to evaluate the book relying on logic rather than just emotional opinion.
After giving general rules for reading analytically, Adler briefly evaluates various genres of books, giving the reader their general characteristics and how these reading rules might be slightly adapted to the genre. In this section, Adler tends to be "hit and miss" as he is quite helpful in presenting works of philosophy, science, and social science; but less helpful in imaginative fiction and history.
Finally, Adler demonstrates how to read multiple books on the same subject in such a way as the books compliment one another, and provides a series of reading tests to reinforce the book's major premises.
While I found this book well written and was able to glean some gems from it, I generally found that I was doing most of what Adler suggested already. We could all be better readers and Adler certainly gives encouragement in this regard, but as a whole my time might have been better invested elsewhere. However, I recognize that not all people read carefully and consider that books are actually long detailed arguments. For these people, I would highly recommend this book to aid and assist your future reading. For others, it would serve as an enjoyable read as the prose is majestic, but not all that necessary.
Recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Must read book.
Comment: However ridiculous it seems to you now, this book will prepare you to clearly and effectively understand all the books, articles and blogs that you will read after this book.
Stan Faryna
Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic
Comment: I have the good fortune to be the 100th person to review this book, yet I think it deserves as much attention as possible, especially now that our educational system has dwindled down to new historic lows. As a society in the United States, we have clearly selected a path to quantity in terms of literacy, rather than quality and although this has given us great employability, much of the great talent in this country is latent. The approach undertaken by Adler is to awaken a reader from a passive observer to an active and demanding participant in the educational process while also appealing to the intellect. There is sometheing here for everyone seeking better ways to capture information or gain understanding from the most important invention of all time, the written word.
I honestly thought I knew how to read a book until I was humbled into the realization that there are several levels to this activity, ultimately leading to the question of how to truly internalize a book and make use of it. It has in that respect increased my personal expectations of myself and thereby the selection of readings that I have undertaken. In How to Read a Book proves that an author can play the part of the teacher.
How to Read a Book is an effective blueprint on how to activately angage with an author who through his work reaches out to a reader. I feel that due to this, this book serves as an excellent aid towards personal development if this is the nature of the material one reads.
Adler was unquestionably a gifted teacher (through his writings at least) and has done great justice to the Aristotelian tradition of teaching through detached brilliance, codifying his observations.
The other great byproduct of how to read a book is the preponderance of the writer on how to actually structure the writing of a book. The writing process is thus greatly enhanced, as one should anticipate the needs of a highly discriminating reader and produce meaningful and accessible work.
I wish that this book was part of the curriculum for me in high school, it would have made a significant impact in my college years.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wish I'd read this back in school
Comment: In spite of this book's oxymoronic title, it is a book for every one who wants to do serious reading. It could have saved me countless hours in grad school while researching my thesis. The book discusses 4 levels of reading. As bonuses, it also includes tests to help you understand how to use these techniques on passages from famous books and it has Mortimer Adler's famous bibliography that he developed while creating his famous Great Books program.
Previewing, one of the four levels of reading discussed, helps you decide whether to read the book, whether to delete it from your bibliography, what the book is about in detail, and how much time to devote to it. This technique alone could save any student doing term papers dozens of hours and help him prepare a better paper with better citations. Although serious researchers will get the most value from this book, anyone who wants to understand a serious book will also benefit. For example, I recently previewed "Learned Optimism" and before even reading it through I knew what to expect, the author's conclusions, his evidence, and his suggested techniques.
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Editorial Reviews:
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How to Read a Book, originally published in 1940, has become a rare phenomenon, a living classic. It is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader. And now it has been completely rewritten and updated. You are told about the various levels of reading and how to achieve them -- from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading, you learn how to pigeonhole a book, X-ray it, extract the author's message, criticize. You are taught the different reading techniques for reading practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and social science. Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests whereby you can measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension and speed.
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