TRUSTED BOOKS TUESDAY

HOW TO READ A BOOK

by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested.” Francis Bacon

I believe every high school/college bound student should be required to read this book. The authors define different types of reading and concentrate on the most demanding type, analytical reading. Analytical reading is the most active, mind-engaging reading there is.

Adler teaches us how to engage our minds and challenges us to tackle difficult works on our own, without aids. He states, “Good books are over our heads. They wouldn’t be good if they weren’t. Conquer them or they will weary you. The stretching of your mind won’t tire you unless it is unsuccessful because you lack skills to stretch effectively.” All you need is will and skill, and boy does he give you skill in large measure.

Adler has challenged and encouraged me in my own reading. However, I must admit that I can only tackle 1-3 books/year in this manner. Wish I had more time to read - really read.

This entry was posted on 11. March 2008 at 22:54 and is filed under TRUSTED BOOKS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.