Today’s Book Is Literally Called ‘How to Read a Book’. 🤦🏻♂️
Disclaimer: I don’t recommend books I haven’t read at least twice. And I believe no one should. Your time is valuable, and I should have spent at least twice that time reading something to be able to recommend it without the risk of wasting your time on the wrong book.
So have I read it? Yes. Twice or more.
The Title : How To Read a Book
Simple. Precise. To the point. The title of the book is as simple as it gets, but it's methods are profound.
The Author: Mortimer Adler
Mortimer Adler wrote this book in 1940. It’s literally a book about how to read books. Talk about learning from the dead!
1.Conceptual Clarity
The conceptual clarity in this timeless classic just goes to show that clear writing does not age. Even a bit. How to read a book isn’t taught to us in schools. I come from an SSC school in Mumbai and we were certainly not taught how to read a book. We were taught how to read. That is not the same thing.
2.The Technology of Reading
I’m sure you thought once you learnt how to read, you automatically learnt how to read a book. I did too. Until I read, and reread this book.Reading involves learning letters of the alphabet, then memorising words and associating them with real-world objects, then associating them with more abstract concepts, then learning sentences, and graduating to paragraphs, pages, chapters and books. Grammar, punctuation and the works. This is the technology you need to read.