How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading

“We do not have to know everything about something in order to understand it; too many facts are often as much of an obstacle to understand as too few. There is a sense in which we moderns are inundated with facts to the detriment of understanding.”

Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren argue that many people in modern day feel as though reading is not as important as it once was because “radio and especially television have taken over many of the functions once served by print” (3). While people may know more about the world nowadays, this does not equate to understanding.

“Successful communication occurs in any case where what the writer wanted to have received finds its way into the reader’s possession. The writer’s skill and the reader’s skill converge upon a common end.”

Adler and Van Doren use a baseball analogy to explain how a writer and their reader both work toward successful communication. In the analogy, the writer is the pitcher, the writer’s message is the ball, and the reader is the catcher. In order for a pitcher to be successful, the catcher must do their part as well. It is incorrect to think that the catcher’s job is inactive, just as it is incorrect to think that the reader’s job is passive.

“The goal a reader seeks—be it entertainment, information or understanding—determines the way he reads. The effectiveness with which he reads is determined by the amount of effort and skill he puts into his reading.”

Adler and Van Doren introduce their four levels of reading, which begin with the most basic—elementary reading—and progress to the most advanced and sophisticated—syntopical reading. The more advanced levels require the most effort and skill, and in these cases, the reader is reading for understanding. Reading for information requires effort and skill as well, but the reader typically does not achieve full understanding.