Second read (after many years); reading with the Obsidian Book Club.

Plenty to think about (knowledge, memory, understanding, the point of reading, limits and usefulness of categorization, different types of reading). Helpful strategies for, well, how to read a book: specifically, how to analytically read and, once you’ve mastered that, how to syntopically read (multiple books across the same topic). Some points are hammered in till there are hairline cracks on the wall but I admire the passion.

Notes

Chapter 1: The Activity and Art of Reading

• Active reading
  • The more active reading the better
    • different types of ways to be active when reading - choose the appropriate level to the book
    • pitcher and catcher analogy: reading is passive the way catching a ball is passive, which is to say, it isn’t.
      • “Catching the ball is just as much an activity as pitching or hitting it.”
    • active reading is the way: “given the same thing to read, one person reads it better than another, first, by reading it more actively, and second, by performing each of the actions involved more skillfully.”
      • what about immersion (fiction) as opposed to action? Can you be active while immersed? Doesn’t seem like it.
      • reading as a complex activity with a number of skills involved and you can hone those skills.
    • Success in reading, defined by “The extent to which you receive everything the writer intended to communicate.”
    • 2 possible relations between your mind and the book
      • you understand nothing or you understand everything (1)
      • you understand some and you understand enough o know that you do not understand it all (2)
        • Maybe you get help, seeking interpretation and explanation from others (people, commentary, textbook) - this is not doing the work yourself
        • OR “you go to work on the book”
          • without external help of any sort. Really? none. ok.
    • Distinction between reading for information and reading for understanding
      • informational reading: news, facts, etc. “Increase our store of information but do not improve our understanding”
        • this is why it’s a mistake to equate someone who reads a lot with someone who is highly intelligent and seeking growth…. many people read to consume information, to back up their preferred views with more facts interpreted or presented to support what they already think.
      • reading to improve understanding: this type of learning - means “understanding more, not remembering more information…”
        • we can only learn from our betters
      • “This book is about the art of reading for the sake of increased understanding. Fortunately, if you learn to do that, reading for information will usually take care of itself.”
    • Reading for entertainment: “the least demanding kind of reading, and it requires the least amount of effort.”
    • the difference between being informed and being enlightened - similar to the difference between being able to remember something and being able to explain it.
    • “Being informed is prerequisite to being enlightened. The point, however, is not to stop at being informed.”
    • Don’t be a sophomore!
    • don’t mistake being widely read for being well-read - not the same thing.
    • discover: “the process of learning something by research, by investigation, or by reflection, without being taught.”

There is no inactive learning, just as there is no inactive reading.”

• Instruction = aided discovery
  • Discovery (unaided) = the art of reading nature or the world
  • Instruction (aided discovery) = the art of reading books or learning from discourse
    • Both ways of learning require thinking.
    • Both are active.
    • The art of reading (to understand) includes all of the same skills that are involved in the art of unaided discovery: keenness of observation, readily available memory, range of imagination, and…an intellect trained in analysis and reflection.
      • this type of reading is discovery with help instead of without it
    • Reading versus listening
    • If you are listening to someone and don’t understand, you can ask for clarification and get it.
    • If you ask a book a question, you must answer it yourself.
• The art of reading: “The process whereby a mind, with nothing to operate on but (the contents of the book) and without outside help”elevates itself by the power of its own operations. The mind passes from understanding less to understanding more.”
  • How? Using the skilled operations that….are the various acts that constitute the art of reading.
  • a MENTAL WORKOUT
  • Once out of school… “our continuing education depends mainly on books alone, read without a teacher’s help… If we are disposed to go on learning and discovering, we must know how to make books teach us well.”

Chapter 2: The Levels of Reading

• The reader’s goal (entertainment, information, or understanding) determines the way he reads.
• The effectiveness of a reader is determined by the effort and skill he brings to the book
  • generally: “the more effort the better, at least in the case of books that are initially beyond our powers as readers…”
• Four levels of reading
  • 1 Elementary Reading
    • or rudimentary / basic / initial
    • from nonliteracy to literacy
    • a child learning to read
    • we encounter these same challenges when we try to read something in a foreign language (or perhaps with an extensive specialized vocabulary we do not know)
    • mechanical difficulties may exist no matter how old you are
  • 2 Inspectional Reading
    • special emphasis on time
    • the aim is “to get the most out of a book within a given time”
    • always too short a time to get everything that can be gotten
    • Skimming systematically
      • “examine the surface of the book… learn everything that the surface alone can teach you”
        • What is this book about?
        • The value of inspectional reading: “…most people, even many quite good readers, are unaware of the value of inspectional reading. They start a book on page one and plow steadily through it, without even reading the table of contents They are thus faced with the task of achieving a superficial knowledge of the book at the same time that they are trying to understand it.
  • 3 Analytical Reading
    • more complex and more systematic
    • makes more demands of the reader
    • thorough reading, complete, good reading - the best that you can do
    • the best and most complete reading you can do given unlimited time
    • reader must ask many and organized questions of what she is reading
    • intensely active
    • Really only needed for seeking to raise your understanding
  • 4 Syntopical Reading
    • most complex and systematic reading
    • makes heavy demands of the reader
    • could also call this comparative reading
    • “When reading syntopically, the reader reads many books, not just one, and places them in relation to one another and to a subject about which they all revolve”
    • …“the syntopical reader is able to construct an analysis of the subject that may not be in any of the books.
    • the most active and effortful kind of reading
    • also the most rewarding

Chapter 3: The First Level of Reading: Elementary Reading

• literacy
• changes in the method of teaching reading
  • from synthetic to phonic
  • visual - whole words - sight method
• Americans love to criticize the school system
  • other methods in development eg see-say, look-say word method etc.
• stages in learning to read
  • reading readiness - good vision and hearing, minimum level of visual perception to distinguish letters and words, ability to speak clearly, sustain attention, follow directions…
    • delaying is not bad. better to wait till ready than jump the gun and create frustration
    • sight words and basic skills
      • from no meaning to meaning
    • rapid progress in vocabulary building and increasing skill in unlocking meaning of new words with context clues
      • learning to read for different purposes
      • and for fun
    • refinement and enhancement of the skills acquired
      • assimilate reading experiences and compare views
      • mature stage of reading
  • reading the final stage of elementary reading = still elementary reading.
  • however it is important to master this final stage before you’re prepared to move on to the higher levels of reading
  • reading instruction typically ends in later high school and does not exist in college
    • assumption that you ‘already know how to read’ and what that skill is
    • “most institutions of higher learning either do not know how to instruct students in reading beyond the elementary level, or lack the facilities and personnel to do so.”
    • speed reading doesn’t count (emphatically!)
    • “A college degree out to represent general competence in reading…and syntopical reading ability on almost any subject… but.. it does not…

Chapter 4: The Second Level of Reading: Inspectional Reading

• two types of inspectional reading
  • 1 systematic skimming or pre-reading
    • the first sublevel of inspectional reading
    • your aim is to discover whether the book requires a more careful reading
    • how to do it…
      • title / subtitle - read preface quicklyshould give you an appropriate category for the book
      • table of contents - get a sense of the book’s structure
      • check the index if there - estimate the range of topics covered and the books/authors referred to. check the crucial terms listed, and look up a few passages
      • read the publisher’s blurb
        • “if the blurb is nothing but a puff for the book, you will ordinarily be able to discover this at a glance. But that in itself can tell you something about the work.”
      • you may have enough information now.. if not:
        • look at the chapters that seem pivotal to the argument, read summary statement
        • then flip through, dip in here and there read a few paragraphs and pages
          • be sure to read the last 2-3 pages
      • “You should also be able to place the book even more accurately than before in your mental card catalogue, for further reference if the occasion should ever arise”
      • this is a very active sort of reading
      • and it’s very helpful. time-saving, grasp more.
  • 2 superficial reading
    • the second sublevel of inspectional reading
    • superficial reading is right in the right place/time purposefullly
    • “In tackling a difficult book for the first time, read it through without ever stopping to look up or ponder the things you do not understand right away.”
    • Focusing on everything and trying to master the fine points right away — you will miss the big points.
  • what about speed reading
    • the ideal is not to be able to read faster but to be able to read at different speeds, as needed
    • reading faster doesn’t improve your comprehension
  • AH the RHETORIC of the declaration of independence! so fluff. much waste. drivel.
  • we’re not going for speed we’re going for comprehension baby
    • read at the right speed for the book
    • skimming or pre-reading is always a good idea
    • read superficially the first time through
    • systematic skimming prepares us for analytical reading
    • superficial reading is the first necessary step in the interpretation of the book

Chapter 5: How to Be a Demanding Reader

• the four basic questions a reader asks
  • active reading is better reading, and inspectional reading is always active
  • Ask questions while you read then you’ll try to answer them!
  • question 1: What is the book about as a whole?
    • leading theme
    • how the theme is developed
    • subordinate themes and topics
  • question 2: What is being said in detail and how?
    • discover the main ideas, assertions, and arguments of the author’s message
  • question 3: Is the book true, in whole or part? - make up your own mind
  • question 4: What of it? - what is the significance of the argument and its truth (or not)
  • inspectional reading usually answers the first 2 questions; analytical reading should answer the latter 2 questions.
  • To be a demanding reader, make it a habit to ask these four questions of everything you read
• how to make a book your own
  • annotate !
  • “Full ownership of a book only comes when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way .. is by writing in it.”
  • Mark that book up.
    • it keeps you awake and focused
    • you’re thinking and you can express what you’re thinking
    • writing your reactions down helps you remember what you’re reading and understanding
• “Reading a book should be a conversation between you and the author.”
  • Use the back endpapers to make a personal index of the author’s points
  • use the front endpapers to outline it with your own thinking, the measure of your understanding of the work
• three kinds of note-making
  • structural note-making - answering the first 2 questions. done during inspectional reading
  • conceptual note-making - answering the latter 2 questions. done during analytical reading
  • also make these notes notes when doing syntopical reading, as well as:
  • dialectical note-making - the shape of the discussion - done during syntopical reading
  • forming the habit of reading

Now there is no other way of forming a habit of operation than by operating…. one learns to do by doing. The difference between your activity before and after you have formed a habit is a difference in facility and readiness.

• aka JUST DO IT
  • from many rules to one habit
  • some skills are just awkward at first
  • “in order to forget them as separate acts, you have to learn them first as separate acts”
  • learn the parts separately then you can put them together smoothly
  • “When all the subordinate acts can be done more or less automatically, you have formed the habit of the whole performance. Then you can think about tackling [a greater challenge].”

Part 2 Chapter 6: Pigeonholing a Book

• The importance of classifying books
• Rule 1 of analytical reading: You must know what kind of book you are reading, and you should know this as early in the process as possible, preferably before you begin to read.
  • fiction or expository..
  • what type of expository book?
  • this is what inspectional reading is for. do that systematic skimming.
  • be accurate with what the title tells you
• practical vs theoretical books
  • “to make knowledge practical we must convert it into rules of operation”
  • practical books are not confined to certain topics
  • “any book that tells you either what you should do or how to do it is practical.”
• history, science, philosophy
  • surprising and interesting how to distinguish
  • esp between science and philosophy

Chapter 7: X-Raying a Book

• Rule 2 of analytical reading: State the unity of the whole book in a single sentence, or at most a few sentences (a short paragraph)
  • what is the theme, the main point?
  • You must apprehend the unity with definiteness.
• Rule 3 of analytical reading: Set forth the major parts of the book, and show how these are organized into a whole, by being ordered to one another and to the unity of the whole
  • You have not grasped a complex unity if all you know about it is how it is one. You must also know how it is many.
  • The best books are those that have the most intelligible structure.
  • outline, baby
  • authors often help you out by providing a summary etc
    • accept their help but find the unity for yourself
  • reading and writing are reciprocal arts
• Rule 4 of analytical reading: Find out what the author’s problems were.
  • what question or set of questions did the author start with? Find out.
  • Put them in an intelligible order
• The first four rules provide the reader with a knowledge of a book’s structure
  • applying these rules help you to answer the first basic question about a book: What is the book about as a whole?

Chapter 8: Coming to Terms with an Author

• term is the basic element of communicable knowledge
• a term is an unambiguous word - or a word used unambiguously
• terms - a skilled use of words for the sake of communicating knowledge
  • a shared vocabulary
• Rule 5 of analytical reading: Find the important words and through them come to terms with the author. (we are now in the second stage of analytical reading)
  • locate the important words
  • determine the meaning of these words, as used, with precision
  • problems with ambiguity
  • expository works (to be useful) depend on unambiguous use of words. Poetry, on the other hand, is aided by ambiguity: “It can even be argued that the best poetry is that which is the most richly ambiguous.”
  • The imperfection / ambiguity of language makes this rule necessary. Interpretation is an unavoidable part of reading and it serves us well to interpret as accurately as possible. In the case of expository writing, that means finding the key terms and understanding them as the author uses them.
  • The usefulness of a book is limited both by the skills of the writer and the skills of the reader.
  • The grammatical and logical aspects of this rule
    • grammatical = deals with words
    • logical = deals with their meanings. the TERMS.
  • “The main point is that one word can be the vehicle for many terms, and one term can be expressed by many words.”
    • Precision of terminology is important
    • Otherwise you think you know what I mean but you do not understand what I am saying etc etc
  • Be aware of the culture / timeline of the author. Books written in the past will use everyday words according to the meaning common in their time which may at this point be archaic.
  • How to spot the terms / important words
    • words that are not ordinary for you
    • explicit stress placed upon certain words (eg typographical devices, explicit discussion of that word, defining the term…)
    • look for technical vocabulary
    • look for words repeated in the chapter headings, preface, etc
    • words that the author uses in a special / distinct way
  • Once you find the important words, discover their meaning (the terms) by using the meaning of the words around you do understand. eg contextual language
  • “A word in place is a term.”
  • vocabulary v terminology
  • phrases and words
  • other factors
    • abstract v concrete
    • literal and metaphorical use of words
    • the difference between defining words and defining things
    • the emotive use of words

Chapter 9: Determining an Author’s Message

• What is the author’s proposition?
• A proposition in a book = a declaration. An expression of the author’s judgement about something.
  • a declaration of knowledge, not intentions
• Remember: His propositions are nothing but expressions of personal opinion unless they are supported by reasons.
  • We want to identify the propositions AND why we should be persuaded to accept them
• Terms to propositions to arguments
  • words to phrases to sentences to paragraphs
• Outlining and interpretation meet at the level of propositions and arguments
  • Work down to propositions and arguments by dividing the book into its parts (outline)
  • work up to arguments by seeing how they are composed of propositions and ultimately of terms (interpretation)
• Words and terms do not stand in a one to one relation
• Propositions are the answers to questions
• Rule 6 of analytical reading: Mark the most important sentences in a book and discover the propositions they contain.
• Rule 7 of analytical reading: Locate or construct the basic arguments in the book by finding them in the connection of sentences.
  • Finding the key sentences
    • they may be difficult to understand
    • they express the judgments of the author
    • they contain the reasoning for the author’s arguments
    • sometimes the author makes them obvious purposefully
    • often does not
    • locate the sentences which “carry the main burden of meaning”
    • “Perhaps you are beginning to see how essential a part of reading it is to be perplexed and know it.”
    • look for sentences which contain important terms
    • look for the sentences which puzzle you (not necessarily the ones which interest you)
  • when you find the key sentences, figure out their propositions
    • come to the meaning of these propositions as you came to the meaning of terms
    • state the proposition in your own words (great test for seeing if you really understand it)
    • key skill for syntopical reading as “Different authors frequently say the same thing in different words, or different things using almost the same words.”
    • can you connect the proposition to a real experience or example
    • can you illustrate the proposition
    • beware the sin of verbalism! woe is ye verbalismists
  • Rule 7 restated: Find if you can the pararaphs in a book that state its important arguments; but if the arguments are not thus expressed, your task is to construct them, by taking … sentences from various paragraphs… and gathering together the sequence of sentences that state the propositions that compose the argument.
    • numbers in the margins can be good for marking the leading sentences
    • look for summary of arguments at the beginning and end of a chapter
    • look also in the last chapter
    • if you find a conclusion, look for the reasons that led to the conclusion
    • inductive v deductive
    • look for things the author says she must assume, what she says can be proved or otherwise evidenced, and what need not be proved because it is self-evident
  • ask questions: which of the problems that the author tried to solve did he succeed in solving?
• Rule 8 of analytical reading: Find out what the author’s solutions are
  • Applying rules 5-8 to answer the second basic question you must ask about a book
    • come to terms
    • find key propositions and arguments
    • identified solutions to problems