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

In Chapter 7, Adler and Van Doren list the second, third, and fourth rules of analytical reading. The second rule is to “state the unity of the whole book in a single sentence, or at most a few sentences (a short paragraph)” (75). In other words, summarize the book. The best way to accomplish this is to discover a book’s main theme. The third rule is to “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” (76). In other words, a reader should create an outline for the book, treating parts of it “as if they were subordinate wholes, each with a unity and complexity of its own” (84).

The fourth rule of analytical reading is discovering authorial intent: “the author of a book starts with a question or a set of questions. The book ostensibly contains the answer or answers” (92). It is important that a reader not only answer the author’s primary question but any subordinate questions—and order them within an outline. The second and third rules of analytical reading not only lead into the fourth, but fully support it if followed correctly. The four rules come together to help the reader understand a given book’s structure.

The second stage of analytical reading is covered in Chapters 8-9. The title of Chapter 8, “Coming to Terms with an Author,” refers to the communication of knowledge from author to reader (96). However, Adler and Van Doren stress that a term is not simply a word, but rather “a basic element of communicable knowledge” (96). This transitions to the fifth rule of analytical reading, which states, “find the important words and through them come to terms with the author” (98). The reader must not only find the important words, but also figure out how the author is using them (98). According to the authors, “one word can be the vehicle for many terms, and one term can be expressed by many words” (100). They use “reading” as an example, as they use it to mean three different things—reading for entertainment, information, and understanding.

The main way that a reader can locate key words is to understand the passages in which they occur (102). In other words, understanding the author’s context is pivotal. An author’s use of technical vocabularies is important to recognize. A reader can be alerted to technical words due to them being emphasized or unfamiliar. Adler and Van Doren suggest marking these words to parse or research their meanings.

In determining an author’s message, a reader must look for their propositions. According to Adler and Van Doren, “a proposition in a book is a declaration” (113). The author’s terms lead to propositions, which then lead to arguments in the same way that words lead to sentences and paragraphs (115). However, sentences and paragraphs are grammatical units of language while “propositions and arguments are logical units, or units of thought and knowledge” (116). The sixth rule of analytical reading instructs readers to “mark the most important sentences in a book and discover the propositions they contain” (119). The seventh rule states, “locate or construct the basic arguments in the book by finding them in the connection of sentences” (119). Key sentences are those which “express the judgements on which [the author’s] whole argument rests” (120). In order to find propositions within key sentences, readers must find the principal words that make up said sentences (123).

The seventh rule of analytical reading is more complex, as readers are tasked with locating the basic arguments of a book. Some arguments are contained within a single paragraph, while others are spread out—and can be identified as either inductive or deductive. Inductive arguments use facts as evidence, while deductive arguments use a series of general statements in order to support another generalization (130). In other words, readers should observe whether an argument is grounded in evidence or is self-evident but unproven (131). The eighth rule of analytical reading instructs readers to “find out what the author’s solutions are” (133-34). In doing so, the reader determines if the author has solved their problems.

The third and final stage of analytical reading is covered in Chapters 10-12. In Chapter 10, Adler and Van Doren suggest that a book is a conversation between author and reader—but the latter does not have a say until the book is read and understood. There are also guidelines, or general maxims, of intellectual etiquette that should be followed when having a say. These guidelines come through in the next three rules of analytical reading. The ninth rule states, “you must be able to say, with reasonable certainty, ‘I understand,’ before you can say any one of the following things: ‘I agree,’ or ‘I disagree,’ or ‘I suspend judgement” (141). The rule is straightforward, as it tells the reader that they must understand the author before critiquing their work. Adler and Van Doren argue that “to agree without understanding is inane. To disagree without understanding is impudent” (141). Suspending judgement is an act of criticism as well, as it implies the reader is unconvinced or has yet to be persuaded by the author (141).

The tenth rule of analytical reading is avoiding contentiousness: “when you disagree, do so reasonably, and not disputatiously or contentiously” (144). This rule is also straightforward in that it tells the reader to disagree with the author intellectually rather than emotionally. Adler and Van Doren argue that “he who regards conversation as a battle can win only by being an antagonist [...] The reader who approaches a book in this spirit reads it only to find something he can disagree with” (145). The eleventh rule is to “respect the difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion by giving reasons for any critical judgement you make” (148). The reader should present good reasons for their critical judgements, just as the author has (or should have) in supporting their arguments.

Chapter 11 closely follows Chapter 10, as it instructs the reader how to effectively disagree with an author (the twelfth and final rule). Should the reader agree with the author, their analytical reading is largely complete (150). In disagreeing, the reader should acknowledge their emotions on the subject, know their own prejudices, and attempt to take the opposite point of view to show impartiality (152-53). Adler and Van Doren list the four ways in which a book can be adversely criticized: the author is uninformed, misinformed, illogical, or their analysis is incomplete (154).

According to the authors, “to say that an author is uninformed is to say that he lacks some piece of knowledge that is relevant to the problem he is trying to solve” (154). In order to make this case, the reader must possess said knowledge and prove its relevance. A misinformed author “asserts what is not the case” (155)—which can be undone by the reader knowing the truth. An illogical author “has committed a fallacy in reasoning” (156). In order to make this case, the reader must “be able to show the precise respect in which the author’s argument lacks cogency” (156-57). Finally, “to say that an author’s analysis is incomplete is to say that he has not solved all the problems he started with” (159). The reader can counter this by defining the author’s inadequacy.

The two types of reading aids are extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic reading is “reading a book in the light of other books” (166). Intrinsic reading is reading a book in itself, “quite apart from all other books” (166). Chapters 1-11 cover guidelines for intrinsic reading, but Chapter 12 deals with extrinsic reading. All extrinsic reading aids fall into one of four categories: relevant experience, other books, commentaries and abstracts, and reference books (167). The two types of relevant experience that can aid readers in better understanding a text are common experience and special experience. Common experience is shared by many people but is not specialized (i.e., marriage and parenthood). Special experience is expertise on a subject (i.e., a scientist reading a scientific work).

One can read multiple books on a single topic (and relate them to each other) as an extrinsic reading aid. Adler and Van Doren suggest that commentaries and abstracts be used sparingly as extrinsic reading aids (upon completing a book), as “commentators are not always right in their comments on a book” (171). Although there are many types of reference books, those most often used as extrinsic reading aids are dictionaries and encyclopedias. Dictionaries are useful when a book’s vocabulary “includes technical words, archaic words, literary allusions, or even familiar words used in obsolete sentences” (177). However, a reader can “lose track of the book’s unity and order” (177) by using a dictionary too often. Whereas a dictionary is used for words, an encyclopedia is used for facts.