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

Active reading is the overarching theme of How to Read a Book. Although Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren never define “active reading,” they continually explain what it entails. A rudimentary definition of the term is putting effort into reading in order to gain full understanding of a book. In Chapter 1, the authors assert that, because all reading is an activity to some degree, “completely passive reading is impossible” (5). Rather, they suggest that “reading can be more or less active” and that “the more active the reading, the better” (5). In other words, a reader who exerts more effort will become a better reader than one who exerts less effort.

In Chapter 1, Adler and Van Doren use a sports analogy to better explain active reading. Some incorrectly assume that receiving communication, either through reading or listening, is passive. However, the authors argue that “the reader or listener is much more like the catcher in a game of baseball” (5)—making the baseball itself like the writer’s message. The catcher’s job is to catch the pitch like the reader’s job is to receive the writer’s message. According to the authors, there are four levels of reading:

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