By: Mark Petersen on October 12, 2017
The first course of my university career was held on the sixteenth floor of the austere Arts Tower at Carleton University in Ottawa in fall 1983. Twentieth Century French Literature, or more accurately, “La littérature française du xxe siècle”, was taught entirely in French, and even more intimidating to me at the tender age of 19 than the…
By: Trisha Welstad on October 12, 2017
I did not read “How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read,” at least not in its entirety. As I began to use Albert Adler’s basic principle of the second level of reading to examine Bayard’s book I felt I could not do the text much justice if I did not immediately get at the…
By: Dave Watermulder on October 12, 2017
I am a confirmed bibliophile. I love books. I love buying them, reading them, talking about them, and putting them up on the bookshelf that features prominently in the living room of my home. When I visit someone’s home, I always notice whether or not they have a bookshelf, which books are on that shelf,…
By: Chris Pritchett on October 12, 2017
The title of Bayard’s book is obviously compelling. I engaged the book specifically with the interest of learning practical skills that would help me absorb books in different ways in order to make better use of my time for this program. Additionally, parishioners are constantly peddling books to me, very few of which I am…
By: Jason Turbeville on October 12, 2017
That is the question at hand in How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard. I suppose I could hone in on the chapter about Groundhog Day, one of the best movies of the last 50 years, but there was a moment in my reading where I had to ask myself, did the…
By: Jean Ollis on October 12, 2017
“If a book is less a book than it is the whole of the discussion about it, we must pay attention to that discussion in order to talk about the book without reading it. For it is not the book itself that is at stake, but what it has become within the critical space in…
By: Jennifer Williamson on October 12, 2017
Kirin lived far enough from Lakeridge High School that she could have taken the bus. But lucky for me, my best friend preferred to walk. I lived half way between Kirin’s house and the school, so each morning we met up at the bottom of Sunny Hill Drive to make our way together. We were…
By: Greg on October 12, 2017
Have you ever seen those television programs that reveal the hidden secrets behind magic? It begins with a masked figure hiding in the shadows of the set. Around him are devices seen on magic stages around the world. The hidden secrets of magic, the intrigue and illusion, will be lost on those that watch this…
By: Jake Dean-Hill on October 11, 2017
Pierre Bayard’s How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read was an interesting read, and contrary to the title, I did, in fact, read his book and found a few of the tips rather helpful. I also have to say, I loved the chapter where he talked about the movie Groundhog Day in detail.[1] Not…
By: Jay Forseth on October 11, 2017
Seven short years ago, I threw my family of four into our Dodge mini-van and drove from Montana to Maine, and back again. Two teen-agers, our bird dog, a portable DVD player, and us crazy parents for 7752 miles! 26 United States later, people would ask my kids what their favorite part of the trip…
By: Mike on October 11, 2017
Pierre Bayard’s, How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read is a shocking, non-traditional, and awe-inspiring reading approach that challenges readers not only on how to read, but specifically on how to not read books. Bayard says that “non-reading is not just the absence of reading, but a genuine activity” that keeps us from “drowning” in a…
By: Shawn Hart on October 10, 2017
So I must say that in Pierre Bayard’s book “How to Talk about Books You Haven’t Read,” I kept finding myself conflicted over the pure irony of the message. On one hand, I wanted to not read the pages simply to prove his point, and yet on the other hand, I kept feeling as though…
By: Kyle Chalko on October 6, 2017
Really? How To Read a Book? You’d think by the time someone was in the process of acquiring their terminal degree they would have already figured out how to read. Of course, this book title will only be surpassed in irony by our future reading requirement, How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read. I…
By: Trisha Welstad on October 5, 2017
If I had to describe Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book in one word, I would say it is ‘thorough’. As helpful as Adler attempts to be in sharing the methods and insights on reading productively and for various purposes, much of the content is so thorough with illustrations and redundancy, I found myself…
By: Shawn Hart on October 5, 2017
“There is clearly no difficulty of an intellectual sort about gaining new information in a course of reading if the new facts are of the same sort as those you already know.”[1] I must admit that these words were my biggest fear with this book; in other words, what is the challenge of reading a…
By: Jean Ollis on October 5, 2017
Welcome back to reality! It didn’t take long to have to readjust back to reading (or not), writing blogs, gathering research resources, and developing annotated bibliographies. My blissful two weeks of experiential learning is surely over – or at least that was my attitude as I began reading the book “How to Read a Book,…
By: Jay Forseth on October 5, 2017
Of the 137 authors listed in the recommended reading list in Appendix A of “How To Read A Book” by Adler and Van Doren [1], I am embarrassed to say I have truly only read seven (7), and two of those were the Old Testament and New Testament! How could a educated guy who attended a private…
By: Shawn Hart on October 5, 2017
First an apology for my long delay…the book finally arrived the day after I returned from South Africa. I must say however, that though I could have faked this report, after our visit south, I very much wanted to read it; I am not disappointed…well, not entirely at least. Early in the Welsh’s writings, he…
By: Mark Petersen on October 5, 2017
Mortimer Adler’s classic How to Read a Book arrived on my doorstep, and as it emerged from the bubble-wrapped envelope, I chuckled. This used edition had the look of a 1970s era hardback with the traditional font selection, oversized white space, and garish coloured dust jacket. Likewise, the stilted language of another generation transported me…
By: Jason Turbeville on October 5, 2017
I have read some pretty dry books in all my years of college, seminary and beyond. I remember one from an Old Testament survey class where the first chapter was entitled “An Introduction To Introductions”. It took me a week to read one chapter because of the dryness, and moribund nature of the book. I…
