{"id":18988,"date":"2018-09-20T02:17:38","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T09:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=18988"},"modified":"2018-09-20T02:22:56","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T09:22:56","slug":"18988-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/18988-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How to read a book – in 1972"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having no recollection of reading a book on how to read a book, I realised that I had learned to read well by learning later in life (not so many bad habits). My regular education was a total disaster. I left school with no formal qualifications at all, and even though I could read, I had never read an entire book. After my conversion, I began devouring the Bible and then read extensively about the Bible by authors from different parts of the world. A little later I discovered Philosophy, and it was at that point that speed of reading and comprehension became a significant issue. Thirty years later, much of what I found in How to Read a Book by Adler and Van Doren[1]<\/a>, was what I had been taught orally by colleagues and mentors along the way, and what I have then taught to those starting out. However, I must say, it would have been an excellent book to read some decades ago; despite not being a ‘page-turner.’<\/p>\n

Of all the material the book covers, the section on \u2018Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter\u2019<\/em>[2]<\/a> grabbed my attention. Though the title appears self-evident, it got me thinking about the lens through which I read any material in the first instance. My own worldview, prejudices, unconscious biases and hopes are as important as understanding the kind of written material I am focussing on. In part, this is tangentially addressed in the later chapter, \u201cSyntopical Approach to Reading\u201d<\/em>[3]<\/a> and the required dialectical strategy for researching differing views on the same topic.[4]<\/a> Trying to read without judgement or prejudice is no easy thing. In fact, I\u2019d hazard to suggest it\u2019s near impossible without some serious intellectual self-critique.<\/p>\n

Growing up in New Zealand meant my early education was formed from a very British perspective of History. I knew about Maori land wars, I knew about the Treaty of Waitangi and I was taught a great deal about various international wars and political history. However, in later years, as our country had to address the cultural failures and abuses of the past, I have found the need to relearn how to read anything about our history, culture and contemporary life as a multicultural community with a bicultural treaty. As I read different versions of our past, I am well aware that my early biases are at work. Inasmuch as I can analyse what I am reading, I am analysing from a specific framework. If I don\u2019t allow what I read to critique and analyse my own perceptions, then no matter how erudite my multivariate analysis and synthesis may appear, it was flawed before I started. Adler and Van Doren make that point at the beginning of their book by referencing Alexander Pope who titled those who misread books as, \u201cbookful blockheads\u201d.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Apart from the above exercise in navel-gazing about how I read, chapter 20 was most helpful. Syntopical reading draws together the different views, opinions and beliefs of different authors on a specific topic in such a way that that the researcher can articulate their own understanding with, and among, other commentators. The chapter offers a precise way to achieve the required end. However, this chapter is also an example of why the book needs updating. Take for example the following comment about the Syntopical Paradox.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless you know what books to read, you cannot read syntopically, but unless you can read syntopically, you do not know what to read.\u201d[6]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In our era of Google Scholar, online university libraries and searchable academic databases, knowing what to read has been made easier. Instant access to reviews and summaries has transformed the way research is done. If anything, the book needs a chapter called \u201cReading Online\u201d.<\/p>\n

So, not my most enjoyable read, and I confess to not reading in the way the book suggests. So I guess, anecdotally, that implies I did not know how to read a book!<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Adler, Mortimer, and Charles Van Doren. How to Read a Book: The Classical Guide to Intelligent Reading<\/em>. New York: Touchstone : Kindle Edition, 2011. Reprint Revised.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid, 186.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 301<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, 314-315<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid, 10<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid, 320<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having no recollection of reading a book on how to read a book, I realised that I had learned to read well by learning later in life (not so many bad habits). My regular education was a total disaster. I left school with no formal qualifications at all, and even though I could read, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1033],"class_list":["post-18988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adler-and-van-doren","cohort-lgp9"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18988"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18993,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18988\/revisions\/18993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}