How to Read (and Understand) Hard Books

A few notes: 1. Hitchens isn't the hardest author to read, but his book served as a decent example for the purposes of this video (and I had the book ready at hand). 2. Throughout, I mentioned synoptical reading — but Adler wrote about syntopical reading. A helpful commenter corrected me (and apparently many others have made that mistake).

Brb grabbing my copy of green eggs and ham real quick

Superficial reading Analytical reading -classify the book -x-ray the book(skimming+pre reading) -come to terms with the author -determine the message - criticize the book fairly - determine your own conclusion

I discovered Mortimer Adler’s How To Read a Book in high school. It totally changed my life. It was like finding the key to a better world.

Thank you. I’ve read Adler and Van Doran’s “How to Read a Book” many times. Your video here helped me understand its contents even more.

i believe this aligns with plato’s and socrates encouragement of critical thinking when it came to education…they often criticized the focus on just memorization rather than drawing your own conclusions and asking deeper questions.

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 📚 Understanding hard books is a common challenge even for advanced readers. 00:29 📖 There are four types of reading: Elementary, Inspectional, Analytical, and Syntopical. 01:53 🧐 Before diving into a book, conduct an inspection to understand its content, table of contents, and introduction. 04:00 ✍️ During the superficial read, quickly skim the text without stopping to ponder or look up unknown terms. 05:37 📖 Analytical reading involves deep engagement with the text, making thorough annotations, and taking detailed notes. 08:41 🔍 Define key terms used by the author to fully understand the text's message. 09:37 📝 Identify the author's message by analyzing specific arguments and evidence presented. 10:31 🤔 Critically assess the book by considering its arguments, exploring counterarguments, and forming your own conclusions. 12:07 📚 Syntopical reading involves comparing multiple books on the same subject to understand different perspectives and a

I read a lot of hard academic books. I find returning to them even years later really help me, perhaps because I know more or perhaps because I have different questions to ask of the books. I think 'Why am I reading this book?' is as important question as 'What is this book about?'

i found this book recently on a self-study philosophy reading list and i thought it would be dreadfully boring but i'm enjoying it so far! i'm working on the 'how to read philosophy' section right now. i'm glad that you posted this and i found your channel! looking forward to watching your other content

I’ve been presenting on Adler’s book to the Upper School students of the school I teach at. Love the video.

Very nice presentation on how to read books. I appreciate your short and concise presentation. I have problems with long, drawn out, and detail explanations. Which is why I have problems with reading and understanding long writings.

your channel is amazing!!! I loved this video as an english student who loves classics but struggles outside of class

I really enjoyed this video. That Adlee book is great. I'd love to see you do a similar video focused on reading fiction, since this video was so focused on nonfiction.

GREAT vid Jared, it actually to recheck the book I've written and answer the questions the other way around . THANKS 👏🏽

Thank you. I've read the book from Adler and was trying to distill it. You have done the work for me.

I've just ordered the book...thanks for your very helpful advice 👍

I'm so glad you picked Hitchens's book for this video. I love Hitch and Orwell, and really enjoyed this read, though I feel I should revisit it soon 🤔

For me language is often the atumbling block. Philosophers and theologians like naming things and don't often care if someone else used the same name in a slightly different context. Pobably the most difficult book I have, attemptedz to read was feom colege - Meaning of Christ, a Mahayana Buddhist Point of View. You basically had to learn a new language if you weren't well versed in Buddhist thought. I might give Goedel, Escher and Bach another shot at some point. But like all reading, knowing what you are getting into before you start can be a big plus.

Just got the adler book used for $5. thanks keep the content coming.

This is great. Im a physics student and the deeper element of understanding physics, is generally mathematics. I have struggled with finding a way of really understanding pure philosophy so this should be very helpful.