HtRaB pt. II

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677278]

ITT: Reading How to Read a Book, in the way the book tells us to read it
>pt. II - The second level (approx. 26 pages)

Previously:
>pt. I - Up to and including the first level
>>76450517
Nothing terribly significant. Mostly awaiting this next part.

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677310]

>>15677278
>>>76450517(Dead)
Correction: >>15669161

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677400]

ch. 4.1 - at the bottom of page 33 the book instructs me to re-read the ToC after bragging about overly-verbose he made it and comparing himself to Milton.

While re-reading the ToC a few chapters did stand out to me which did not beforehand. Notably, there is a section on reading practical books, which I would not have expected. I would "pigeonhole" (to use Adler's term) this very book into this "practical books" category. Before I embark in full on any full-book skim, I feel I should jump to and read this portion out of order.

I also notice that there is an appendix of recommended books which, judging by the page numbers, appears to be 14-16 pages long. I will have to clone that out before I've finished, as I collect these great book-ish lists.

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677453]

ch. 4.1.3 instructs me to read the index, identify some of the more meaningful entries based on the number of references, and examine some which have not been mentioned up to this point.

Some entries with many (7+) references, and which have not been mentioned so far, include:
- Aristotle
- Dante
- Darwin
- Euclid
- Galileo
- Great Books of the Western World
- Newton
- Plato
- Shakespeare
- Tolstoy

When I examined a sampling of these references, each was a name-drop in a page full of name-drops. Perhaps it is a bad sample but from this limited data, and the pompous tone of the book thus far, it seems that the takeaway is that this book is pretentious for its own sake. More or less what I expected, given the title.

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677510]

By the end of ch. 4.1, the method seems rather empowering. This is what I wanted to get out of the book, and it did deliver. I'm tempted to apply the method to every unread book on my shelf, and perhaps I will.

I should apply the method to this book at this point, but I want to read ch. 4.2 and jump to the section on reading practical books, as previously stated, before I embark on that. I might also want to complete ch. 4 and perhaps ch. 5 as well just to round this section out.

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677568]

ch. 4.2 was quite short - just over 2 pages - but highly provocative, which it promises to be. Clearly this Adler dork is on to something. At this point, I would sincerely recommend the book to others.

[Anonymous No.15677634]

>>15677278
(obligatory)

[cc No.15677665]

>>15677278
how to wipe ass

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677689]

>>15677665
What "nuggets" of wisdom have I been missing out on?
>"The first level, which we will refer to as elementary ass-cleaning, involves the mere mechanics of the act, simply cleaning one's ass. How to fold multiple pieces of toilet paper and to account for low ply counts, or how to use one's left hand if among the streetshitters; how to disentangle overlarge dingleberries and lint particles which inhibit a robust wipe; the drying of the sphincter in case of back-splash. Of course "mastering" these remedial skills hardly makes one an ass-wiper at all.
God this guy is a prick.

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677696]

>>15677634
Almonds: Activated

[cc No.15677722]

>>15677689
thanks, I did not have this information.

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677899]

The remainder of ch. 4 was about varying reading speeds, "speed reading", and their relation to comprehension. It wasn't very useful.

Ch. 5 was a mix of notes about active reading which focused mostly on marring your book with pencil notes. Given that this book and its revisions were in an age of typewriters, I understand why he uses the techniques he does, but I think there are some bad qualities which he completely overlooks. Notes color all future readings towards merely replicating the impressions gathered in the reading during which the note was made. They impair you from ever looking at the book with fresh eyes. As a person who doesn't have an interest in permanently keeping most books, I am disinclined to marring them and making them harder to re-sell. And as a modern reader I will occasionally have digital books (like this book) for which the technique cannot even be employed without special equipment and processes.

Ch. 5 ended with some platitudes comparing reading to skiing which were far too verbose to connect. This book really should be revised for the modern age.

After this I jumped to the section on reading practical books. It struck me as pointless and masturbatory. I intended to read it but ended up skimming it.

[illliterati !!kuexYeiZwtH No.15677953]

That's all for me for pt. II of this endeavor.
If you've ever seen this meme book floating around and considered reading it, try jumping right to chapter 4 and reading that alone.

Next time in pt. III, Adler's first form of "Inspectional Reading" which he calls "Systematic Skimming or Pre-reading" will be applied to the book.