Type Book
Date 1972
Pages 426
Tags nonfiction, reading

How to Read a Book, Revised and Updated Edition

Name Role
Charles Van Doren Author
Mortimer J. Adler Author
Simon & Schuster, Inc. Publisher

Contents

Preface ix
Part One: The Dimensions of Reading
    1: The Activity and Art of Reading 3
    2: The Levels of Reading 16
    3: The First Level of Reading: Elementary Reading 21
    4: The Second Level of Reading: Inspectional Reading 31
    5: How to Be a Demanding Reader 45
Part Two: The Third Level of Reading: Analytical Reading
    6: Pigeonholing a Book 59
    7: X-raying a Book 75
    8: Coming to Terms with an Author 96
    9: Determining an Author's Message 114
    10: Criticizing a Book Fairly 137
    11: Agreeing or Disagreeing with an Author 152
    12: Aids to Reading 168
Part Three: Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter
    13: How to Read Practical Books 191
    14: How to Read Imaginative Literature 203
    15: Suggestions for Reading Stories, Plays, and Poems 215
    16: How to Read History 234
    17: How to Read Science and Mathematics 255
    18: How to Read Philosophy 270
    19: How to Read Social Science 296
Part Four: The Ultimate Goals of Reading
    20: The Fourth Level of Reading: Syntopical Reading 309
    21: Reading and the Growth of the Mind 337
Appendix A: A Recommended Reading List 347
Appendix B: Exercises and Tests at the Four Levels of Reading 363
Index 421