Productivity
How to Read a Book Summary & Review: Get More From Every Hard Book
Adler and Van Doren’s four levels of reading — inspect first, X-ray one book, then compare many — so a hard book…
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Mortimer J. Adler
"Reading is a skill you can raise"
Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) taught philosophy at the University of Chicago, chaired the board of Encyclopaedia Britannica, and spent decades arguing that adults can still learn from hard books. He directed the Institute for Philosophical Research and helped build the Great Books program.
1 book featured·How to Read a Book·Great Books movement
Books by Mortimer J. Adler
Our in-depth summaries and reviews of his work
Key Ideas & Recurring Themes
Four levels of reading
Elementary, inspectional, analytical, and syntopical — raise the skill instead of only raising speed.
The four analytical questions
What is it about? What is said, and how? Is it true? What of it?
Notable Quotes
"Marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love."— How to Read a Book
Book Author Mortimer J. Adler
How to Read a Book Summary & Review: Get More From Every Hard Book
Adler and Van Doren’s four levels of reading — inspect first, X-ray one book, then compare many — so a hard book actually changes what you can say.