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Success is a journey, not a destination. So stop running.
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How do you read a book? -
April 29th, 2012, 02:06 PM
Yes, yes, I'm sure I'll get some jokes for that thread title. And it will probably explain many things to others.
But I'm serious. Specifically non-fiction. I read mostly non-fiction and I find myself frustrated by how little I seem to retain. I am currently reading Mortimer Adler's "How to Read a Book" link
I'm about 100 pages in and it has been interesting so far. I plan to try to put some of the methods in to practice.
If you read non-fiction, do you have any particular method?
Do you do any "pre-reading"? Do you take notes? Make an outline?
Do you initially do a superficial reading to get the main ideas and then go over certain parts more carefully?
Do you read things twice?
Oddly enough, I usually start somewhere in the middle. If it's any good, I go back and read it from the beginning. If it's really good, I'll read it again.
Slogan/motto:
Success is a journey, not a destination. So stop running.
Reputation:
April 29th, 2012, 02:32 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by One Eyed Jack
Oddly enough, I usually start somewhere in the middle. If it's any good, I go back and read it from the beginning. If it's really good, I'll read it again.
I see. That's interesting. Is there a reason you started doing that?
If you read non-fiction, do you have any particular method?
Do you do any "pre-reading"? Do you take notes? Make an outline?
Do you initially do a superficial reading to get the main ideas and then go over certain parts more carefully?
Do you read things twice?
I read the forward, do some pre-reading (often in the store or library) and then proceed to read it through, marking it up as I go. Right dog-ear marks my spot, left dog-ear marks a place to go back to; underlines for the pull quotes and brackets for the ideas. I rarely read twice. I'll go back to reference what I've marked, but I don't read it straight through again.
No, but in all seriousness. I, too, have retention trouble, but mostly with fiction. I can read a great book and enjoy it a lot, but then when I start to recommend it to somebody, I find myself not even being able to remember some characters' names.
Non-fiction is better for me, even though I don't enjoy it as much as fiction.
I wonder if enjoyment itself is what causes the memory loss.
I see. That's interesting. Is there a reason you started doing that?
I think it comes from having an old book laying around in the bathroom. You don't really have time to get too much into it, so you just start anywhere.
Yes, yes, I'm sure I'll get some jokes for that thread title. And it will probably explain many things to others.
But I'm serious. Specifically non-fiction. I read mostly non-fiction and I find myself frustrated by how little I seem to retain. I am currently reading Mortimer Adler's "How to Read a Book" link
I'm about 100 pages in and it has been interesting so far. I plan to try to put some of the methods in to practice.
If you read non-fiction, do you have any particular method?
Do you do any "pre-reading"? Do you take notes? Make an outline?
Do you initially do a superficial reading to get the main ideas and then go over certain parts more carefully?
Do you read things twice?
What a great post. Yeah, it's tough and I've never thought about it quite the way you're presenting it.
I read my favorite writers again and again, over years.
It's similar to music to me.
On one hand, I can keep finding more, understand better what was going on in their mind.
But on the other hand, I re-read so many things that I'm missing out on new things to read. You can only fit so much in; there's only so much you can read (or listen to). So when I re-read Raymond Carver for the 20th time, I'm not reading something else. Music is like that, too: I listen to so much old stuff, I miss a lot of the the new stuff.
But I do try to be careful not to fall into the trap of "the old days."
"There was so much handwriting on the wall that even the wall fell down"
"In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas. The source of better ideas is wisdom. The surest path to wisdom is a liberal education." – Alfred Whitney, Essays on Education
Don't you know
That it ain't a crime
If all the squares
And the junkmen
Think you're out of line
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"Clichés are the bane of educated mankind."
-P.C. Cast
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April 29th, 2012, 05:43 PM
I take forever to read nonfiction.
Mainly because I'm a quote hound and (at least with books I enjoy) I have to take many, many, maaaaaany breaks to write down a particularly inspirational sentence...line....paragraph. (especially when reading Joseph Campbell).
I usually get everything in one pass.
I rarely skim because I don't want to miss anything, and hate rereading unless I've already finished the book and am starting all over.
Vaya con Dios.
Dieu est l'amour.
Allah bidabbir.
“In many ways the evidence of our faith is found in our ability to control our tongue (or our keyboard)."
-Adam Hamilton, Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White
Yes, yes, I'm sure I'll get some jokes for that thread title. And it will probably explain many things to others.
But I'm serious. Specifically non-fiction. I read mostly non-fiction and I find myself frustrated by how little I seem to retain. I am currently reading Mortimer Adler's "How to Read a Book" link
I'm about 100 pages in and it has been interesting so far. I plan to try to put some of the methods in to practice.
If you read non-fiction, do you have any particular method?
Do you do any "pre-reading"? Do you take notes? Make an outline?
Do you initially do a superficial reading to get the main ideas and then go over certain parts more carefully?
Do you read things twice?
I usually read one cover to cover. Highlighting (with a colored marker) certain points as I go, and putting a big "?" mark at certain points until I see if the book explains a little deeper later (and write the page # by the "?" if it does.
I read my favorite writers again and again, over years.
So when I re-read Raymond Carver for the 20th time, I'm not reading something else. Music is like that, too: I listen to so much old stuff, I miss a lot of the the new stuff.
Oh... I was thinking he was talking about non-fiction. Fiction, I reread all the time.
What's new? 
~ J Vernon McGee Ro 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9, 10:13.
kmoney doesn't know how to read a book. 
believe it!
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