Chapter 21 Reading and the Growth of the Mind
The final chapter wraps up with a brief discussion about how to find books worth reading, and the benefits we get from reading good (and great!) books.
The methods for analytical and syntopical reading, as laid out by Adler and Van Doren, do not apply to every book. What is the reason given by the authors? (p. 329 – 330)
The short answer is that some books do not require the analytical and syntopical methods of reading.
Books that are well within your capacity will not stretch your mind and will not need to be read at this level.
Books that are only good for amusement or diversion also do not require this level of reading. Reading books just for amusement is fine, but we should understand that our reading skills will not be challenged if that is all we are reading.
Books that merely inform us of facts also do not push us to read at an analytical level. Our minds aren’t stretched because the book is giving us information and facts but not understanding of those facts.
The authors have previously stated that readers must make demands of the books they read, but in this final chapter, they state that books you will want to read analytically must also make demands of the reader. What is meant by this statement? (p. 330 – 331)
Books that are meant to be read analytically need to seem beyond your capabilities as a reader. Note that if the rules of analytical reading are applied, these books are not truly out of reach, but they will push you and ultimately help you become a better reader.
The authors state that good books reward readers for trying to read them (and the best books reward readers most of all). What are the rewards that reading good books provides? (p. 331)
The authors describe two rewards that readers obtain from reading.
First is the improvement to our reading skill.
Second, a good book will teach us about the world and about ourselves. To be clear, this is not merely about imparting knowledge, which the authors have pointed out books can do without challenging readers. Rather, readers become more knowledgeable about life and the world around us, and about the enduring truths of human existence. There are questions that are never answered, no matter how many books are written, and the greatest books help readers think more deeply about them.
The authors state that the vast majority of books can be considered for amusement or information, but that readers should not be expected to learn anything of importance from them. There is a second class of books, however, from which readers can be expected to learn – to learn how to read and how to live. This second class of books can be further divided-the authors invoke a pyramid of books as imagery for this division. Discuss each type of book in this pyramid, and which the reader should seek out. (p. 331 – 333)
At the time of this edition, the authors point out that several million books have been written in the Western tradition alone. The vast majority are considered by the authors to be for amusement or information only.
Less than one out of every hundred (or perhaps one in a thousand or ten thousand) belong to the second class of books-books from which a reader can expect to learn to read or learn to live. This class is made up of books that are considered “good” – books that convey significant insights to readers and make severe demands on the reader. These books are worth reading analytically, but only once. A skilled reader will get everything they need out of a single reading of a “good” book. You have been impacted by reading this book, but it has taught you all it has to teach.
Within this small number of books, there is a smaller subset, probably less than one out of a hundred of these “good” books, that cannot be exhausted in just one reading. But interestingly, upon second reading, because your mind has grown (in part through the reading of these good books), the reader finds that the book has not grown and so does not have more to offer.
Finally, there is a very small proportion of these books-what the authors describe as the highest class or “great books” – where the book appears to have grown along with the reader, meaning that upon rereading, the reader sees new things in the book, things not seen on previous times through.
It is this final group of books-those that grow along with the reader and continue to offer new things with each reading-that will teach the reader the most about reading and life as they are read again and again.
As a final thought, what do the authors mention about the human brain and the value of reading well? (p. 336)
Like muscles in the body, the mind can atrophy if it is not used. Our brains need mental exercise. Reading well, which is to say reading actively, serves to keep our minds alive and growing.
It can be tempting when finishing a book to overlook the appendices, but I think with How to Read a Book, it is worth at least skimming.
Appendix A is an extensive reading list containing 137 titles that the authors recommend. While How to Read a Book is a standalone title, it is worth noting that Mortimer Adler was an essential part of putting together the Great Books of the Western World collection published by Encyclopedia Britannica in 1952, as well as the companion set Gateway to the Great Books, and so there are notations included in Appendix A that are useful for those who have access to these collections. Titles with a single asterisk can be found in Great Books of the Western World, and titles with a double asterisk can be found in Gateway to the Great Books.
Appendix B includes exercises and tests for readings at all four levels described in How to Read a Book. If you are reading on your own, you may wish to incorporate some or all of this content, or if you are an educator, these may be helpful in developing discussion questions.
** Note – assume much of the content following each discussion question is a paraphrase and comes from the book How to Read a Book.
Click here to print Chapter 21 Discussion Questions.
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