I wish I would have started watching you 50 years ago. I would be properly reading by now and, most important, re-reading a few favorites I've ran into along the way. Still, at 68, I am glad and thankful there's such a young mind as yours who apparently enjoys sharing his knowledge with us. Thank you..!
I understand your point, but perhaps it's still worth pointing out that UA-cam was started in 2007 (15 years ago), and Benjamin McEvoy, I believe, is also less than 50 years old. He started this channel in January, 2020.
I'm right there with you at 68. I wish I would have been reading 50 years ago. In high school you couldn't pay me to read. Since earning a degree in English Literature, 99% of what I read is classic literature. I feel I'm playing catch-up.
I'm a slow reader. I often find myself rereading a sentence or a paragraph several times that I've literally just read. I thought I was going crazy. Im pleased to know I'm not the only person.
I’m a non-native English speaker and I’ve always had trouble in reading and writing in English, your videos really cheers me up and helps me a lot. Thank you, Benjamin.
I love Ben's instructions. I needed this in the 60s and 70s when I was dragging myself through school. After punishing myself through textbooks I discovered that I loved slowly reading a good book, a great novel or a wonderful biography. I discovered I love to go back to the beginning and re-read the first chapter after reading about 100 pages. I stopped judging myself. Much more fun and much more exciting.
Where were you young man, when I needed to KNOW "How to Read"??? My favourite writers are British writers. I am the slowest reader always sent to the reading groups in grade school because I could read the words but did not retain what I read. Now having a son with a learning disability, realize where he got it from. In high school, I did read cover to cover "Gone with the Wind" which finally after reading all summer long, I finally was able to improve my reading skills. As a result I have been a reader, until retirement and youtube is now my source of education and entertainment. I have no idea how I found you, but so GRATEFUL to hear your brilliance, after listening to the 50 top books video, I was please to know I had heard of the majority of the books mentioned, though not many I've read. I adore the Bronte Sister's books, they are incredible. Thank you very much Benjamin!!!
This is one of the best channels on YT and I'm very happy to have found it. I almost feel like we're friends in a weird way, and I know this means success for you. Thanks for another great video, man.
I'm so glad I found your channel, Benjamin. I didn't start reading novels until I was about 28, and am not a fast reader, but love to read. It takes me months to get through a book. I've written down all of the books from your episode of 50 great books and have tagged a handful to get started with. Meanwhile, I'm delving in to War and Peace for the fall/winter reading,. I'm really excited about it. I can't wait to get started, and wondering how long it will take me! Thank you for your wonderful channel.
Great elaboration and expansion on Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book. One of the first books I read when I started in university. Basically you read a book three times. 1st. Skim 2nd. Details and argument 3. Criticism and questions
I never could read before Until diagnosed with Irlen myers syndrome & getting special tinted glasses at 57!! The whole World opened up then to reading for the 1st time. I'm neurodiverse. I struggled to follow a line of black & white print. My opening novel Dickens( With new tinted vusual Dyslexia specs!!) Was:"Little Dorrit". I'm now embarking on chronologically reading Dickens & savouring & enjoying his beautiful soul & words. He conveys such beauty from out the ashes of poverty. I'm in total love with Dickensnow; whereas; pre- diagnosis of neurodiversity I struggled immensely with English at school. It's Really important we get out eyesight checked out. I'm now catching up & I adore Virginnia Woolf Currently reading:"Orlando" I was seated next to a former :"head of English" in my art class & she suggested I read it. I already knew "To the Lighthouse" but "Orlando" is such an outrageous but brilliant Romp thru time. Incredible writing. I Love ur channel &so glad I found you & ur smasing channel. Thanks so much Love Jude
I am so happy for you! I was a prodigy of sorts with reading, having learned how to read in about 45 minutes when I was 4 years old (it's too bad I was not a genius to go along with the early reading, LOL), and I have been reading my entire life. I can't imagine the joy it must be to you to be able to read. You probably appreciate it so much more than I do, even though I appreciate it very much. There are so many books to read! I own around 4,200 physical books and around 8000 electronic books, and I will not make it through all of the books I own before I die, let alone all the other ones in the world that I want to read. I have a neurological disorder in my right wrist that makes reading electronic books easier for me than reading physical books, but there is nothing like the feel of a physical book in your hands. I still read them when I can, even though it's a difficult, but most of my reading is done through audio and electronic books nowadays. And one of those people who likes to write in my books, too. I will argue with the author and the margins, I'll cross reference to other books, I'll agree with the author in the margins, LOL. Sometimes I'm inspired to write a journal entry, and I will reference my journal in the margin. One habit I never picked up but I'm trying to develop is to create a summary or a summary outline of a book on the back page. C.S. Lewis, author and professor of English, said that that practice caused Tim to enjoy many a book he would not otherwise have enjoyed.
Great video on the breakdown of “How To Read A Book” by Mortimer Adler. I just finished my read of it, and this video was a nice visual breakdown for me; on how to approach each stage of reading. I think Mr. Adler and Harold Bloom will be constant reference guides on my journey! Thank you!
Thank you, Jace :) Mr. Adler and Mr. Bloom certainly do make wonderful companions on a deep-reading journey. Rarely a week goes by without my consulting both of them!
I used to study chess and a bit of Go. I did 'fast, slow, fast' method of study. First go over game quickly to get a feel of direction, second go over game slowly reading all notes, third go over game again quickly with the insights from second reading.
Beautiful approach. I'd love to learn Go myself. I've been a lover of chess since university and it's extraordinary how much of that game is applicable to so many other areas of life.
You appeared on my UA-cam feed for the first time today, and I watch a lot of UA-cam! Great video, thanks for taking the time to make it. I enjoy listening to audio books, especially while driving or hiking.
I’m joining your patron group today. Since yesterday I’ve listened to 2 podcasts and this is my second video. The most substantive, clearly expert advice I’ve ever come across on English Literature.
I used to procrastinate doing assignments, my way to overcome that was to start by writing down everything I know on a topic before I start research and reading the topic. You have some knowledge you picked up from lectures and tutorials and any reading you've completed, required readings for the week. I found that motivated me to get stuck in. The hardest part is when you're doing an assignment on a topic that doesn't interest you 😁. If I was in my procrastination phase, I would find your video inspiring, I like the way you break it down into small steps. You can go straight to the topic quickly so instead of reading an entire book, you jump straight to the chapter or main paragraph that sums up whether it's even worth using the text as a reference, or maybe look for another reference.
I love your vlogs. Thank you!!!!!! I can't find any recent ones so will have to reply to you on this site and hope you see it. I have told my daughter and son in law about you..they devour books too. From the sublime to the present.. I have recently returned to books that I read as a child, particularly Wind in The Willows which I found in a second hand book store in France. My copy when a child was missing the last pages (war time, no other books available!) It was a revelation.. this is not a children's book at all! A beautiful work, it is about real people and has enriched me anew. The Little Prince is also a new gem on re reading., I found it is impossible to get copies with the full text. It is a wonderful alegory, but all the guts have been removed for modern P.C.readers. I was looking for copies for my seven year old twin Grandchildren. I found two rather mauled , but complete, first American edition copies, but this 'doctoring' of texts and even encyclopedias is the modern way of book burning. I encourage people to keep old books from before the modern mania for PC. It was a site in French on youtube that alerted me to the surgical job done on The Little Prince. I was curious why it was advertisd as containing ALL the chapters. Sadly now I know that those chapters are not acceptable to American and British readers. Tell your readers to be careful what they read and buy old and sometimes tattered copies rather than succumb to the culture censors and the Thought Police.
The Zettelkasten method paired with Obsidian is useful for Adlering. Permanent notes encourages you to do analytic reading and Synoptic reading is made VERY EASY because every note is connected to one another
1:01 some books some speed read...where you try to ascertain specific facts that you will help you. Elementary reading Inspectional reading Observational reading Sensational reading
Thank you, Julián. I certainly will do more videos like this :) There's currently 8 hours of similar videos over at the Essay Masterclass, but I will always keep uploading to UA-cam too! I'm glad you're enjoying them!!
Ok I just found your channel. This is my second video and I already see that I need to view every video you’ve made. New subscriber. Thank you for your work.
I’m an active reader when I read a page I think about it specially hard books like classics one recently I finished was the Karamazov brothers , let me with deep feelings and thoughts took me a month I’m still thinking about the book a genius Fiodor Dostoevsky
I have a book entitled Schrodinger's Machines. It is NOT a literary book, but rather a science book that tries to explain the rules of Quantum Mechanics to lay readers. But here's the point: it's a hard book about the strange world of particles, semiconductors, tunneling microscopes, and other inventions due to this field of physics, and the only way that I have been able to read it is sitting up with my journal open, taking detailed notes, even constructing diagrams. So what Benjamin is saying is right: each book requires different reading techniques, and likewise for academic journal articles. You must radically alter your reading approach to fit the materials you are interested in.
Hi. Just stumbled on your channel and I must say, I wish I found you earlier. My fiance always encourages me to read more and I do, but I have never been as captivated as he is with his books .. I am following you immediately. 🥰
Having enjoyed videos of yours, wondering how you manage intake, When you so lovingly and richly speak of the treasures.. then this! Demonstrates how the “sausage” is made! Thank you❣️
My father said that before one approaches text, one needs to read eight explanatory books first. He also said that cartoon books and Cliff notes were also good as explanatory books.
Since I took your advice to read several books together, I have encountered the conversation among those books: Don Quixote, Persuasion, Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, Flannery O'Connor's, Raould Dahl's and Dorothy Parker's short stories, Virginia Woolf's reviews, Richard Dawkin's The Selfish Gene, etc. Next month Moby Dick and Emerson plus more short stories. Slowly, deeply, repeatedly we chat among ourselves.
I just watched your top 50 books video but even 50 books is daunting so to get started I took the list and found the ones I have on my shelf that I haven't read or started to read but didn't finish. Happily I found 12 so I rolled a pair of dice (I never know where to start) and they came up 10 -- The Aeneid. I have ADHD so I already read slowly and my memory works differently than most so I can't wait to employ some of your tips.😊 BTW I love the two vinyls on your bookshelf -- Brubeck, Monk. 1. In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust) 8. Hamlet (William Shakespeare) 11. The Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri) 13. The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) 14. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) 17. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austin) 26. 1984 (George Orwell) 33. The Trial (Franz Kafka) 40. The Stranger (Albert Camus) 42. The Aeneid (Virgil) 45. David Copperfield (Charles Dickens) 48. The Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann) BTW Best high school course I ever took was Gothic Lit and the teacher was the reason. She taught all the elements of the Gothic novel and more. She really made reading challenging (in a good way) and fun. I'll bet you get a lot of feedback like that.
I also have ADHD and have “read” a lot of non prose types of books using the Synoptic method. While I got exactly what I was looking for from the book I told I was being lazy or just not “getting” all of it. A relief knowing I don’t have to get it all and many other people don’t either.
Hhhmm Monk's Dream and Take Five hidden behind it. As Jazz Club would say......nice.(Insert smiley and thumbs up emoji of your choice here.) Love both those albums. Oscar's Night Train and RTF's No Mystery are just two of my personal favourites.
Oh, yes :) And did you spot Jelly Roll Morton peeking out too? Great to have a fellow jazz fan here. I love Oscar's Night Train - listen to it endlessly!
I have heard so many people discuss how to read a book and definitely a lot on speed reading, but have not heard it explained as you just have. I honestly did not think to narrate back to myself but it seems so logical. I do have Mortimer Adler's book and started it, but I was reading so many other things at the time that I laid it aside, so I need to pick that back up. Thank you for breaking it down in such a sensible way for those of us wanting to get more out of our reading. How to read course sounds great. I'd be interested.
I remember highlighting my books as we were told to highlight the most important parts... Pretty much my whole novel was covered in yellow yet I didn't really understand why we did this. In fact I never annotate my books and just keep a separate journal.
Ha :) That's amazing. Certainly with great novels like Moby Dick, Middlemarch, and Crime and Punishment you could end up highlighting every single line!
@@BenjaminMcEvoy definitely - I like to highlight parts where I can translate that into meaningful action in my own life so I'm implementing fictional lessons in reality
Hi Benjamin. Thank you for such valuable lessons. As for me who loves the English language and loves the kind of accent you have, I wish to learn more through your lessons to not only improve my english (with accent) but also learn more about the great stuff you keep talking about. Do you have any live courses for non-literature background people like me ? Want to be your student and learn more. Assam, India
It's amazing that they don't teach you how to learning techniques in school. How to speed read, take notes, outline a lecture, write a college paper, time management skills, ect. They just tell you to keep practicing. If I practice my golf swing 10,000 times incorrectly, I'm actually worse off.
I use a Kindle. In books on weighty subjects, such as Adam Smith, I highlight passages, short and long. Then, I reread slowly. The highlighted passages can easily be scanned through. Now, on fiction, I almost never highlight anything.
I've always felt it was worthwhile to re-read the title every time I finish reading for the day, and try to re-incorporate the title into what I've read so far.
Envious! I read Edmund Morris' biographies on Theodore Roosevelt and found his reading habits very interesting. I think Cal Newport in Deep Work actually discusses his "technique" in a way that is replicable - Law and Medicine students (and us pesky English lot at Oxford) have to use this sort of approach because we have no other option given the workload. My critical hero Harold Bloom was said to be able to read 1,000 pages an hour in his prime. But he also had a photographic memory. Speed-reading can be trained, but one is also going to brush up against their natural limitations.
My problem is when books dont say the characters name or give some form of description about them and im left so lost because im just imagining a silhouette until they give a description like 4 chapters in and it throws me off and makes me not continue reading for months on end.. or when the setting isnt well described so im just imagining a blackhole with nothing in it because of the lack of description.. but then people will say it has great world building or whatever and makes me think im not understanding the book or know how to read 😅.. this is mainly an issue with fantasy or scifi but still, some modern setting books still have this issue and it throws me off. Atleast give me a drawing of the character in a page before the book starts or on the cover so i can get an idea of what im supposed to imagine. Another thing that throws me off is when theres too many characters in the opening and not one is described or named yet so i have the same problems again but with more silhouettes 😅
Hey brother, I mostly read non-fiction self-help books but TBH now I'm bored. So, I'm looking to read something very interesting. Reading Dostoevsky or Don Quixote will be pretty boring for me (as a beginner) or should I read these? if not.. then please suggest me some great classic literatures which are beginner friendly as well (I want to join your book club but can't afford.. as I'm a student, maybe I'll join when I'll have money)
@@BenjaminMcEvoy I've ordered Crime & Punishment and Anna Karenina, I'll pick anyone and deep read it followed by other book of the same author and I'll keep other book as a buffer for future.
When I decided to start reading fiction, the first book that I really got was "Burmese Days" by George Orwell. It's easy, not long, and I was really interested in the plot and touched emotionally. It was the first fiction book that I read the way you're supposed to read fiction.
"The Plague" by Albert Camus and Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales are good too. I love re-reading Andersen because I think his stories teach me to be more humble and sensitive. I have it in English, Dutch and Russian and now I want to get a Danish copy 🙈
Thanks for the video. What's your actual physical technique for reading? If you aren't speed reading are you looking at one word at a time? Do you look at the spaces in between the words?
You just read it slow-like in your head, taking in the sentence, as if you’re David Attenborough in a nature documentary. It’s a very rewarding technique on books like Blood Meridian; that turn the words into a movie in your head.
Morton Marcus 1936 - 2009 CLOTHES HANGER 1. He is the bird whose wings are always rising, only to be held down by the gravity of our clothes. 2. When we rip our coats from his shoulders and he is suddenly naked, jangled, spinning in the light, he emits a small song, a chiming cheep, but only when he and another nude bird touch. 3. For us he dangles all day over a precipice by grasping a plank with his beak. When he has fallen, do you lift him gently? 4. Realize this: his shape is our skeletal design. When we load our jackets on his back, so we can shower, sleep, enter the lives of our lovers, then we are naked, flapping, ready to fly. from Peter Haan
The way I read a lot of different books from Philosophy to Science Mythology Religion and just literature the problem I have I get bored and go on to another book then go back but some books I finish like Victor Hugo Les Miserables and entire series of Herman Hesse books or Washing Irving
I would recommend ‘The Power of Reading’ by Frank Furedi. It’s an “essayistic” analysis which covers the history, influence and effect of reading; including the everlasting dispute of beliefs over the written text. It is ubiquitously upheld through the scope of the 21st century, yet Furedi manages to examine the cultural discourse, political disjuncture and pedagogical teachings of literacy - concisely conducted, but informatively extensive. And by all means, I’m no avid reader, so take my recommendation with nothing but goodwill from my side. I want to get into reading more so, intuitively, I thought it would be good to start off with something that would bring me a sense of clarity and direction.
I have always thought that highlighting while reading is the habit of the modern day consumer. It is a subconscious attempt to consume - in the material sense - what is on the page. Not to comprehend or understand, but an attempt to own it, like one would consume a hot dog. No insult intended to you highlighters out there.
Same, contradictory to what he said in the beginning of the video, I have found that highlighting, taking notes for each chapter, and watching UA-cam breakdown videos for each chapter helps a lot for someone that has ADHD and dyslexia. Hopefully this helps you.
Compulsory Literature in School goes like this: "Take this home and read it." I fell asleep because I wasn't engrossed, and teens need a lot of sleep. "Now we'll discuss it in class." Students who actually read the assignment talk about the surface details, and the basic synopsis. "Ah, but Joseph Campbell says..." The teacher uncovers all this meaning you could never possibly extract with your life experience. So overall, it kept big-boy reading mysterious and out of my reach. People are talking about the Hero's Journey, and the atmosphere of France in 1916, and I can't even determine if Jeffrey is the dad or the kid-because my mind's eye doesn't assign faces to characters until I see them in a movie. I just see a bunch of people in 1830, below the neck. Even Dickens, I'm like "Why were they all drinking a tiny sip from the same cup, over and over? Is that to illustrate stinginess, or is the author just trying to bore me to sleep? When does something *happen* in this story?!"
I wish I would have started watching you 50 years ago. I would be properly reading by now and, most important, re-reading a few favorites I've ran into along the way. Still, at 68, I am glad and thankful there's such a young mind as yours who apparently enjoys sharing his knowledge with us. Thank you..!
This is very enlightening for me to read as a 17year old
Me too, hope watched earlier like 40years ago. Surely would have been in a better position than now. Thanks Benjamin.
I understand your point, but perhaps it's still worth pointing out that UA-cam was started in 2007 (15 years ago), and Benjamin McEvoy, I believe, is also less than 50 years old. He started this channel in January, 2020.
Please put me on the list.
I'm right there with you at 68. I wish I would have been reading 50 years ago. In high school you couldn't pay me to read. Since earning a degree in English Literature, 99% of what I read is classic literature. I feel I'm playing catch-up.
I'm a slow reader. I often find myself rereading a sentence or a paragraph several times that I've literally just read. I thought I was going crazy. Im pleased to know I'm not the only person.
You're definitely not the only one, Gary :)
Me too.
I second this motion...
I wish I had you to listen too when I was attending college. Very useful tips. Thank you 🙏🏻
I even read this comment twice.
I’m a non-native English speaker and I’ve always had trouble in reading and writing in English, your videos really cheers me up and helps me a lot. Thank you, Benjamin.
I love Ben's instructions. I needed this in the 60s and 70s when I was dragging myself through school. After punishing myself through textbooks I discovered that I loved slowly reading a good book, a great novel or a wonderful biography. I discovered I love to go back to the beginning and re-read the first chapter after reading about 100 pages. I stopped judging myself. Much more fun and much more exciting.
👏Yes, me too.
Where were you young man, when I needed to KNOW "How to Read"??? My favourite writers are British writers. I am the slowest reader always sent to the reading groups in grade school because I could read the words but did not retain what I read. Now having a son with a learning disability, realize where he got it from. In high school, I did read cover to cover "Gone with the Wind" which finally after reading all summer long, I finally was able to improve my reading skills. As a result I have been a reader, until retirement and youtube is now my source of education and entertainment.
I have no idea how I found you, but so GRATEFUL to hear your brilliance, after listening to the 50 top books video, I was please to know I had heard of the majority of the books mentioned, though not many I've read. I adore the Bronte Sister's books, they are incredible.
Thank you very much Benjamin!!!
This is one of the best channels on YT and I'm very happy to have found it. I almost feel like we're friends in a weird way, and I know this means success for you. Thanks for another great video, man.
Indeed
I'm so glad I found your channel, Benjamin. I didn't start reading novels until I was about 28, and am not a fast reader, but love to read. It takes me months to get through a book. I've written down all of the books from your episode of 50 great books and have tagged a handful to get started with. Meanwhile, I'm delving in to War and Peace for the fall/winter reading,. I'm really excited about it. I can't wait to get started, and wondering how long it will take me! Thank you for your wonderful channel.
Great elaboration and expansion on Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book. One of the first books I read when I started in university. Basically you read a book three times. 1st. Skim 2nd. Details and argument 3. Criticism and questions
Feels like struck gold, finding your channel!
Aw, thank you, Yazeed :) I appreciate you being here!
I never could read before
Until diagnosed with Irlen myers syndrome & getting special tinted glasses at 57!!
The whole World opened up then to reading for the 1st time.
I'm neurodiverse.
I struggled to follow a line of black & white print.
My opening novel Dickens( With new tinted vusual Dyslexia specs!!) Was:"Little Dorrit".
I'm now embarking on chronologically reading Dickens
& savouring & enjoying his beautiful soul & words. He conveys such beauty from out the ashes of poverty.
I'm in total love with Dickensnow; whereas; pre- diagnosis of neurodiversity
I struggled immensely with English at school.
It's Really important we get out eyesight checked out.
I'm now catching up
& I adore Virginnia Woolf
Currently reading:"Orlando"
I was seated next to a former :"head of English" in my art class & she suggested I read it.
I already knew
"To the Lighthouse" but
"Orlando" is such an outrageous but brilliant Romp thru time. Incredible writing.
I Love ur channel &so glad I found you & ur smasing channel.
Thanks so much
Love Jude
I am so happy for you! I was a prodigy of sorts with reading, having learned how to read in about 45 minutes when I was 4 years old (it's too bad I was not a genius to go along with the early reading, LOL), and I have been reading my entire life. I can't imagine the joy it must be to you to be able to read. You probably appreciate it so much more than I do, even though I appreciate it very much. There are so many books to read! I own around 4,200 physical books and around 8000 electronic books, and I will not make it through all of the books I own before I die, let alone all the other ones in the world that I want to read. I have a neurological disorder in my right wrist that makes reading electronic books easier for me than reading physical books, but there is nothing like the feel of a physical book in your hands. I still read them when I can, even though it's a difficult, but most of my reading is done through audio and electronic books nowadays. And one of those people who likes to write in my books, too. I will argue with the author and the margins, I'll cross reference to other books, I'll agree with the author in the margins, LOL. Sometimes I'm inspired to write a journal entry, and I will reference my journal in the margin. One habit I never picked up but I'm trying to develop is to create a summary or a summary outline of a book on the back page. C.S. Lewis, author and professor of English, said that that practice caused Tim to enjoy many a book he would not otherwise have enjoyed.
Boy do I love indexes!
Great video on the breakdown of “How To Read A Book” by Mortimer Adler. I just finished my read of it, and this video was a nice visual breakdown for me; on how to approach each stage of reading. I think Mr. Adler and Harold Bloom will be constant reference guides on my journey! Thank you!
Thank you, Jace :) Mr. Adler and Mr. Bloom certainly do make wonderful companions on a deep-reading journey. Rarely a week goes by without my consulting both of them!
I used to study chess and a bit of Go. I did 'fast, slow, fast' method of study. First go over game quickly to get a feel of direction, second go over game slowly reading all notes, third go over game again quickly with the insights from second reading.
Beautiful approach. I'd love to learn Go myself. I've been a lover of chess since university and it's extraordinary how much of that game is applicable to so many other areas of life.
You appeared on my UA-cam feed for the first time today, and I watch a lot of UA-cam! Great video, thanks for taking the time to make it. I enjoy listening to audio books, especially while driving or hiking.
I’m joining your patron group today. Since yesterday I’ve listened to 2 podcasts and this is my second video.
The most substantive, clearly expert advice I’ve ever come across on English Literature.
I'm so happy to hear that :) Thank you very much, and very warm welcomes to the club! It's great to have you reading with us :)
Agree. Thanks so much.🙌🏼🙌🏼🙏🏼
I used to procrastinate doing assignments, my way to overcome that was to start by writing down everything I know on a topic before I start research and reading the topic. You have some knowledge you picked up from lectures and tutorials and any reading you've completed, required readings for the week. I found that motivated me to get stuck in. The hardest part is when you're doing an assignment on a topic that doesn't interest you 😁. If I was in my procrastination phase, I would find your video inspiring, I like the way you break it down into small steps. You can go straight to the topic quickly so instead of reading an entire book, you jump straight to the chapter or main paragraph that sums up whether it's even worth using the text as a reference, or maybe look for another reference.
I love your vlogs. Thank you!!!!!! I can't find any recent ones so will have to reply to you on this site and hope you see it. I have told my daughter and son in law about you..they devour books too. From the sublime to the present.. I have recently returned to books that I read as a child, particularly Wind in The Willows which I found in a second hand book store in France. My copy when a child was missing the last pages (war time, no other books available!) It was a revelation.. this is not a children's book at all! A beautiful work, it is about real people and has enriched me anew. The Little Prince is also a new gem on re reading., I found it is impossible to get copies with the full text. It is a wonderful alegory, but all the guts have been removed for modern P.C.readers. I was looking for copies for my seven year old twin Grandchildren. I found two rather mauled , but complete, first American edition copies, but this 'doctoring' of texts and even encyclopedias is the modern way of book burning. I encourage people to keep old books from before the modern mania for PC. It was a site in French on youtube that alerted me to the surgical job done on The Little Prince. I was curious why it was advertisd as containing ALL the chapters. Sadly now I know that those chapters are not acceptable to American and British readers. Tell your readers to be careful what they read and buy old and sometimes tattered copies rather than succumb to the culture censors and the Thought Police.
The Zettelkasten method paired with Obsidian is useful for Adlering. Permanent notes encourages you to do analytic reading and Synoptic reading is made VERY EASY because every note is connected to one another
I agree with you thoroughly. I feel that reading is a dialogue/conversation between the author and his audience, the reader.
Thanks Benjamin , for your much valued guidance for reading.
Thank you for being here, my friend :)
1:01 some books some speed read...where you try to ascertain specific facts that you will help you.
Elementary reading
Inspectional reading
Observational reading
Sensational reading
I like so much the energy you have explaining this. Are you going to do more videos like this?
Thank you, Julián. I certainly will do more videos like this :) There's currently 8 hours of similar videos over at the Essay Masterclass, but I will always keep uploading to UA-cam too! I'm glad you're enjoying them!!
9:42 I'm beyond grateful for this video,so happy I found your channel.
Ok I just found your channel. This is my second video and I already see that I need to view every video you’ve made. New subscriber. Thank you for your work.
Thank you, Anita :) I appreciate you being here!
Liked the way he presented the different types of reading to get more out of you need to know.
Thank you, Santiago :) I'm glad you found it helpful!
I’m an active reader when I read a page I think about it specially hard books like classics one recently I finished was the Karamazov brothers , let me with deep feelings and thoughts took me a month I’m still thinking about the book a genius Fiodor Dostoevsky
I suddenly feel enlightened ✨ what kind of sorcery is this?
I love your channel! I’ve been so inspired and can’t wait to share your channel with my students next year (2023)😊.
I have a book entitled Schrodinger's Machines. It is NOT a literary book, but rather a science book that tries to explain the rules of Quantum Mechanics to lay readers. But here's the point: it's a hard book about the strange world of particles, semiconductors, tunneling microscopes, and other inventions due to this field of physics, and the only way that I have been able to read it is sitting up with my journal open, taking detailed notes, even constructing diagrams. So what Benjamin is saying is right: each book requires different reading techniques, and likewise for academic journal articles. You must radically alter your reading approach to fit the materials you are interested in.
I'm trying Milton's, Paradise Lost. Yikes. Truly over my head...great advise....
Hi. Just stumbled on your channel and I must say, I wish I found you earlier. My fiance always encourages me to read more and I do, but I have never been as captivated as he is with his books .. I am following you immediately. 🥰
Aw, thank you so much :) Happy reading! Let me know how your reading adventure goes!
@@BenjaminMcEvoy will definitely do, currently reading crime and punishment.
I taught 6 year olds to read and to LOVE reading for 37 years. I like to think I launched them into the level you are concerned with.
They were so lucky to have you as a teacher, Mary!
Brilliant! The title caught my attention and your presentation and content really paid off my curiosity. Thank you.
Having enjoyed videos of yours, wondering how you manage intake,
When you so lovingly and richly speak of the treasures.. then
this! Demonstrates how the “sausage” is made! Thank you❣️
This was day 1 of my Evelyn Wood speed reading, but your lesson, though faster, is far more detailed and complete.
My father said that before one approaches text, one needs to read eight explanatory books first. He also said that cartoon books and Cliff notes were also good as explanatory books.
Since I took your advice to read several books together, I have encountered the conversation among those books: Don Quixote, Persuasion, Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, Flannery O'Connor's, Raould Dahl's and Dorothy Parker's short stories, Virginia Woolf's reviews, Richard Dawkin's The Selfish Gene, etc. Next month Moby Dick and Emerson plus more short stories. Slowly, deeply, repeatedly we chat among ourselves.
so glad i found this channel :)
Thank you :) I’m glad you’ve found this channel too!
Thelonious Monk and Dave Brubeck on the background. Cool 👍
I just watched your top 50 books video but even 50 books is daunting so to get started I took the list and found the ones I have on my shelf that I haven't read or started to read but didn't finish. Happily I found 12 so I rolled a pair of dice (I never know where to start) and they came up 10 -- The Aeneid. I have ADHD so I already read slowly and my memory works differently than most so I can't wait to employ some of your tips.😊 BTW I love the two vinyls on your bookshelf -- Brubeck, Monk.
1. In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust)
8. Hamlet (William Shakespeare)
11. The Divine Comedy (Dante Alighieri)
13. The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
14. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
17. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austin)
26. 1984 (George Orwell)
33. The Trial (Franz Kafka)
40. The Stranger (Albert Camus)
42. The Aeneid (Virgil)
45. David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)
48. The Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann)
BTW Best high school course I ever took was Gothic Lit and the teacher was the reason. She taught all the elements of the Gothic novel and more. She really made reading challenging (in a good way) and fun. I'll bet you get a lot of feedback like that.
I also have ADHD and have “read” a lot of non prose types of books using the Synoptic method. While I got exactly what I was looking for from the book I told I was being lazy or just not “getting” all of it.
A relief knowing I don’t have to get it all and many other people don’t either.
Hhhmm Monk's Dream and Take Five hidden behind it. As Jazz Club would say......nice.(Insert smiley and thumbs up emoji of your choice here.) Love both those albums. Oscar's Night Train and RTF's No Mystery are just two of my personal favourites.
Oh, yes :) And did you spot Jelly Roll Morton peeking out too? Great to have a fellow jazz fan here. I love Oscar's Night Train - listen to it endlessly!
Thank you so much! I love how you explained it all.
Thank you, Sam :) I'm so glad you found it useful!
Great video, thank you very much!
Inspectional reading of chess books. Openings, middle game, endings. Openings: king pawn, queen pawn , other. etc. etc.
I have heard so many people discuss how to read a book and definitely a lot on speed reading, but have not heard it explained as you just have. I honestly did not think to narrate back to myself but it seems so logical. I do have Mortimer Adler's book and started it, but I was reading so many other things at the time that I laid it aside, so I need to pick that back up. Thank you for breaking it down in such a sensible way for those of us wanting to get more out of our reading.
How to read course sounds great. I'd be interested.
Just found your channel.love it
I definitely enjoy your vast knowledge and am learning just happen to run into you here happy to do so thank you
Thank you, Steve :) I really appreciate that!
@@BenjaminMcEvoy most welcome
I like books that have sophisticated indices with cross referencing to other parts of the index.
I remember highlighting my books as we were told to highlight the most important parts... Pretty much my whole novel was covered in yellow yet I didn't really understand why we did this. In fact I never annotate my books and just keep a separate journal.
Ha :) That's amazing. Certainly with great novels like Moby Dick, Middlemarch, and Crime and Punishment you could end up highlighting every single line!
@@BenjaminMcEvoy definitely - I like to highlight parts where I can translate that into meaningful action in my own life so I'm implementing fictional lessons in reality
Hi Benjamin. Thank you for such valuable lessons. As for me who loves the English language and loves the kind of accent you have, I wish to learn more through your lessons to not only improve my english (with accent) but also learn more about the great stuff you keep talking about.
Do you have any live courses for non-literature background people like me ?
Want to be your student and learn more.
Assam, India
Thanks for this 🙏
My pleasure! Thank you for watching 😊
I love your channel!! Thanks, here I am subscribed already and let's see how I am going to participate in one of your projects
Thank you so much :) I look forward to it - it would be great to hear your insights on any of the great books!
Is that Monk's Dream on vinyl in the back?? If so, respect haha
It is indeed :) I rarely go a day without throwing on one of his albums!
@@BenjaminMcEvoy Nice! I haven't listened to Monk in a while, absolutely love his stuff though. Misterioso is one of the best albums ever.
It's amazing that they don't teach you how to learning techniques in school. How to speed read, take notes, outline a lecture, write a college paper, time management skills, ect. They just tell you to keep practicing. If I practice my golf swing 10,000 times incorrectly, I'm actually worse off.
Thank you for this video Benjamin! Nice Monk's Dream :)
Thank you! :) I'm thrilled to have a fellow jazz lover here!
I use a Kindle. In books on weighty subjects, such as Adam Smith, I highlight passages, short and long.
Then, I reread slowly. The highlighted passages can easily be scanned through.
Now, on fiction, I almost never highlight anything.
Thank you Ben.
You're so welcome :)
Very nice and rewarding video. Thanks!
I've always felt it was worthwhile to re-read the title every time I finish reading for the day, and try to re-incorporate the title into what I've read so far.
Pleased I found this channel. Brilliant.
I'm pleased to have you here, Heather :)
what if u ask yourself what is being said and cant answer the question?
What do you think about Theodore Roosevelt who sped read but still was very very very well educated on what he read?
Envious! I read Edmund Morris' biographies on Theodore Roosevelt and found his reading habits very interesting. I think Cal Newport in Deep Work actually discusses his "technique" in a way that is replicable - Law and Medicine students (and us pesky English lot at Oxford) have to use this sort of approach because we have no other option given the workload. My critical hero Harold Bloom was said to be able to read 1,000 pages an hour in his prime. But he also had a photographic memory. Speed-reading can be trained, but one is also going to brush up against their natural limitations.
@@BenjaminMcEvoy fantastic reply. thank you!
Great Video!
Thank you! :)
I am reading the book "How to Read a Book by Adler 1972 update. Is there a more modern analysis of the reading comprehension?
Curious If you found anything I am planning to read that book when it arrives
Now that I am old, I read and listen at the same time. My reading app doesn't have notes. I use lots of bookmarks. But don't go back.
My problem is when books dont say the characters name or give some form of description about them and im left so lost because im just imagining a silhouette until they give a description like 4 chapters in and it throws me off and makes me not continue reading for months on end.. or when the setting isnt well described so im just imagining a blackhole with nothing in it because of the lack of description.. but then people will say it has great world building or whatever and makes me think im not understanding the book or know how to read 😅.. this is mainly an issue with fantasy or scifi but still, some modern setting books still have this issue and it throws me off. Atleast give me a drawing of the character in a page before the book starts or on the cover so i can get an idea of what im supposed to imagine.
Another thing that throws me off is when theres too many characters in the opening and not one is described or named yet so i have the same problems again but with more silhouettes 😅
Hey brother, I mostly read non-fiction self-help books but TBH now I'm bored. So, I'm looking to read something very interesting. Reading Dostoevsky or Don Quixote will be pretty boring for me (as a beginner) or should I read these? if not.. then please suggest me some great classic literatures which are beginner friendly as well (I want to join your book club but can't afford.. as I'm a student, maybe I'll join when I'll have money)
Don Quixote won't be boring, I promise :) That's my top recommendation for you. Anything from the book club list comes highly recommended, Pratik!
@@BenjaminMcEvoy I've ordered Crime & Punishment and Anna Karenina, I'll pick anyone and deep read it followed by other book of the same author and I'll keep other book as a buffer for future.
@@pratikrajsah read the gambler and notes from underground before reading crime and punishment
When I decided to start reading fiction, the first book that I really got was "Burmese Days" by George Orwell. It's easy, not long, and I was really interested in the plot and touched emotionally. It was the first fiction book that I read the way you're supposed to read fiction.
"The Plague" by Albert Camus and Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales are good too. I love re-reading Andersen because I think his stories teach me to be more humble and sensitive. I have it in English, Dutch and Russian and now I want to get a Danish copy 🙈
Have you used software tools to break down a book. Machine learning?
Had to subscribed.
I have read the first 6 pages of the first chapter of 'Beyond Good and Evil' by Friedrich Nietzsche.
I found it hard going.
Thanks for the video. What's your actual physical technique for reading? If you aren't speed reading are you looking at one word at a time? Do you look at the spaces in between the words?
You just read it slow-like in your head, taking in the sentence, as if you’re David Attenborough in a nature documentary. It’s a very rewarding technique on books like Blood Meridian; that turn the words into a movie in your head.
Is there a difference between synoptic and syntopical reading?
Morton Marcus 1936 - 2009
CLOTHES HANGER
1.
He is the bird
whose wings are always rising,
only to be held down
by the gravity of our clothes.
2.
When we rip our coats from his shoulders
and he is suddenly naked,
jangled,
spinning in the light,
he emits a small song,
a chiming cheep,
but only when he and another nude bird
touch.
3.
For us
he dangles all day
over a precipice
by grasping a plank
with his beak.
When he has fallen,
do you lift him
gently?
4.
Realize this:
his shape is our skeletal design.
When we load our jackets on his back,
so we can shower,
sleep,
enter the lives of our lovers,
then we
are naked,
flapping,
ready to fly.
from Peter Haan
Thanks
You're so welcome, my friend. Thank you for watching!
The way I read a lot of different books from Philosophy to Science Mythology Religion and just literature the problem I have I get bored and go on to another book then go back but some books I finish like Victor Hugo Les Miserables and entire series of Herman Hesse books or Washing Irving
Thanks!
Top job, cool beans!
What do you think of the book by Mortimer Adler on this subject?
Thelonious Monk ! ❤
❤️☺️
Sylvia plath would be good too i guess
Sylvia Plath is great. 'Ariel' - wow. What a volume!
This is extremely informative, thanks.
Have you read the Autobiography of a yogi by Paramahansa Yogannanda?
I have a hot heat pack under the dooner. It's freezing here. It feels really good.
I would recommend ‘The Power of Reading’ by Frank Furedi. It’s an “essayistic” analysis which covers the history, influence and effect of reading; including the everlasting dispute of beliefs over the written text. It is ubiquitously upheld through the scope of the 21st century, yet Furedi manages to examine the cultural discourse, political disjuncture and pedagogical teachings of literacy - concisely conducted, but informatively extensive. And by all means, I’m no avid reader, so take my recommendation with nothing but goodwill from my side. I want to get into reading more so, intuitively, I thought it would be good to start off with something that would bring me a sense of clarity and direction.
Of course reading so many books and not remembering much
I did get the entire list of Dr Adlers continuing education 100 books
Oh gee wee! Why didn't you tell me that before 😀
I have always thought that highlighting while reading is the habit of the modern day consumer. It is a subconscious attempt to consume - in the material sense - what is on the page. Not to comprehend or understand, but an attempt to own it, like one would consume a hot dog. No insult intended to you highlighters out there.
Very good
what does that say?
I have ADHD and dyslexia so reading is a bit hard for me.
Same, contradictory to what he said in the beginning of the video, I have found that highlighting, taking notes for each chapter, and watching UA-cam breakdown videos for each chapter helps a lot for someone that has ADHD and dyslexia. Hopefully this helps you.
18:09 PLEASE put me on that list? If it's not too late,that is.
I’m in
Bruh I would've thought the voyage of the beagle meant the 'voyage' of its evolution through generations a travel book is a bit out of left field
Are you in relations with Sir James Macevoy?
Took me about 9 days to get through one Nietzsche essay, and I still didn’t understand shit 😂
Thelonious Monk.
And Dave Brubeck take five! First thing I noticed also.
Washington Irving
Compulsory Literature in School goes like this:
"Take this home and read it." I fell asleep because I wasn't engrossed, and teens need a lot of sleep.
"Now we'll discuss it in class." Students who actually read the assignment talk about the surface details, and the basic synopsis.
"Ah, but Joseph Campbell says..." The teacher uncovers all this meaning you could never possibly extract with your life experience.
So overall, it kept big-boy reading mysterious and out of my reach. People are talking about the Hero's Journey, and the atmosphere of France in 1916, and I can't even determine if Jeffrey is the dad or the kid-because my mind's eye doesn't assign faces to characters until I see them in a movie. I just see a bunch of people in 1830, below the neck.
Even Dickens, I'm like "Why were they all drinking a tiny sip from the same cup, over and over? Is that to illustrate stinginess, or is the author just trying to bore me to sleep? When does something *happen* in this story?!"
a la Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book
😆😆😆 FROM A DYSLEXIC