I no longer set a reading goal in terms of # of books a year. Instead I set a goal of reading every day. 1 page or 100 pages. All that counts is that I did it.
Summary 1. Reframe your mentality. Your goal is to a better reader not a faster reader. Reading is a muscle that takes deliberate practice to develop. 2. Keep annotation and notes light. Be intentional. 3. Read it twice, especially for non fiction. The first time is fast and dirty. The second time allows you to relook at the parts with an understanding of the book as a whole. 4. Think about the personal value behind reading. Don’t just read books that are interesting. Reading is a form of moral or self formation. What you read decides the person you intend to be. 5. When reading books by great writers, don’t expect it to always be astounding. 6. Make it a habit to have ready access to the book (in your preferred format). So you find pockets in the day to read, even for 10 mins. Reading is more likely to become second nature.
Thank you, a lot of what you said made perfect sense to me especially the last tip. I met someone in my early 20,s, I am now in my 60,s , he was a decade plus older than me and introduced me to reading. Reading for knowledge and pleasure, he bought me my first thesaurus, illustrated dictionary and book of poetry and I still have all 3!. We used to buy books at the train station shop before he went on a trip and that meant I had to carry them home so I can totally go with the purpose of carrying the book that your reading around with you to dip in and out of, it sort of becomes your friend for the time that your reading it. Hope this makes sense. Will watch your other videos, I'm sure I will enjoy them. Jayne from the UK. X
That's bull. I use to read a lot of material on life, inspiration, science, technology, Darwin. But I've found myself working in restaurant with family or spilling coffee, and serving excessive cream to customers, or people telling me what to do at jobs an 8 year can do with right stamina and energy drinks.
@@davelew1173 That's not how you should weigh learning or knowledge I feel. Well of course people might not clear competitive exams, may not find a good job. Luck counts so does one's efforts. However to consider all your former knowledge as meaningless is really not correct. Reading for the sake or love of reading itself, without any utilitarian grounds does defines you and can never be value less They covertly develops our character and defines who as humans we are.
stop forcing yourself to finish a book. a book is supposed to provide temp escape, provide knowledge and some key takeaways. you should be fulfilled once you have attained these. unless youre reading for school or work, take a break from it and find a new read that sparks your curiosity. renew your library hold or return it and try again or simply buy books from places that allow you to return or exchange.
The last class I took with my favorite professor before he retired, I really learned how to read.The class had no textbook, but a lot of selections of readings from the authors, theologians, and philosophers we were learning about. The day after he handed out the selections, he would call on people randomly to ask specific questions that I figured out were always the essential ideas of the author. By the end of the semester I was consistently identifying the specific main ideas he'd ask for. I just wish I learned how to do that earlier and not at the end of my second to last semester. Helped a lot for my capstone though, and helped me realize I want to go to seminary.
I can't agree more on the advice of being more intentional about note-taking and annotation. I used to have my immediate thoughts written directly in the margin, thinking that I will collect them and sort them through after finishing my first read. But more often than not, when I start sorting the notes, I get so frustrated about how many notes there are and about how random/irrelevant a lot of them are, that I give up half way through the first chapter. I think I'm gradually getting better on that. Definitely helpful!
One of the best margin notes I ever saw was in a book I was leafing through at Goodwill, a bit of text was circled, an arrow to the margin where was noted "BULLSHIT!!" 🤣
Thank you SO much this. I got burnout so badly that I basically couldn’t read for a year or so. I’ve since recovered but am trying to learn to read for pleasure again. It’s humbling for someone who has read all my life.
This has the importance of life itself: the books you choose to read. Through them you will build up your character, values ... Reading makes a difference in your life, work and enhances you as a thinker. Thank you, Mr. Henderson.🙏
The hard work in reading books is a concept that I've heard a lot about but started not realising, but coming to acceptance with its importance only recently, when this mental work started to pay off. The level of perceptual depth and inner peace it gives you is so much stronger than it if lazy reading. Pardon my mistakes, I'm not native speaker.
I also realised that slow reading is ok. It took me 6 months to finish Kant's "Critique..." a hour or two a day and I still have to reread it. In the beginning it was more like 15 minutes with three breaks, hehe.
I think this trend of setting goal of reading 40 to 50 books is an impediment to reading books. I also struggled with reading due to being obsessed with the number. But recently I just started reading for fun. Surprisingly, I don't find it that hard to read now even with a busy schedule.
Definitely true. My reading list is so long though, that I do feel like a different type of challenge helps me prioritize which books to read. Some annual goals I've done are A-Z titles, or a book from each decade since 1800--that one always turns out fun!
When I was anxious about hitting my 52 books a week goal, I struggled with getting there. As soon as I stopped worrying about it, I started reading heaps more and enjoying every second
This video is incredibly validating. As someone that reads incredibly slowly, reading no more than 5 books a year (or 10, including fiction), I always thought there was something wrong with me. I've seen people say they read 50-100 books a year and it's incredibly baffling. I tend to chew on books, letting the words on the pages stew in my mind for a while, before moving on. It's why I just can't do audiobooks, I believe they promote superficial engagement with the material; I'm aware they're better suited for books that can be engaged with shallowly, like self-help though. I'm an Engineering graduate but I've always been drawn to philosophy and literature; I think they hold incredible wisdom. I take a lot of notes while reading but that's because I need to. My notes aren't verbatim extracts from the texts but conversations with myself. They're scattered and all over the place but they help me process what I read. I barely go back to my notes, unless I'm transferring some insights from them into my knowledge management system. Without taking heavy notes while reading, I don't think I can extract as much while reading. I believe so much in the concept of progressive overload with regards to reading. It's why I advice people that want to start on this journey toward intellectualism to start with Mortimer Adler's book, "How to read a book" and engage with it as deeply as they can. Then move on to some of the lighter classics. One thing I'll add that doesn't get talked about a lot is the role of mindfulness in aiding your journey. People are perpetually stimulated. Our culture is driven by distraction and instant gratification now. Those that can engage deeply and longer with literature are becoming rare. I think of mindfulness like "trimming the fat" and improving the conditioning of the unhealthy mind and reading, journaling, and introspection as building the "muscular" strength of the mind. They support each other in developing a healthy mind.
I like to read biographies on audible and some self help but majority like 98% I read actual books. With audiobooks I set the timing to go 75% slower so I can listen slowly at my pace and sometimes 50%. Audiobooks are good to listen while cleaning or commuting .
@@Meekismwisdom Yeah, audiobooks are great as background stimulation but only for books that can be consumed in that way. Some books deserve the respect of our full attention.
You're one of the people that actually help me to have confidence in myself. I have been struggling with reading shorter stories and finding basic plot structures. I don't know why but I end up getting hung up on English assignments and utter to myself, "I'm dumb." Thank you for being a blessing to me and others!
Some of the things that helped me start reading again: I get really comfortable or antsy when reading, so I just started reading at the bar. It was a lot of fun and actually got out of my place. Met many great people. I'd bring a highlighter. Now I also write notes in the margins on the side in pencil. It's been an amazing journey and now I can read in most places
That is amazing. I love to read every where. I have read whole books in benches, buses, bars, steps in the street, parks. I remember being reading Crime and punch in the benches in the square of a little village, and an old Lady asked me about the story and I was telling about the problems of the protagonist, and comenting the story with her. Sorry sbout my English.
I have dyslexia. I can read, and I can use audio books if I need to, but reading makes me so tired. I like voice acting my books. It's a hobby off my mine. I'm an alcoholic so I don't go to bars a lot, but I get into voice acting my characters and if I were to read a book in a bar. I imagine bunch of drunk people and a guy voice acting characters like a madman and it's probably a comedy skit in real life.
My issue with reading is that i’m more excited for picking the book. But when it comes to reading it, i quickly get bored after 30, 40 pages. (Non-fiction)
I know this may be a late reply but what worked for me when it came to non fiction was take my time with it and read it in between fiction books to better assimilate it this way it felt less like I was studying something for school lets say and more like I was reading it for my own moral benefit. I did this with the myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus since when I started it I felt that it was too dense for me so I read the stranger then got back to it and it felt way easier and less complex to me because I already read a fiction book that had pretty much the same ideas
I really like read fiction, but early I started to read classical, and books in English (I'm Brazilian so it's helping me to improve it ). I'm also reading some psychology ones, about mental health and mental issues, it's been great, and I'm taking a break from the anxiety to read fast. U are really giving me good advices, thanks 😊
I love Dostoevsky I’ve read all of his work several times over. Note from underground and the adolescent are my favorites and were life changing for me. I decided to try to tackle war and peace. Got part way into book two and realized who I thought was two separate ppl were actually the same person. So decided to start over lol
Dostoievski has destroyed the literature.If you finish,let's say.. "Brothers Karamazov",then you go for a different author,it's like going from university to the kindergarten.My opinion.I am a big of Dostoievski,maybe obsessed.
@@Mao_tse_tungdemons and karamazov are my favourites. You can read Don Quixote or Homer Shakespeare James Joyce etc if you don’t wanna go back to kindergarten
Yes, committing to the second reading or even more is what really brings it to life! I would say that second reads of fiction can do just as much, but I understand your point.
To expand the conversation with my sharings with regards to ‘better reading’: One aspect I’ve sought to consider towards my own reading is to ask why I am reading. IMO one of the trappings is the belief and assumption that an answer we seek is in a book somewhere. It’s worth considering for ourselves if (only) searching for an answer this way incurs missed opportunities to more fully explore and experience what we seek. Another aspect is a different POV to what was presented here. IMO the value of a book is where it takes you. My sentiment is that taking notes, connecting ideas from elsewhere, raising questions is the “juice” of reading. It’s worth writing them down without self censorship, or a value judgement. To honour our own intellect by honouring the thoughts that surface for us. Logistical concerns about the time and effort needed to further process these notes, IMO should factor more significantly for those of us reading under a deadline or for some express regulated purpose. Otherwise I tend to favour a cultivating of curiosity over practical concerns of being overly productive. Lastly, read with good posture. While reading is largely a cognitive pursuit, our body needs to hold up that heavy head of ours. Get active, stretch, alternate between sitting and standing while reading, where feasible bring the book/e-reader to eye level vs craning our necks down for hours on end. Reading is a marathon, while we aching with sciatica, stiff necks, achey shoulders..it sure doesn’t make reading a pleasant experience. Hope something in the above helps someone. Happy reading everyone! :)
Finally youtube’s algorithm makes something right. I’ve been trying to find a booktube channel like yours; one that is not praising the culture of hastiness we are inmersed in. I totally believe in the message of reading slowly and good-quality material.
Reading is a pleasure because it's a conversation between the author and reader. Conversations have silences, pauses and feelings too apart from words and their myriad tones. When one reads, there takes place vocalisation of words and an emergence of emotions and feelings. Each reading arouses a new set of emotions, feelings and imageries. Gradually the reader gets a glimpse of author's mind and the time of writing a particular passage, making a choice of a word from its several synonym siblings. It is best to let the book or article or a literary piece tell its own story.. And each time upon reading the story is telling something new and fresh.
I just started Crime and Punishment and it is great. My girlfriend is learning a lot about Dostoevsky against her will because whatever books I read become all I talk about for a time.
Funny enough, I watched this video twice and now I get the idea better. Thanks for the video. Really good info for us, newbies trying to read philosophie
👋 I cannot agree more on the advice of intentionality in picking books and having good reasons. This is what I applied when I loved the habit of reading way back 2018. After a year of building this habit, I picked personal development books both on Christian and secular genres. In 2020, my theme was pain and suffering. In 2021, I decided to read G.K. Chesterton's magnum corpus, Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man, in which the only 2 books I read that year. And this year, I decided to oscillate between philosophical and psychological books. My plan for my 2023 reading lists is to consume Fyodor Dostoevsky. Keep reading everyone ✨
I’ve always wanted to read a book a second time, for all the reasons he states. But I felt it was some kind of failure on my part to have to. Like I should have understood and remembered the book perfectly the first time. But I’m encouraged now to reread some of my favorites. Not just to enjoy them once again, but to try and gain a better understanding and recall. Thank you!
This was a really well thought out video. As a language learner I feel much of your advice applies directly to strategies involved in second language acquisition. Don’t be afraid to watch / listen to the same thing twice. Maybe even three times - more things are revealed each time you do. Also, there is value in becoming fluent in an individual’s body of work; I’ve often found one very clear podcast with one author can be the key to fluency for me. I learn how one person speaks very well and then I slowly branch out from there. I am looking forward to exploring your channel!
I really like your approach to note taking. As someone who has been getting into philosophy lately, I’ve found my notes to be incredibly dense. I’m going to give your method a shot and see how it works for me.
00:03 Focus on becoming good readers, not faster readers. 02:04 Developing reading skills is like building physical fitness. 04:11 Reading books more than once is essential for understanding non-fiction 06:08 Reading non-fiction and taking effective notes 07:52 Use light annotations and few notes for effective reading 09:53 Choose books with intention and purpose 11:47 Diversify reading materials to better understand political issues 13:33 Choose what you read with purpose and have a reading plan.
Biggest fucking calamity of life I know... So much untouched knowledge... So much I won't ever know!😢 But obviously not for everybody.. they are happy and lucky.. ignorance is a bliss 💔
Reading before bed is such good advice, because reading protects our minds. During the last few years, I have had the habit of surfing the internet before I go to bed, and nearly every app is connected to the news. News is a nightmare. I can't tell you how many disturbing or even horrifying images and headlines I have seen right before I go to bed just this year. Reading, apart from being valuable in its own right, would block this from happening again.
Agreed, opting for financial advise is now the best way to go about the investing. Both beginners and Intermediate investors can stay profitable when working with an adviser. Reading books is good but making profit is better.
My CFA *Julianne Iwersen Niemann,* a renowned figure in her line of work. I recommend researching her credentials further. She has many years of experience and is a valuable resource for anyone looking to navigate the financial market.
I really like what you are doing here and I love that you are providing it for free. People like you are truly the hero's of this world and how we will progress as a society. Thank you
Currently, I am studying my PhD in Political Science in Mexico. I really liked the video. I am struggling to develop a better way to read books and academic papers. However, it is really hard to do it when teachers assign a lot of material to read. I am hoping for your next video.
I can recommend Dostoyevsky's The Gambler. It is easy to read and he really displays or shows how easily one can become an addicted gambler. Dostoyevsky had a gambling problem himself, at one stage. Apparently he wrote it just to get his publisher off his back and to fulfil a contract. I am currently about half way through Crime and Punishment, which is heavy. So if you want to recommend him to someone, The Gambler, is a great book to start with. It is written in a very entertaining way too. Your video on why people don't read anymore resonated with me. It summed up my problems with reading when I was at school. I'm old, now and I decided long ago to always be reading book. When I finish one, I look around for another to start. You are right, the more you read the better you get at it and in turn, the more pleasure you derive from it. It is exercise for the brain.
I remember buying Religion and Nothingness by Kenji Nishitani, and expecting to just pick it up and read it like any old book. Much to my surprise I could barely get through five pages in a day due to the amount of backtracking I needed to do in order to actually comprehend what it was I was reading, and even when I did that I still felt as if I was not even close to the level of thought the book demands from readers. Since then I've picked up various classics in order to build the foundation I need to understand that book. It's like the start of my reading journey in a way, and I think that's the best way for 22 year old me, for which everything in life feels like a new undertaking, is important to keep me interested and engaged in books that's merit do not lie in their entertainment value.
This is honestly the type of content I want. I do actually wanted to read better and understand how to pick books to read. I want to get into reading nonfiction with the goal of expanding knowledge in all sorts of fields of study
I remembered a sentence long time ago from a Japanese female writer, she got the CPA as the youngest in her generation, and mentioned the shortcut of being a writer is to understand the “book” market well. Once you captured the picture of the market, you have direction to make structure of a book, a story for your L♪f❤. Nice advice about reading books.
Reading a book multiple times sort of sounds like getting to know somebody: First meeting will probably be relatively superficial; at the next meeting you take what you learned from the first meeting and use that knowledge to gain more information. Rinse and repeat.
Reading a book twice is such a good idea! Also, I have found that when there is huge amount of characters, and even worse, if you read Dostoyevsky and the same person can be called 6 different ways, I need a visual diagram, who is who to who :D, and I have to correct it during reading quite often, and sometimes even recorrect back to what I initially thought ... Great video! :)
It's great to read things multiple times. I took an intro to narrative class, and I think about that class a lot. Some of the hardest short stories we read ended up being the most rewarding to study. I recently re-read a book I read in august and picked up a wonderful bit about love and relationships that I didn't have the capacity to see earlier. Heck, I even figured out a lyric of a song I've heard many times in the last ten years. There's lots to be seen that you don't notice on first read. I also think sometimes its good to spend money on the specific book you want (if you can afford to). During the pandemic, I used what little I had to read The Idea of the Brain. Fantastic book. I think about it often. I don't regret paying premium for it. That book is about the brain, yes, but is as much about how we use metaphors, and the limits of language when we talk about scientific concepts.
Can I just tell you that your style of making videos is very calming and conducive to get your audience to focus. No loud background music or distractions, just you talking. For someone like me who gets overstimulated really easily, I appreciate it!
Holy crap! How amazing to find a channel like this! To me there's nothing more satisfying than literature and philosophy though I have to admit I'm a noob and my mind's been poisoned by trash TV.
Love this! Very insight full! Sean Connery was asked the question by a reporter what was it that made him such a great actor. He said that his parents taught him how to read well. Thats is it nothing more.
This makes perfect sense. My Year 10 English Teacher has said I have poor Comprehension and Grammar skills, as I was reading at a high level. Today, I'm preparing to make the leap from reading Fiction - a wide range of genres - to Academic text. I hope to study teaching, and perhaps psychology, philosophy and literature. My old fears reemerge, but this video will help me along. Thank you :)
love that you mentioned ryan holidays note taking method because i'm watching this to try to get back into reading consistently starting with a ryan holiday book!
I am currently a PhD graduate and in my long academic progress, I have learned how to read extremely fast, and process information quickly and memorize it. It is very hard and requires practice and maintaining such skill. Today, I can read about 3 academic books (apprx. 300 pp. in total each), in only one day and write three different reviews. But this created an issue with my love of reading. I no longer like to read novels and fantasy books. I no longer have this sense of worth in reading such books, that is probably because during your PhD, you must read and specialize yourself in the historiography of more than three fields of study. As such, you always feel you are falling behind in your readings, and you guilt yourself in reading something not related to your studies ; even at night before sleep.
Re-reading fiction is actual fun too! I read Spring Awakening twice within the same week because of exactly what you explained. After the first read, I understood the main point and then I went back to really appreciate all the intricate details.
This is very good advice, but I have something to add. Reading before you go to sleep is so good for you, it's almost miraculous. My niece was born in late March, and it inspired me to make some changes in my life, and one of them was to start reading for a couple of hours before going to sleep, every night. This combined two of my goals: reading more and allowing my mind some time to settle down before I go to sleep (in case you're not aware, looking at screens before sleep isn't good for your focus). It may sound like a lot, but it's really not. You can use reading lights and it won't even bother your girlfriend, wife, or significant other in general. I started doing it in mid April, and I've read 46 books since (on my 47th right now, A Portriat of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce). Those 46 books, by the way, included philosophy and history non-fiction books, and classics like Crime and Punishment, Don Quixote, As I Lay Dying, Blindness and many more, and I have been taking my time with all of them. It's just, when you read 2 hours every night, you get to go through a lot of books, no matter how hard you focus on the material, and how slowly you read.
I would like to do this but reading before sleeping is my sleep med basically... What I mean is that I will fall asleep I'd I try to do it. I wonder if that has happened to you
@@j_tsar Not really, but that's because I'm not really the type of person to oversleep. I function best when I sleep 6-7 hours a night, never more than that. I can get by with 4-6 hours for a couple of days, but no more than that. So I'll sleep for 6-7 hours, and then I'll start to read 2 hours before I know I'll start to get sleepy again. I don't know how well this would work for other people, but it works out very well for me.
@@happilyevernever4289 I think you’re missing the point. Your mind is active while you read, of course. But five minutes after you’re done, it goes straight into sleep mode. When you’re looking at screens, however, you may even sleep while you watch something, but your mind will remain alert for hours, and that keeps your mind from being well rested, which impairs your focus and reasoning.
14:13 -- I constantly carry a book around the house with me. If it's only in my office or in my bedroom I won't read unless I'm physically in those spaces. But if I carry it around, I'll sit and read 10 or 20 pages before turning on the TV, or while I'm eating dinner. Even if I don't read it, I'm giving myself the access to read it when it's physically with me.
I prefer qualitative reading over quantitative one. I'm doing a classic since last year and it's about to finish. I know I'm slow but I can assure that, if asked I can give account regarding any capricious part of the book. I've taken such a subtle method and have prepared my own notes for each significant paragraph. I am working as per my own decisions and I feel so good. The only thing I'm worried about is my book about to get finished within a few chapters. The points you've gone through are true to the best of my knowledge. Thank you for such a wise advice. Kudos ❤️❤️❤️
If someone had a bad thought about books at first, you get bored immediately when you picked up a book. For me I find it hard to hold a book because it is bulky and you can not change the text size of it, and eventually I found e-reader or sort of reading machine. It really paved me a way to start reading more and give me a ton of powerful insights
Also your Hegel advice (I don’t know anything about him, or philosophy on even an undergraduate level-not officially, at least, with documentation proving I’m In My Undergrad Portion of my Studies) is very VERY helpful and important for me to hear. It applies to anything even slightly difficult.
Great video, and as others have said, I totally agree that just because you read a book a week, doesn't mean that you fully consume those books. I also agree that you need to work on reading fitness, I haven't read anything challenging for a while and I'm finding it difficult to follow books like Crime and Punishment and Ulysses. I have recently moved and now have my own study again so I'm hoping that I will find more focus again. Thanks for the great video.
I've never been good at reading non-fiction, so I started by the shortest books I could find and that interested me. I was amazed at how much I liked them! I read activists' works and even some short biographies that really helped me to enjoy this genre 🥰. Now I have so much variety of books to read and enjoy. Thank you so much for validating slower readers; it took me so long to start reading new types of books, because I was always thinking "ugh, it will take so looong", but choosing shorter books and taking my time to understand them helped me a lot! P.S.: I've read just one book by Dostoevsky and I did it on a kindle (Crime and Punishment, yup), I was so shocked when after I'd finished it I realised how long it was! I thought it was much shorter because I enjoyed it so much. That's one of the books I've felt I've read engaging so much with the story and the characters.
Totally agree with the video. In my personal thoughts many people don't read big books or more complex books because other people tell them how difficult they are instead of helping them and for example recommend easy ways to get into them
I love to read and I blocked off a Friday to read . I’m into quantum physics and I have some books 📚 and I have to reread a sentence 10 times to get everything . I love this about reading. Great channel and I’m glad you were in my algorithm. New subbie ❤
I just finished Moby Dick after six months of battling through it. I didn't realize that finishing a book could give you such a dopamine hit like I just climbed a mountain or something.
It’s a compounding skill that enhances most areas of our character. I’m a generalist bookish man, and it works for me. Curiosity is boundless and there’s a book for every query. Life is better spent reading - which paraphrases one of your closing points. No amount of scrolling could ever compete with hundreds of pages of purpose-driven writing.
Your "fast and slow" reading technique is what Prof. Ellie Anderson called the "Skim and Slog" in one of her videos (called "Tips for reading philosophy"). Would highly reccomend checking it out, very good video and awesome channel. I often find watching one of her sumary/lecture videos helpful before embarking on reading a book.
If it's possible, it's very helpful to have a space to read without any other books in sight to distract you. I'm often tempted to look and read the other books I have.
I’m so glad I came across your video today because lately I’ve been beating myself up internally how slow I read. When I heard you say that reading a book slowly is not an indicator of a bad reader I breathe a sign of relief. And the analogy you made between reading an exercise really impressed me, because I get that at first when I start reading after years of not reading a single book my brain hurt. But I am so insecure that I question my intelligence when I feel like I need to stop for the day. there are some books that I really feel like I should read again but I always think I need to keep reading more. Because honestly it makes me feel bad when people say I read two books a day. When I hear that I am ashamed because I asked myself what’s wrong with me why can I read more than one book a day? Why can I remember anything that I read? so yeah I hope your video gets more views, because someone out there really needs it like I do.
When you spoke about that quick reading of the book, it reminded me of Mortimer Adler's "How to read a book", when he discusses the second level of reading; sounded very similar, and your video is being very helpful :) Thank you! Greetings from Brazil.
I began reading books at 21. I’m 29, now, but I can say with confidence that it took several years to develop the tolerance and rich word power to grasp some books. Archaic language has become easier and digestible as I’ve read about 26 classic books, from Dickens to Victor Hugo. I knew about crime and punishment since 2014 yet only discovered a great translation and finished it in 2021. It can be done!
@@MutantdogfangsA late reply but nonetheless, I think it would be necessary: Crime and Punishment is simply one of the best novels there are, simply because of the fact that it has a little bit of everything; and that it is one of the novels that deeply contributed to modern psychology and existentialism.
As an old school (pre-internet) reader I appreciate being “analog” in the note-taking advice. So much easier to have the pencil and notebook at hand. I’m going to try note taking again. When you started describing obsessive garbage note-taking I thought to myself “oh that was me for sure” but then you described light note-taking as an alternative and I thought “oh….I didn’t approach even that amount” lol. Difference I think is that I never had any structure or plan to what I notated. Just random ideas as I read, which upon returning to were pretty much still garbage. I might try tabs, checks, and summaries this year.
I tried reading Godel, Escher and Bach in the '80's, I was optimistic about stretching my mind and was eager to dive in! I quit not even getting through the 1st chapter! 🤣 My biggest problem is retaing what I've read especially non-fiction... And as I get older I'm thinking "man, I don't have time to reread stuff, once and done!"
I've been reading this book for about a year, while taking breaks to read other shorter books. Still only half way. Hope to reread it and take some proper notes because it's tough to grasp everything - Have learned a lot from it so far nonetheless.
I do set reading goals for myself but I don't rigidly stick to it tbh especially in 2022 when I had such a hectic year with finishing my masters and finding my first job in my new field. But what I did read, I loved. I read books that made me laugh and cry and I finished them faster because I was so engrossed in them bur I reread them as well to reaply appreciate them. It was an amazing year of reading for me 🥰
Reading is like everything in life, there are books that you need to get to with experience, to have read a lot, to have even had important life experiences, because you will not understand them if you do not have a journey. It happened to me, the first times I read an author I did not understand or I misunderstood, it was not until I had enough literature in my body that I was able to understand it. All in due time!
my friends think i’m so weird for re reading books !!! i always tell them it’s fun bc you know the end so you can see the point of everything in the beginning and the reason for the structure/ when stuff is told ! i’m happy to be validated 😭
I don't know if it's relevant, but I just want to share my reading habits. When I was at school, we had, of course, a summer reading list. I wouldn't say that I was passionate about it, but I read everything that was there. Gradually, I became more and more interested in literature, while my career goals steered more and more towards STEM. We had a few literature classes at school, and I really liked them. I read a lot of fiction, sometimes loosing myself in it, forgetting reality and... Well... Not understanding what I am doing it for. There is no point to it, I thought. Time that could have been spent on math and coding, wasted. I reassured myself by reading in English and German, to learn a new language while reading. Then, I found some social media content on literature, and was surprised to find that so many people thought that reading is a good activity. So, I decided so as well. Also, I have one major reading habit. Every summer, especially during July and August, I read exclusively Russian classics. It is, well, partly because of nostalgia, but also partly of something else. I didn't understand much of what I read when I was still at school, and I also never steered away from the list. Everyone's read "Crime and Punishment" or "War and Peace", but what about other books of these famous authors? Perhaps, other famous authors? It is so fun to explore different settings that are made by the same author. Like, how "War and Peace" is set almost 70 years before "Anna Karenina" but they still seem to resemble each other. Some things are different, some stay the same. And with Dostoevsky, it's even better. His many novels almost seem like a series, many of them set in the same place and follow a similar theme. This summer, I reread most of them. I feel somewhat guilty for reading in Russian again, but I kinda feel it was worth it. My favorite is, by the way, "The Insulted and Humiliated". I definitely recommend reading it. I guess, reading is neither work nor rest. Defining it as rest will make you feel guilty for spending too much time on it. And you can't define it as work because, unless you're an editor, it won't earn you money. For me, reading is something I do in a form of a basic necessity. It makes my life better somehow, even though I do not understand why.
What you say in this video completely resonates with me, espesially the quality being over quantity. From my own experience I know that the more notes I take, the lazier I feel to revise them. Also, taking your time while reading is like eating food slowly to digest it effectively without cramming your digestive system.
Growing up, I never had a lot of things to read for kids other than school books. I would read everything and anything still do I would even read the sides of cereal boxes, I actually even started reading the encyclopedia, which no longer exists. I would even read things that I probably shouldn’t have. I can remember as a young boy one of my uncles had a lot of murder mystery books I wish people would have told me reading is only one function understanding and comprehension does not necessarily go hand-in-hand when learning, it took me a long time to realize that thank you , so glad I found your station
This is such an amazing video! I’m currently researching both Dostoyevsky and Kierkegaard and while Kierkegaard is very difficult I have the drive to understand the concepts within these existentialists
I keep a reading journal especially for non fiction and that helped me alot. I agree when reading especially non fiction once you feel like you get most of it but the grasp might not be fully there. I usually read it once highlight important parts (yes I'm not sorry I write in my books haha) and then go back trying to outline and summarize the important parts in my own words. Feels a little like school but I gues they where onto something there with it helping to understand things more fully
Great to see that in a world that insists on dumbing down, there's actually some courageous ones out there going the opposite route by making content that helps pull us out of the dark. Courageous because in today's world this would be considered elitist and out of touch, and 'oh would you lighten up please.' Good to see you have decent sized viewership too, not crazy numbers like the millions that many daft videos get, but decent enough numbers and encouraging too to see that people are interested in bettering themselves. Having said that, the last couple of books I've been reading lately for the past year or two are mostly trash fiction.
I am not a literary major of any sort, I am actual a pathologist who reads mostly pathology heavy books and sci-fi novels in my past time, BUT I am here watching/listening to this video while I read my pathology book and my focus 1000%.
Summary 1) Try bringing your books with you. You'll find pockets of time to read like waiting for an occasion etc. 2) The 2 times reading method usually works on non-fiction books, because hell naw people be readin' the same Harry Potter book twice 3) If you wanna learn, for say, Politics, try reading the works of great thinkers of Politics from various writers. It won't hurt ya a bit. 4) Reading is like exercising, it pains at first, but you'll get used to it afterwards. You leave it for some time, then it'll be a pain to start again.
This is video is framed real nicely. Pay attention folks. As a side bar most folks wouldn’t think out of the gate that IQs of Philosophy majors are slightly lower than Physics majors.
Love all of these well thought out tips. I can see why your channel has exploded. You give very good information, and not just surface information. Also, I think people are craving knowledge as all we are given these days is shallow.
I no longer set a reading goal in terms of # of books a year. Instead I set a goal of reading every day. 1 page or 100 pages. All that counts is that I did it.
Summary
1. Reframe your mentality. Your goal is to a better reader not a faster reader. Reading is a muscle that takes deliberate practice to develop.
2. Keep annotation and notes light. Be intentional.
3. Read it twice, especially for non fiction. The first time is fast and dirty. The second time allows you to relook at the parts with an understanding of the book as a whole.
4. Think about the personal value behind reading. Don’t just read books that are interesting. Reading is a form of moral or self formation. What you read decides the person you intend to be.
5. When reading books by great writers, don’t expect it to always be astounding.
6. Make it a habit to have ready access to the book (in your preferred format). So you find pockets in the day to read, even for 10 mins. Reading is more likely to become second nature.
Thank 👝
Thank you
Thank you, a lot of what you said made perfect sense to me especially the last tip. I met someone in my early 20,s, I am now in my 60,s , he was a decade plus older than me and introduced me to reading. Reading for knowledge and pleasure, he bought me my first thesaurus, illustrated dictionary and book of poetry and I still have all 3!. We used to buy books at the train station shop before he went on a trip and that meant I had to carry them home so I can totally go with the purpose of carrying the book that your reading around with you to dip in and out of, it sort of becomes your friend for the time that your reading it. Hope this makes sense. Will watch your other videos, I'm sure I will enjoy them. Jayne from the UK. X
You are wrong, giving an incorrect opinion about what ails us is not directly oblique towards what comes before it.
it seems employers even in craft jobs test for fast readers
"What you read actually decides what kind of a person you want to be". ❤️
A wonderful talk indeed!!
When you DON'T read, that also helps determine what kind of a person you will be...
That's bull. I use to read a lot of material on life, inspiration, science, technology, Darwin. But I've found myself working in restaurant with family or spilling coffee, and serving excessive cream to customers, or people telling me what to do at jobs an 8 year can do with right stamina and energy drinks.
@@davelew1173 That's not how you should weigh learning or knowledge I feel. Well of course people might not clear competitive exams, may not find a good job. Luck counts so does one's efforts. However to consider all your former knowledge as meaningless is really not correct.
Reading for the sake or love of reading itself, without any utilitarian grounds does defines you and can never be value less
They covertly develops our character and defines who as humans we are.
@@davelew1173 You missed the part where you are supposed to understand what you are reading 💀..
@Repent and believe in Jesus Christ no
stop forcing yourself to finish a book. a book is supposed to provide temp escape, provide knowledge and some key takeaways. you should be fulfilled once you have attained these. unless youre reading for school or work, take a break from it and find a new read that sparks your curiosity. renew your library hold or return it and try again or simply buy books from places that allow you to return or exchange.
I think I have always been trapped in trying to finish reading a book. This seems helpful. Thank you.
The last class I took with my favorite professor before he retired, I really learned how to read.The class had no textbook, but a lot of selections of readings from the authors, theologians, and philosophers we were learning about. The day after he handed out the selections, he would call on people randomly to ask specific questions that I figured out were always the essential ideas of the author. By the end of the semester I was consistently identifying the specific main ideas he'd ask for. I just wish I learned how to do that earlier and not at the end of my second to last semester. Helped a lot for my capstone though, and helped me realize I want to go to seminary.
I can't agree more on the advice of being more intentional about note-taking and annotation. I used to have my immediate thoughts written directly in the margin, thinking that I will collect them and sort them through after finishing my first read. But more often than not, when I start sorting the notes, I get so frustrated about how many notes there are and about how random/irrelevant a lot of them are, that I give up half way through the first chapter. I think I'm gradually getting better on that. Definitely helpful!
One of the best margin notes I ever saw was in a book I was leafing through at Goodwill, a bit of text was circled, an arrow to the margin where was noted "BULLSHIT!!" 🤣
I have never left a comment on a youtube video and I'm 26. This video was God sent for me. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your comment.
Thank you SO much this. I got burnout so badly that I basically couldn’t read for a year or so. I’ve since recovered but am trying to learn to read for pleasure again. It’s humbling for someone who has read all my life.
This has the importance of life itself: the books you choose to read. Through them you will build up your character, values ... Reading makes a difference in your life, work and enhances you as a thinker.
Thank you, Mr. Henderson.🙏
The hard work in reading books is a concept that I've heard a lot about but started not realising, but coming to acceptance with its importance only recently, when this mental work started to pay off. The level of perceptual depth and inner peace it gives you is so much stronger than it if lazy reading. Pardon my mistakes, I'm not native speaker.
I also realised that slow reading is ok. It took me 6 months to finish Kant's "Critique..." a hour or two a day and I still have to reread it. In the beginning it was more like 15 minutes with three breaks, hehe.
I think this trend of setting goal of reading 40 to 50 books is an impediment to reading books. I also struggled with reading due to being obsessed with the number. But recently I just started reading for fun. Surprisingly, I don't find it that hard to read now even with a busy schedule.
exactly. Reading is equally about fun and knowledge imo
Definitely true. My reading list is so long though, that I do feel like a different type of challenge helps me prioritize which books to read. Some annual goals I've done are A-Z titles, or a book from each decade since 1800--that one always turns out fun!
Do people really do that? Weird. Just don't read if it's so uninteresting to you that you need to count how many books you read.
When I was anxious about hitting my 52 books a week goal, I struggled with getting there. As soon as I stopped worrying about it, I started reading heaps more and enjoying every second
@@legrandliseurtri7495 There's nothing wrong with counting. It's a nice way to keep track and it keeps me motivated.
This video is incredibly validating. As someone that reads incredibly slowly, reading no more than 5 books a year (or 10, including fiction), I always thought there was something wrong with me. I've seen people say they read 50-100 books a year and it's incredibly baffling. I tend to chew on books, letting the words on the pages stew in my mind for a while, before moving on. It's why I just can't do audiobooks, I believe they promote superficial engagement with the material; I'm aware they're better suited for books that can be engaged with shallowly, like self-help though. I'm an Engineering graduate but I've always been drawn to philosophy and literature; I think they hold incredible wisdom.
I take a lot of notes while reading but that's because I need to. My notes aren't verbatim extracts from the texts but conversations with myself. They're scattered and all over the place but they help me process what I read. I barely go back to my notes, unless I'm transferring some insights from them into my knowledge management system. Without taking heavy notes while reading, I don't think I can extract as much while reading.
I believe so much in the concept of progressive overload with regards to reading. It's why I advice people that want to start on this journey toward intellectualism to start with Mortimer Adler's book, "How to read a book" and engage with it as deeply as they can. Then move on to some of the lighter classics. One thing I'll add that doesn't get talked about a lot is the role of mindfulness in aiding your journey. People are perpetually stimulated. Our culture is driven by distraction and instant gratification now. Those that can engage deeply and longer with literature are becoming rare. I think of mindfulness like "trimming the fat" and improving the conditioning of the unhealthy mind and reading, journaling, and introspection as building the "muscular" strength of the mind. They support each other in developing a healthy mind.
I use audiobooks when I have difficulty reading some books especially large books which appear intimidating
@@vanessamay3689 That's interesting. What's your experience with them; do they help you understand better?
I like to read biographies on audible and some self help but majority like 98% I read actual books. With audiobooks I set the timing to go 75% slower so I can listen slowly at my pace and sometimes 50%. Audiobooks are good to listen while cleaning or commuting .
I’m going to add ‘How to read to my wishlist’
@@Meekismwisdom Yeah, audiobooks are great as background stimulation but only for books that can be consumed in that way. Some books deserve the respect of our full attention.
You're one of the people that actually help me to have confidence in myself. I have been struggling with reading shorter stories and finding basic plot structures. I don't know why but I end up getting hung up on English assignments and utter to myself, "I'm dumb." Thank you for being a blessing to me and others!
Some of the things that helped me start reading again:
I get really comfortable or antsy when reading, so I just started reading at the bar. It was a lot of fun and actually got out of my place. Met many great people. I'd bring a highlighter. Now I also write notes in the margins on the side in pencil. It's been an amazing journey and now I can read in most places
That is amazing. I love to read every where. I have read whole books in benches, buses, bars, steps in the street, parks. I remember being reading Crime and punch in the benches in the square of a little village, and an old Lady asked me about the story and I was telling about the problems of the protagonist, and comenting the story with her. Sorry sbout my English.
i’d do this but as a girl i’d be afraid of getting called ‘pick me’
@@danielleigop7783 for reading in a bar? Or for what exactly?
@@danielleigop7783 life is way too short to let that deter you
I have dyslexia. I can read, and I can use audio books if I need to, but reading makes me so tired. I like voice acting my books. It's a hobby off my mine. I'm an alcoholic so I don't go to bars a lot, but I get into voice acting my characters and if I were to read a book in a bar. I imagine bunch of drunk people and a guy voice acting characters like a madman and it's probably a comedy skit in real life.
My issue with reading is that i’m more excited for picking the book. But when it comes to reading it, i quickly get bored after 30, 40 pages. (Non-fiction)
I know this may be a late reply but what worked for me when it came to non fiction was take my time with it and read it in between fiction books to better assimilate it this way it felt less like I was studying something for school lets say and more like I was reading it for my own moral benefit.
I did this with the myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus since when I started it I felt that it was too dense for me so I read the stranger then got back to it and it felt way easier and less complex to me because I already read a fiction book that had pretty much the same ideas
I really like read fiction, but early I started to read classical, and books in English (I'm Brazilian so it's helping me to improve it ). I'm also reading some psychology ones, about mental health and mental issues, it's been great, and I'm taking a break from the anxiety to read fast. U are really giving me good advices, thanks 😊
Read “Introduction to the Science of Mental Health”by Fr Chad Ripperger.
“I really like to to read fiction” . I’ve got a Brazilian friend who is also mastering English!
a ansiedade para ler rápido e eficiente também me faz sofrer
@@thomaslecky5301 Thanks, i dont notice it
Adoro ver outros brasileiros pela rede internacional, abraços!
I love Dostoevsky I’ve read all of his work several times over. Note from underground and the adolescent are my favorites and were life changing for me. I decided to try to tackle war and peace. Got part way into book two and realized who I thought was two separate ppl were actually the same person. So decided to start over lol
Dostoievski has destroyed the literature.If you finish,let's say.. "Brothers Karamazov",then you go for a different author,it's like going from university to the kindergarten.My opinion.I am a big of Dostoievski,maybe obsessed.
@@tudorclaudiukaroly4886 yeah i have the same problem nothing has quite the same atmosphere and character depth. Demons it great as well ;)
@@Mao_tse_tungdemons and karamazov are my favourites.
You can read Don Quixote or Homer Shakespeare James Joyce etc if you don’t wanna go back to kindergarten
The way you speak is so refreshing. I have rarely understood people the way I understand you
Yes, committing to the second reading or even more is what really brings it to life! I would say that second reads of fiction can do just as much, but I understand your point.
I like to read multiple translations of the same book
To expand the conversation with my sharings with regards to ‘better reading’:
One aspect I’ve sought to consider towards my own reading is to ask why I am reading. IMO one of the trappings is the belief and assumption that an answer we seek is in a book somewhere. It’s worth considering for ourselves if (only) searching for an answer this way incurs missed opportunities to more fully explore and experience what we seek.
Another aspect is a different POV to what was presented here. IMO the value of a book is where it takes you. My sentiment is that taking notes, connecting ideas from elsewhere, raising questions is the “juice” of reading. It’s worth writing them down without self censorship, or a value judgement. To honour our own intellect by honouring the thoughts that surface for us. Logistical concerns about the time and effort needed to further process these notes, IMO should factor more significantly for those of us reading under a deadline or for some express regulated purpose. Otherwise I tend to favour a cultivating of curiosity over practical concerns of being overly productive.
Lastly, read with good posture. While reading is largely a cognitive pursuit, our body needs to hold up that heavy head of ours. Get active, stretch, alternate between sitting and standing while reading, where feasible bring the book/e-reader to eye level vs craning our necks down for hours on end. Reading is a marathon, while we aching with sciatica, stiff necks, achey shoulders..it sure doesn’t make reading a pleasant experience.
Hope something in the above helps someone. Happy reading everyone! :)
Finally youtube’s algorithm makes something right. I’ve been trying to find a booktube channel like yours; one that is not praising the culture of hastiness we are inmersed in. I totally believe in the message of reading slowly and good-quality material.
Reading is a pleasure because it's a conversation between the author and reader.
Conversations have silences, pauses and feelings too apart from words and their myriad tones.
When one reads, there takes place vocalisation of words and an emergence of emotions and feelings.
Each reading arouses a new set of emotions, feelings and imageries.
Gradually the reader gets a glimpse of author's mind and the time of writing a particular passage, making a choice of a word from its several synonym siblings.
It is best to let the book or article or a literary piece tell its own story..
And each time upon reading the story is telling something new and fresh.
I just started Crime and Punishment and it is great. My girlfriend is learning a lot about Dostoevsky against her will because whatever books I read become all I talk about for a time.
Funny enough, I watched this video twice and now I get the idea better. Thanks for the video. Really good info for us, newbies trying to read philosophie
👋 I cannot agree more on the advice of intentionality in picking books and having good reasons. This is what I applied when I loved the habit of reading way back 2018. After a year of building this habit, I picked personal development books both on Christian and secular genres. In 2020, my theme was pain and suffering. In 2021, I decided to read G.K. Chesterton's magnum corpus, Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man, in which the only 2 books I read that year. And this year, I decided to oscillate between philosophical and psychological books.
My plan for my 2023 reading lists is to consume Fyodor Dostoevsky. Keep reading everyone ✨
I’ve always wanted to read a book a second time, for all the reasons he states. But I felt it was some kind of failure on my part to have to. Like I should have understood and remembered the book perfectly the first time. But I’m encouraged now to reread some of my favorites. Not just to enjoy them once again, but to try and gain a better understanding and recall. Thank you!
This was a really well thought out video. As a language learner I feel much of your advice applies directly to strategies involved in second language acquisition. Don’t be afraid to watch / listen to the same thing twice. Maybe even three times - more things are revealed each time you do. Also, there is value in becoming fluent in an individual’s body of work; I’ve often found one very clear podcast with one author can be the key to fluency for me. I learn how one person speaks very well and then I slowly branch out from there. I am looking forward to exploring your channel!
Love this guy. So enthusiastic, engaged with reading.
I really like your approach to note taking. As someone who has been getting into philosophy lately, I’ve found my notes to be incredibly dense. I’m going to give your method a shot and see how it works for me.
Kinda depressing that school didn’t show us how and now we have to learn from a TH-cam video all on our own. Great video
00:03 Focus on becoming good readers, not faster readers.
02:04 Developing reading skills is like building physical fitness.
04:11 Reading books more than once is essential for understanding non-fiction
06:08 Reading non-fiction and taking effective notes
07:52 Use light annotations and few notes for effective reading
09:53 Choose books with intention and purpose
11:47 Diversify reading materials to better understand political issues
13:33 Choose what you read with purpose and have a reading plan.
I really like how you say not to concentrate on the number of books, but on the quality of your reading. Very good point.
But I will die… and there’s too many books to read…
Biggest fucking calamity of life I know... So much untouched knowledge... So much I won't ever know!😢 But obviously not for everybody.. they are happy and lucky.. ignorance is a bliss 💔
you don’t have to read every book....reading is necessary, because you need to understand life and meaning of your life,purpose,wellbeing. 😅😅😅
I know it all already, I've discovered it all by my own thoughts and experience, I am starving for the satience of discovery, but there is nothing new
Audio books 😊
Some books are not worth it.
There needs to be something catalog of these things.
Reading before bed is such good advice, because reading protects our minds. During the last few years, I have had the habit of surfing the internet before I go to bed, and nearly every app is connected to the news. News is a nightmare. I can't tell you how many disturbing or even horrifying images and headlines I have seen right before I go to bed just this year. Reading, apart from being valuable in its own right, would block this from happening again.
Reading books has done me more good than harm when it comes to investing and being frugal with my finance.
Agreed, opting for financial advise is now the best way to go about the investing. Both beginners and Intermediate investors can stay profitable when working with an adviser. Reading books is good but making profit is better.
My CFA *Julianne Iwersen Niemann,* a renowned figure in her line of work. I recommend researching her credentials further. She has many years of experience and is a valuable resource for anyone looking to navigate the financial market.
I really like what you are doing here and I love that you are providing it for free. People like you are truly the hero's of this world and how we will progress as a society. Thank you
Currently, I am studying my PhD in Political Science in Mexico. I really liked the video. I am struggling to develop a better way to read books and academic papers. However, it is really hard to do it when teachers assign a lot of material to read. I am hoping for your next video.
Glad you made this video. Attention span is decreasing day by day. People are impatient. Quantity is emphasized more on quality.
I can recommend Dostoyevsky's The Gambler. It is easy to read and he really displays or shows how easily one can become an addicted gambler. Dostoyevsky had a gambling problem himself, at one stage. Apparently he wrote it just to get his publisher off his back and to fulfil a contract. I am currently about half way through Crime and Punishment, which is heavy. So if you want to recommend him to someone, The Gambler, is a great book to start with. It is written in a very entertaining way too.
Your video on why people don't read anymore resonated with me. It summed up my problems with reading when I was at school. I'm old, now and I decided long ago to always be reading book. When I finish one, I look around for another to start. You are right, the more you read the better you get at it and in turn, the more pleasure you derive from it. It is exercise for the brain.
I remember buying Religion and Nothingness by Kenji Nishitani, and expecting to just pick it up and read it like any old book. Much to my surprise I could barely get through five pages in a day due to the amount of backtracking I needed to do in order to actually comprehend what it was I was reading, and even when I did that I still felt as if I was not even close to the level of thought the book demands from readers. Since then I've picked up various classics in order to build the foundation I need to understand that book. It's like the start of my reading journey in a way, and I think that's the best way for 22 year old me, for which everything in life feels like a new undertaking, is important to keep me interested and engaged in books that's merit do not lie in their entertainment value.
why that book?
I felt the same reading Being and Nothingness🤭
This is honestly the type of content I want. I do actually wanted to read better and understand how to pick books to read. I want to get into reading nonfiction with the goal of expanding knowledge in all sorts of fields of study
I remembered a sentence long time ago from a Japanese female writer, she got the CPA as the youngest in her generation, and mentioned the shortcut of being a writer is to understand the “book” market well. Once you captured the picture of the market, you have direction to make structure of a book, a story for your L♪f❤.
Nice advice about reading books.
Watching this 26/12/2023 amazing solid advice. Thank you Jared 📚👍🏽
I hate this style of youtube, but I actually really appreciate your humility and I think you do this well. I subscribed; keep it up!
Reading a book multiple times sort of sounds like getting to know somebody: First meeting will probably be relatively superficial; at the next meeting you take what you learned from the first meeting and use that knowledge to gain more information. Rinse and repeat.
Reading a book twice is such a good idea!
Also, I have found that when there is huge amount of characters, and even worse, if you read Dostoyevsky and the same person can be called 6 different ways, I need a visual diagram, who is who to who :D, and I have to correct it during reading quite often, and sometimes even recorrect back to what I initially thought ...
Great video! :)
I'm far from a great reader but it is comforting to know that I'm on the right path.
It's great to read things multiple times. I took an intro to narrative class, and I think about that class a lot. Some of the hardest short stories we read ended up being the most rewarding to study.
I recently re-read a book I read in august and picked up a wonderful bit about love and relationships that I didn't have the capacity to see earlier.
Heck, I even figured out a lyric of a song I've heard many times in the last ten years. There's lots to be seen that you don't notice on first read.
I also think sometimes its good to spend money on the specific book you want (if you can afford to). During the pandemic, I used what little I had to read The Idea of the Brain. Fantastic book. I think about it often. I don't regret paying premium for it. That book is about the brain, yes, but is as much about how we use metaphors, and the limits of language when we talk about scientific concepts.
Was there a certain textbook you used in your Intro to Narrative Class?
Can I just tell you that your style of making videos is very calming and conducive to get your audience to focus. No loud background music or distractions, just you talking. For someone like me who gets overstimulated really easily, I appreciate it!
Holy crap! How amazing to find a channel like this! To me there's nothing more satisfying than literature and philosophy though I have to admit I'm a noob and my mind's been poisoned by trash TV.
Love this! Very insight full! Sean Connery was asked the question by a reporter what was it that made him such a great actor. He said that his parents taught him how to read well. Thats is it nothing more.
This makes perfect sense. My Year 10 English Teacher has said I have poor Comprehension and Grammar skills, as I was reading at a high level. Today, I'm preparing to make the leap from reading Fiction - a wide range of genres - to Academic text. I hope to study teaching, and perhaps psychology, philosophy and literature. My old fears reemerge, but this video will help me along. Thank you :)
This Video made me think what books I need to choose to Read. Thank you
love that you mentioned ryan holidays note taking method because i'm watching this to try to get back into reading consistently starting with a ryan holiday book!
I was thinking about taking on the David Foster Wallace books for 2024…. Thanks for this video!
I am currently a PhD graduate and in my long academic progress, I have learned how to read extremely fast, and process information quickly and memorize it. It is very hard and requires practice and maintaining such skill. Today, I can read about 3 academic books (apprx. 300 pp. in total each), in only one day and write three different reviews. But this created an issue with my love of reading. I no longer like to read novels and fantasy books. I no longer have this sense of worth in reading such books, that is probably because during your PhD, you must read and specialize yourself in the historiography of more than three fields of study. As such, you always feel you are falling behind in your readings, and you guilt yourself in reading something not related to your studies ; even at night before sleep.
Re-reading fiction is actual fun too! I read Spring Awakening twice within the same week because of exactly what you explained. After the first read, I understood the main point and then I went back to really appreciate all the intricate details.
This is very good advice, but I have something to add.
Reading before you go to sleep is so good for you, it's almost miraculous. My niece was born in late March, and it inspired me to make some changes in my life, and one of them was to start reading for a couple of hours before going to sleep, every night. This combined two of my goals: reading more and allowing my mind some time to settle down before I go to sleep (in case you're not aware, looking at screens before sleep isn't good for your focus).
It may sound like a lot, but it's really not. You can use reading lights and it won't even bother your girlfriend, wife, or significant other in general. I started doing it in mid April, and I've read 46 books since (on my 47th right now, A Portriat of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce). Those 46 books, by the way, included philosophy and history non-fiction books, and classics like Crime and Punishment, Don Quixote, As I Lay Dying, Blindness and many more, and I have been taking my time with all of them. It's just, when you read 2 hours every night, you get to go through a lot of books, no matter how hard you focus on the material, and how slowly you read.
I would like to do this but reading before sleeping is my sleep med basically... What I mean is that I will fall asleep I'd I try to do it. I wonder if that has happened to you
@@j_tsar Not really, but that's because I'm not really the type of person to oversleep. I function best when I sleep 6-7 hours a night, never more than that. I can get by with 4-6 hours for a couple of days, but no more than that. So I'll sleep for 6-7 hours, and then I'll start to read 2 hours before I know I'll start to get sleepy again. I don't know how well this would work for other people, but it works out very well for me.
If it's an engaging book, my mind would get hyperactive rather than settle down.
@@happilyevernever4289 I think you’re missing the point. Your mind is active while you read, of course. But five minutes after you’re done, it goes straight into sleep mode.
When you’re looking at screens, however, you may even sleep while you watch something, but your mind will remain alert for hours, and that keeps your mind from being well rested, which impairs your focus and reasoning.
Jared - I'm just finding your videos. Life-changing. Thank you for this.
14:13 -- I constantly carry a book around the house with me. If it's only in my office or in my bedroom I won't read unless I'm physically in those spaces. But if I carry it around, I'll sit and read 10 or 20 pages before turning on the TV, or while I'm eating dinner. Even if I don't read it, I'm giving myself the access to read it when it's physically with me.
I prefer qualitative reading over quantitative one. I'm doing a classic since last year and it's about to finish. I know I'm slow but I can assure that, if asked I can give account regarding any capricious part of the book. I've taken such a subtle method and have prepared my own notes for each significant paragraph. I am working as per my own decisions and I feel so good. The only thing I'm worried about is my book about to get finished within a few chapters. The points you've gone through are true to the best of my knowledge. Thank you for such a wise advice.
Kudos ❤️❤️❤️
If someone had a bad thought about books at first, you get bored immediately when you picked up a book. For me I find it hard to hold a book because it is bulky and you can not change the text size of it, and eventually I found e-reader or sort of reading machine. It really paved me a way to start reading more and give me a ton of powerful insights
Also your Hegel advice (I don’t know anything about him, or philosophy on even an undergraduate level-not officially, at least, with documentation proving I’m In My Undergrad Portion of my Studies) is very VERY helpful and important for me to hear. It applies to anything even slightly difficult.
Great video, and as others have said, I totally agree that just because you read a book a week, doesn't mean that you fully consume those books. I also agree that you need to work on reading fitness, I haven't read anything challenging for a while and I'm finding it difficult to follow books like Crime and Punishment and Ulysses. I have recently moved and now have my own study again so I'm hoping that I will find more focus again.
Thanks for the great video.
I've never been good at reading non-fiction, so I started by the shortest books I could find and that interested me. I was amazed at how much I liked them! I read activists' works and even some short biographies that really helped me to enjoy this genre 🥰. Now I have so much variety of books to read and enjoy. Thank you so much for validating slower readers; it took me so long to start reading new types of books, because I was always thinking "ugh, it will take so looong", but choosing shorter books and taking my time to understand them helped me a lot!
P.S.: I've read just one book by Dostoevsky and I did it on a kindle (Crime and Punishment, yup), I was so shocked when after I'd finished it I realised how long it was! I thought it was much shorter because I enjoyed it so much. That's one of the books I've felt I've read engaging so much with the story and the characters.
Totally agree with the video. In my personal thoughts many people don't read big books or more complex books because other people tell them how difficult they are instead of helping them and for example recommend easy ways to get into them
I love to read and I blocked off a Friday to read . I’m into quantum physics and I have some books 📚 and I have to reread a sentence 10 times to get everything . I love this about reading. Great channel and I’m glad you were in my algorithm. New subbie ❤
I just finished Moby Dick after six months of battling through it. I didn't realize that finishing a book could give you such a dopamine hit like I just climbed a mountain or something.
It’s a compounding skill that enhances most areas of our character. I’m a generalist bookish man, and it works for me. Curiosity is boundless and there’s a book for every query.
Life is better spent reading - which paraphrases one of your closing points. No amount of scrolling could ever compete with hundreds of pages of purpose-driven writing.
Meditation really improves focus over time. I practice Buddhism and it really helped with my reading. It also made me very insightful.
Your "fast and slow" reading technique is what Prof. Ellie Anderson called the "Skim and Slog" in one of her videos (called "Tips for reading philosophy"). Would highly reccomend checking it out, very good video and awesome channel. I often find watching one of her sumary/lecture videos helpful before embarking on reading a book.
This advice is helpful. You are sharing impactful information. I’m determined to become a better reader in both English and Japanese! I’m pumped!!
If it's possible, it's very helpful to have a space to read without any other books in sight to distract you. I'm often tempted to look and read the other books I have.
I’m so glad I came across your video today because lately I’ve been beating myself up internally how slow I read. When I heard you say that reading a book slowly is not an indicator of a bad reader I breathe a sign of relief. And the analogy you made between reading an exercise really impressed me, because I get that at first when I start reading after years of not reading a single book my brain hurt. But I am so insecure that I question my intelligence when I feel like I need to stop for the day. there are some books that I really feel like I should read again but I always think I need to keep reading more. Because honestly it makes me feel bad when people say I read two books a day. When I hear that I am ashamed because I asked myself what’s wrong with me why can I read more than one book a day? Why can I remember anything that I read? so yeah I hope your video gets more views, because someone out there really needs it like I do.
When you spoke about that quick reading of the book, it reminded me of Mortimer Adler's "How to read a book", when he discusses the second level of reading; sounded very similar, and your video is being very helpful :) Thank you! Greetings from Brazil.
Yes, great book! Highly recommend!
I began reading books at 21. I’m 29, now, but I can say with confidence that it took several years to develop the tolerance and rich word power to grasp some books. Archaic language has become easier and digestible as I’ve read about 26 classic books, from Dickens to Victor Hugo. I knew about crime and punishment since 2014 yet only discovered a great translation and finished it in 2021. It can be done!
What’s the appeal to reading crime and punishment? I’m assuming you’re not reading it for uni/something like that?
@@MutantdogfangsA late reply but nonetheless, I think it would be necessary: Crime and Punishment is simply one of the best novels there are, simply because of the fact that it has a little bit of everything; and that it is one of the novels that deeply contributed to modern psychology and existentialism.
As an old school (pre-internet) reader I appreciate being “analog” in the note-taking advice. So much easier to have the pencil and notebook at hand. I’m going to try note taking again. When you started describing obsessive garbage note-taking I thought to myself “oh that was me for sure” but then you described light note-taking as an alternative and I thought “oh….I didn’t approach even that amount” lol.
Difference I think is that I never had any structure or plan to what I notated. Just random ideas as I read, which upon returning to were pretty much still garbage.
I might try tabs, checks, and summaries this year.
I tried reading Godel, Escher and Bach in the '80's, I was optimistic about stretching my mind and was eager to dive in! I quit not even getting through the 1st chapter! 🤣
My biggest problem is retaing what I've read especially non-fiction...
And as I get older I'm thinking "man, I don't have time to reread stuff, once and done!"
I've been reading this book for about a year, while taking breaks to read other shorter books. Still only half way. Hope to reread it and take some proper notes because it's tough to grasp everything - Have learned a lot from it so far nonetheless.
I do set reading goals for myself but I don't rigidly stick to it tbh especially in 2022 when I had such a hectic year with finishing my masters and finding my first job in my new field. But what I did read, I loved. I read books that made me laugh and cry and I finished them faster because I was so engrossed in them bur I reread them as well to reaply appreciate them. It was an amazing year of reading for me 🥰
Reading is like everything in life, there are books that you need to get to with experience, to have read a lot, to have even had important life experiences, because you will not understand them if you do not have a journey. It happened to me, the first times I read an author I did not understand or I misunderstood, it was not until I had enough literature in my body that I was able to understand it. All in due time!
This year, I started reading somewhere end of August and I'm on my fourth book now. I've gained so much from reading just a few books.
my friends think i’m so weird for re reading books !!! i always tell them it’s fun bc you know the end so you can see the point of everything in the beginning and the reason for the structure/ when stuff is told ! i’m happy to be validated 😭
This might be the best content I've ever consumed on reading. Well met good sir. 👍
I don't know if it's relevant, but I just want to share my reading habits.
When I was at school, we had, of course, a summer reading list. I wouldn't say that I was passionate about it, but I read everything that was there. Gradually, I became more and more interested in literature, while my career goals steered more and more towards STEM. We had a few literature classes at school, and I really liked them. I read a lot of fiction, sometimes loosing myself in it, forgetting reality and... Well... Not understanding what I am doing it for. There is no point to it, I thought. Time that could have been spent on math and coding, wasted. I reassured myself by reading in English and German, to learn a new language while reading. Then, I found some social media content on literature, and was surprised to find that so many people thought that reading is a good activity. So, I decided so as well. Also, I have one major reading habit. Every summer, especially during July and August, I read exclusively Russian classics. It is, well, partly because of nostalgia, but also partly of something else. I didn't understand much of what I read when I was still at school, and I also never steered away from the list. Everyone's read "Crime and Punishment" or "War and Peace", but what about other books of these famous authors? Perhaps, other famous authors? It is so fun to explore different settings that are made by the same author. Like, how "War and Peace" is set almost 70 years before "Anna Karenina" but they still seem to resemble each other. Some things are different, some stay the same. And with Dostoevsky, it's even better. His many novels almost seem like a series, many of them set in the same place and follow a similar theme. This summer, I reread most of them. I feel somewhat guilty for reading in Russian again, but I kinda feel it was worth it. My favorite is, by the way, "The Insulted and Humiliated". I definitely recommend reading it.
I guess, reading is neither work nor rest. Defining it as rest will make you feel guilty for spending too much time on it. And you can't define it as work because, unless you're an editor, it won't earn you money. For me, reading is something I do in a form of a basic necessity. It makes my life better somehow, even though I do not understand why.
What you say in this video completely resonates with me, espesially the quality being over quantity. From my own experience I know that the more notes I take, the lazier I feel to revise them. Also, taking your time while reading is like eating food slowly to digest it effectively without cramming your digestive system.
Your channel teaches me about all the topics I'm interested in. Thank you, Mr. Henderson.
What you say makes so much sense.
Thanks
Growing up, I never had a lot of things to read for kids other than school books.
I would read everything and anything still do I would even read the sides of cereal boxes, I actually even started reading the encyclopedia, which no longer exists. I would even read things that I probably shouldn’t have. I can remember as a young boy one of my uncles had a lot of murder mystery books I wish people would have told me reading is only one function understanding and comprehension does not necessarily go hand-in-hand when learning, it took me a long time to realize that thank you , so glad I found your station
This is such an amazing video! I’m currently researching both Dostoyevsky and Kierkegaard and while Kierkegaard is very difficult I have the drive to understand the concepts within these existentialists
Two powerful writers. Dostoevsky is phenomenal.
I keep a reading journal especially for non fiction and that helped me alot.
I agree when reading especially non fiction once you feel like you get most of it but the grasp might not be fully there.
I usually read it once highlight important parts (yes I'm not sorry I write in my books haha) and then go back trying to outline and summarize the important parts in my own words.
Feels a little like school but I gues they where onto something there with it helping to understand things more fully
My major is philosophy and I can 100% agree with this video. I am always trying to improve what and how I read and this channel has really helped.
Great to see that in a world that insists on dumbing down, there's actually some courageous ones out there going the opposite route by making content that helps pull us out of the dark. Courageous because in today's world this would be considered elitist and out of touch, and 'oh would you lighten up please.' Good to see you have decent sized viewership too, not crazy numbers like the millions that many daft videos get, but decent enough numbers and encouraging too to see that people are interested in bettering themselves. Having said that, the last couple of books I've been reading lately for the past year or two are mostly trash fiction.
I am not a literary major of any sort, I am actual a pathologist who reads mostly pathology heavy books and sci-fi novels in my past time, BUT I am here watching/listening to this video while I read my pathology book and my focus 1000%.
Summary
1) Try bringing your books with you. You'll find pockets of time to read like waiting for an occasion etc.
2) The 2 times reading method usually works on non-fiction books, because hell naw people be readin' the same Harry Potter book twice
3) If you wanna learn, for say, Politics, try reading the works of great thinkers of Politics from various writers. It won't hurt ya a bit.
4) Reading is like exercising, it pains at first, but you'll get used to it afterwards. You leave it for some time, then it'll be a pain to start again.
This is actually the best thing I have ever heard about "the art of reading " thank you so much 🙏
Do you do or will you do podcast about this content? Cause, we’d love to tune in learn about books.
Love this video… I ruptured my Achilles and now I’m looking for a new hobby (while I heal) which is reading deeper, lol. Thanks for the video!
This is video is framed real nicely. Pay attention folks. As a side bar most folks wouldn’t think out of the gate that IQs of Philosophy majors are slightly lower than Physics majors.
Love all of these well thought out tips. I can see why your channel has exploded. You give very good information, and not just surface information. Also, I think people are craving knowledge as all we are given these days is shallow.