Reading or listening to the abridged version of anything…you never get a real feeling for the it. Does listening to a 30 second clip of a symphony mean that you can review the whole thing?

As for the conspiracy among publishers who hawk bestsellers, this book could have made millions. Instead, Twelve Hawks refused any kind of publicity. To me, that means that he was writing to write, not to be recognized. I read this book, found out about Twelve Hawks and the way that he is, and I was impressed. I felt like I had finally encountered a writer, not some heavily publicized, overrated, media whore looking for a movie contract.

The ‘trend started by Dan Brown’ ? Conspiracy theories? Religion and technology butting heads? Society trying to lull everyone into complacence? These themes have been a constant in literature. Shelley’s Frankenstein, Camus’ The Stranger, Orwell’s 1984, Kafka’s The Metamorphosis…All dealt with society vs. religion vs. technology. All dealt with ‘right’ as it was defined by the times.

Here’s my review of it.

I have been a voracious reader all my life. I never thought that I needed to know anything more about how to read. However 1990 I read about a book by someone named Mortimer Adler whom I had never heard of. The title of the book was “How to Read a Book.” Even though I thought I knew everything about how to read I became intrigued by the title. I finally bought the book. I read it and then I read it again, and again, and again. Over the course of several years Dr. Adler dramatically changed what I read, how I read, and why I read. I used to read predominantly to be entertained. Now I read to learn. Using what Dr. Adler taught me, I now get in order of magnitude more out of books that I ever did before.

Dr. Adler was a brilliant and prolific author, educator, philosopher, and lecturer. He wrote more than 50 books and 200 articles, all of which can be read with pleasure and profit. Now that you’ve read “How to Read a Book,” you might want to read another of Dr. Adler’s books.

For more information on Mortimer Adler and his work, visit The Center for the Study of The Great Ideas at http://www.thegreatideas.org .

Ken Dzugan
Senior Fellow and Archivist
The Center for the Study of The Great Ideas