36 pages • 1 hour read
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading
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Part 4, Chapters 20-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 4: “The Ultimate Goals of Reading”
Part 4, Chapter 20 Summary: “The Fourth Level of Reading: Syntopical Reading”
Chapter 20 introduces syntopical reading, the highly advanced fourth level of reading. This level requires readers to use more than one book to understand a subject completely. The second requirement is “Knowing which books should be read [which] is a great deal harder to satisfy” (301). Knowing which books should be read requires identifying subject matter and creating a bibliography according to the subject. In order to do so, the reader must first turn to the second level of reading, inspectional reading.
The first step in syntopical reading is to find relevant passages from different authors. The second step is to bring one’s chosen authors to terms by identifying and analyzing their key words. For the third step, the reader will need to frame a set of questions and determine how each of their chosen authors answers them. The fourth step is defining issues, meaning that the reader should find differences in how their chosen authors answered the third step’s questions. The fifth and final step is to analyze the discussion: The reader will need to compare and contrast opposing answers.
Part 4, Chapter 21 Summary: “Reading and the Growth of the Mind”
In the final chapter of How to Read a Book, Adler and Van Doren reiterate that “activity is the essence of good reading” (328). They briefly discuss the cumulative nature of their four levels of reading and the fact that their work places emphasis on the more advanced analytical reading (the third level) and syntopical reading (the fourth level). It is up to readers to accept and act on the book’s lessons (329).
If one is reading to become a better reader, they must choose the correct books. The authors argue that “You must tackle books that are beyond you, or, as we have said, books that are over your head. Only books of that sort will make you stretch your mind. And unless you stretch, you will not learn” (330). A majority of books in the Western tradition fail to challenge advanced readers, but the few which do should be sought out.
Part 4, Chapters 20-21 Analysis
Part 4 introduces readers to the highest level of reading, syntopical reading. Syntopical reading requires reading more than one book on a particular subject in order to gain full understanding. The structure of How to Read a Book is straightforward in that it progresses from the most basic level of reading (elementary reading) to the most advanced (syntopical reading)—especially with Chapter 19 serving “as both the end of Part Three and an introduction to Part Four” (298). This transition works because reading social science must be done somewhat syntopically, by reading and comparing more than one book.
In Chapter 20, the authors state that the first requirement of any syntopical reading project is “knowing that more than one book is relevant to a particular question” (301). The second requirement is “knowing which books should be read” (301). The discussion and instruction of syntopical reading mirrors the four levels of reading being cumulative in effect. When reading syntopically, the reader must rely on the second level of reading—inspectional reading—by creating a bibliography of books on the same subject and reading them superficially to trim the list. Chapter 20 also reinforces the book’s overarching theme of active reading, perhaps more so than any other chapter because the steps for syntopical reading are heavily action-oriented.
In Chapter 21, Adler and Van Doren implore readers to read as they have been instructed—pointing out that their own book, How to Read a Book, falls into the category of practical books (which was first mentioned in Chapter 6). The authors close the book with a discussion on the types of books that readers should seek in order to become better readers. The book’s first appendix is a recommended reading list: The first level is the broadest, featuring books that may amuse, entertain, and inform but will likely not teach complex concepts; the second level is more narrow, featuring books that “make severe demands on the reader” (333); and the third level is even more narrow and features “the very small number of inexhaustible books” (334).
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