41 Learning Methods That Benefit a Lifetime

Chapter 35 Know What You're Reading

Is this a novel, a screenplay, or a biography or history?To know this, look up the table of contents, read the cover and foreword, or look up the title or author in the Reader's Encyclopedia.

don't read in bed

I admit that reading classics can be difficult, so you must have an active mind and a sharp organ.If you read in bed and you want to sleep, then when you start to doze off, you will blame the book.

Don't be swayed by many characters
Dostoevsky throws out over 50 main characters in his book The Brothers Karmazov, Tolstoy uses 1 long and complex ones in Chapter 22 of War and Peace name.Make your head swell.At this time, don't rush to turn forward, keep reading, and gradually, these characters will become clear.You'll feel like being with them is like being with your old friends.You remember many of your friends who were also strangers before they met.

give the author a chance

Don't say "I don't understand" prematurely, but insist on reading it to the end.Sometimes it may be that you are not fully prepared for the book you are about to read.I gnawed Plato's "Utopia" a total of three times before I understood it.If you read it carefully and you really can't understand it, you put it aside for a day or a year and read another book first.

read in large chunks
Don't nibble, the longer the sentences you read, the more you can get into the rhythm and feeling of the book, and the more enjoyment you will have from it.

read author's book
For example, Shakespeare carefully read the translation of North's "Biography of Plutarch" in order to write "Julius Caesar" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream".Every writer is a product of his time.Understanding the history of the time, the issues and attitudes faced by the writer and others will help you understand the writer's point of view.Writers disagree.That's okay, at least it makes you think.read a book about the author's life

The more you know about a writer's personal history, the more you can understand why he wrote what he wrote.You begin to see the autobiographical tidbits hidden in the writer's work.A writer cannot reveal himself.Most of our guesses about Shakespeare are based on clues from his plays.

reread it

All classics are read repeatedly.After you finish reading a book, if you are very interested but don't understand it completely, then immediately reread it.You will find many more things.If you read a classic a few years ago and liked it, read it again.There's so much more to tell you in the book, you won't believe it's the same book.

Don't just dip your toes into the deep water of classics, jump in.Like previous generations of intelligent humans.You'll feel inspired in your soul by the thoughts and insights of some of the most gifted writers in history.

How do you feel now, my friend?Pick up the book, read it carefully, study it deeply, and you will gain a lot!
In the learning process, you can ask questions, be good at thinking, and delve into problems.Knowing many things by analogy from one thing is called learning by analogy.

(End of this chapter)