How to Read a Book: the classic guide to intelligent reading

by Mortimer J. Adler

But these words may not be mentioned in t...

It has been said that almost all of Shakespeare’s sonnets are about the ravages of what ...

In general, readers of such works feel that they must know more about the authors and their times than they really have to.

We put much faith in commentaries, criticism, biographies—but this may be only because we doubt our own ability to read.

Almost everyone can read any poem, if he will go to work on it. Anything you discover about an author’s life or times is valid and may be helpful. But a vast knowledge of the context of a poem is ...

To be understood it must be read—o...