When it comes to famous books that are written in convoluted language (e.g. pretty much all of western philosophy) I usually will read a summary of the book fir

When it comes to famous books that are written in convoluted language (e.g. pretty much all of western philosophy) I usually will read a summary of the book first. I might follow that up with a few youtube videos for additional perspective. Then, if anything covered catches my interest and still needs clarification, I'll crack the book with a specific question in mind. Then I scan the index/search the document to pull up the relevant section and read it. While I'm reading I'll formulate additional questions and repeat the process. Trying to read convoluted prose front to back without a specific goal, and without having a general idea of what the author is trying to say ahead of time is pretty much a recipe for fail. On the other hand, I'll happily do a cover to cover on pop-sci book with tight prose that covers experimental findings in plain english.