3 ms·

> One big big big thing I learned from the book is to not read a non-fiction book like it was a novel. Do you mean to say: "is to read a non-fiction book like

> One big big big thing I learned from the book is to not read a non-fiction book like it was a novel. Do you mean to say: "is to read a non-fiction book like it was a novel"?

guidoism 7y ago
The opposite. Non-fiction books should be read in multiple passes, like a video encoder. - First pass: Understand the structure, important words (from index), some interesting passages. - Second pass: Read it all the way through, don't worry if you don't understand stuff - Third pass: Look up stuff that you didn't understand from the previous pass and read it again in order to understand them. - Four pass: Read it concurrently with other related books to try to truly understand the topic
- Baeocystin 7y ago
  I would go so far as to say all books should be read in an iterative manner, fiction or not. Good stories will reveal previously-missed tidbits again & again as you explore the deeper structure of the work.
  - dredmorbius 7y ago
    Deep reading should be saved for books worth the effort. There's far more written than you'll ever be able to read. The cost of discovery is a large impediment to that. Skimming / scanning (contents, index, bibliography, intro/conclusion chapters) is part of the informational assessment. If the book holds up to that, keep digging into it. If not, set it down, and feel no guilt. I'm reading a lot of material, though I'm not satisfied with my methods or progress. I've found Adler's book highly useful. The principle problem is that my interests have both breadth and depth sufficient that the volume of relevant material is enormous, and quality assessment is complicated. I'm doing the best I can.
    - Baeocystin 7y ago
      I should clarify- I fully agree with your assessment. Sturgeon's law holds true with books as much as anything, and there is plenty that can be tossed aside after only a cursory glance. My point was aimed along the lines that if a book is worth reading once, you will benefit from rereading it at a future date.
      - dredmorbius 7y ago
        On that point I agree entirely. What's impressed me is how much a book can change ... or was it me ... over time, as I've learned and been exposed to more things and experiences. Some improve, some are less impressive.
Stratoscope 7y ago
No, the comment was suggesting to not read a non-fiction book like a novel. When reading a novel, you wouldn't skim it and skip ahead to find out all the plot twists and surprise ending and spoil all the suspense and fun. With a nonfiction book, you're not worried about plot spoilers. You want to learn from the book. So skimming through it to pick up some of the gist before reading it in detail is a fine idea.
- axiom92 7y ago
  Oh ok! I skip through long-winded details in the novels all the time, hence the confusion. Thanks for the clarification!
- frosted-flakes 7y ago
  In general, I agree, but this is not always true. Some non-fiction books read very much like fiction. An example that I recently finished is Endurance by Alfred Lansing, which tells the story of Ernest Shackleton's failed mission to cross Antarctica on foot in 1914 (they got stuck in the ice only a few miles from land and spent the next year and a half stuck drifting on the ice before making an escape attempt when they finally reached open water). Lansing spent years doing research for this book, including interviewing all the living crew members, and it is 100% true. But it has a proper plotline, fantastic character development, and a very climactic and happy ending. Reading ahead won't exactly ruin the story (the basic points of the mission are commonly known anyway), but there's no advantage to doing so. In other words, some non-fiction books are novels too, and they should be read like novels.
  - EForEndeavour 7y ago
    Your example is technically not fiction, but as you point out, its main purpose is to enthrall the reader with a compelling story, not to convey a large amount of dense information in the way that textbooks, manuals, and academic papers do. If a reader wanted to extract and retain as much information as possible from Endurance (say, if they were studying it in school, or read it but found they didn't retain a lot of the key points), they would still benefit from skimming, skipping around, taking notes, and other advice provided in this post. This advice applies to anyone who wishes to extract and retain information and understanding from any given piece of text, fiction or non. Just don't spoil compelling stories for yourself unless you really want to.

> One big big big thing I learned from the book is to not read a non-fiction book like it was a novel. Do you mean to say: "is to read a non-fiction book like it was a novel"?

guidoism 7y ago

The opposite. Non-fiction books should be read in multiple passes, like a video encoder. - First pass: Understand the structure, important words (from index), some interesting passages. - Second pass: Read it all the way through, don't worry if you don't understand stuff - Third pass: Look up stuff that you didn't understand from the previous pass and read it again in order to understand them. - Four pass: Read it concurrently with other related books to try to truly understand the topic

Baeocystin 7y ago
I would go so far as to say all books should be read in an iterative manner, fiction or not. Good stories will reveal previously-missed tidbits again & again as you explore the deeper structure of the work.
- dredmorbius 7y ago
  Deep reading should be saved for books worth the effort. There's far more written than you'll ever be able to read. The cost of discovery is a large impediment to that. Skimming / scanning (contents, index, bibliography, intro/conclusion chapters) is part of the informational assessment. If the book holds up to that, keep digging into it. If not, set it down, and feel no guilt. I'm reading a lot of material, though I'm not satisfied with my methods or progress. I've found Adler's book highly useful. The principle problem is that my interests have both breadth and depth sufficient that the volume of relevant material is enormous, and quality assessment is complicated. I'm doing the best I can.
  - Baeocystin 7y ago
    I should clarify- I fully agree with your assessment. Sturgeon's law holds true with books as much as anything, and there is plenty that can be tossed aside after only a cursory glance. My point was aimed along the lines that if a book is worth reading once, you will benefit from rereading it at a future date.
    - dredmorbius 7y ago
      On that point I agree entirely. What's impressed me is how much a book can change ... or was it me ... over time, as I've learned and been exposed to more things and experiences. Some improve, some are less impressive.

Stratoscope 7y ago

No, the comment was suggesting to not read a non-fiction book like a novel. When reading a novel, you wouldn't skim it and skip ahead to find out all the plot twists and surprise ending and spoil all the suspense and fun. With a nonfiction book, you're not worried about plot spoilers. You want to learn from the book. So skimming through it to pick up some of the gist before reading it in detail is a fine idea.

axiom92 7y ago
Oh ok! I skip through long-winded details in the novels all the time, hence the confusion. Thanks for the clarification!
frosted-flakes 7y ago
In general, I agree, but this is not always true. Some non-fiction books read very much like fiction. An example that I recently finished is Endurance by Alfred Lansing, which tells the story of Ernest Shackleton's failed mission to cross Antarctica on foot in 1914 (they got stuck in the ice only a few miles from land and spent the next year and a half stuck drifting on the ice before making an escape attempt when they finally reached open water). Lansing spent years doing research for this book, including interviewing all the living crew members, and it is 100% true. But it has a proper plotline, fantastic character development, and a very climactic and happy ending. Reading ahead won't exactly ruin the story (the basic points of the mission are commonly known anyway), but there's no advantage to doing so. In other words, some non-fiction books are novels too, and they should be read like novels.
- EForEndeavour 7y ago
  Your example is technically not fiction, but as you point out, its main purpose is to enthrall the reader with a compelling story, not to convey a large amount of dense information in the way that textbooks, manuals, and academic papers do. If a reader wanted to extract and retain as much information as possible from Endurance (say, if they were studying it in school, or read it but found they didn't retain a lot of the key points), they would still benefit from skimming, skipping around, taking notes, and other advice provided in this post. This advice applies to anyone who wishes to extract and retain information and understanding from any given piece of text, fiction or non. Just don't spoil compelling stories for yourself unless you really want to.