Foreword
There is a question on Zhihu: Why can other people pick up the same book easily after reading it? After reading it yourself, it feels like you haven’t read it? Essentially, this is a wrong way to read.
I used to be like this too. I liked to read books aimlessly. I stored them all in my Kindle, including the 100 books that college students must read, the top 250 books on Douban, and the recommendations of big names. But after a while, I found that half of the books were not read at all, and the rest were either unreadable after turning a few pages, or could not be remembered after reading them.
Later, after constant exploration, I slowly realized that it was because I didn’t find a suitable reading method that I spent all my time on “useless work”.
This article will share some of my own understanding of reading, hoping to inspire you.
1. Clarify the purpose of reading
Before reading a book, you must first determine your purpose of reading. If the purpose of reading is not clear, it will inevitably lead to failure to grasp the key points of knowledge in the book and forgetting it after reading.
Generally speaking, the purpose of reading can be divided into two types:
(1) Useful
According to the perspective of modern knowledge management theory, practicality is knowledge an important feature. We can obtain the knowledge we need from books to solve thorny problems in reality, which is also the purpose of most people reading. For example, reading professional books on nutrition in order to keep fit, studying history in order to chase a girl who likes the history of the Republic of China, learning industry knowledge and building your own knowledge map in order to cultivate core competitiveness in the process of career development are all included in this category. this column.
(2) Interesting
This type of reading mainly focuses on fun. The information acquired during the reading process may not be used, or cannot be used immediately. Compared with the former, it is result-oriented and process-oriented. The purpose of reading is different and the experience it brings is also different. To put it simply, reading books makes me happy. I went to read Nietzsche and Kant because I was interested in philosophy, I read Yueguanmaoji because reading online articles made me feel happy, and I bought a few story books because I wanted to kill time. These are all listed here.
It should be noted that practicality and interest do not have to be separated. Some books can not only help you get closer to a small goal, but also make you feel the pleasure of reading. But at least, it must be practical and interesting, otherwise believe me, the book in your hand will basically be unreadable, or it will be useless to read it.
Which books are practical and interesting to you is actually a very personal matter. Because people have different temperaments and interests, different professional fields, and different reading tastes. Some popular book lists from big names on the Internet may not be suitable for everyone. Whenever a netizen asks me if there are any books you can recommend, it’s very difficult for me to do it, because I don’t know your knowledge base and hobbies, and I can’t just recite the book titles to you.
Because of this, it is particularly important to determine your own reading purposes and reading needs. Only by clarifying why you are reading books, and what aspects of your abilities do you want to improve through reading books (be specific), and then choosing books to read can you avoid detours.
2. Develop reading strategies
(1) Mentality
Many people have the habit of "buying books like a mountain and reading like a thread". Whenever they see When there are so many books on the bookshelf that you haven’t read, you will feel guilty. Even when reading a book, I keep reminding myself that I must finish it this time. But it’s very painful to have to do something you don’t like. Over time, you will become resistant to reading. In his book "Like a Novel", French writer Daniel Penac proposed "Ten Rights of Readers" [1], which include the right not to read and the right to skip reading. Books serve readers. It is foolish to read any book word for word.
(2) Difference
There are many popular reading methods on the market, but what is certain is that there is no universal reading method that is universal. How to read a book depends on your purpose of reading it and the nature of the book. Different categories of books require different approaches. Inspectional reading[2] allows us to quickly understand the content of a book. Business books can be read using the 80/20 rule because they have a more comprehensive logic. For example, professional fields such as philosophy and economics are suitable for analytical reading. If you want to quickly understand a new field, or have a strong interest in a certain topic, you can do topic reading. If you just want to pass the time and have fun, then you can read casually. Can.
(3) Examples
In the above, I mentioned that you should read based on your reading needs. Take the novel "Water Margin" as an example. If you are purely interested in reading on the high-speed rail, To pass the time, you don’t have to take reading notes, and you can read as much as you like. If you want to understand the story of Wu Song, then the resumes of other heroes such as Li Kui and Linchong are basically irrelevant to you. You only need to read the chapters about Wu Song intensively. You can choose to skim the scenes where other characters mainly appear in Wu Song's scenes. Or don't read it. If you want to know about Taoism in the book, then the keywords are: Gongsun Sheng, Jiutian Xuannv, Zhang Tianshi, Luo Zhenren, etc. Just search around these keywords.
(4) Notes
Different subjects have different ways of taking notes, and the same goes for reading.
What you write down depends largely on why you are reading the book. For example, if you read Jin Yong's martial arts novels and want to learn how to tell a story well, then your notes should focus on the advancement and development of the plot. For example, if you feel that your language is dry and your writing is poor, and you want to improve your expressive skills, Then the exquisite metaphors appearing in the book are worthy of income. For example, if you are a commentator, then historical facts and insightful opinions are your thing.
3. In-depth reading method The above is a macro discussion and summary
The following is a detailed introduction to a more complete in-depth reading process:
1 Clarify the purpose of reading, Find suitable books
First, clearly define what you want to gain from reading. For example, I want to learn about "efficient learning" through reading. I found ten related books through Internet search, such as "Deliberate Practice", "How to Memory Efficiently", and "Energy Management", but I don't know which ones I am interested in reading. So I went to the physical bookstore, found these books, and finally determined that I was interested in five of them. I finally bought these five books and decided to do themed reading.
2 Extract the theme framework and think with questions
Understand the content framework of each book and the core ideas of each chapter by browsing the table of contents and preface. Think around your own reading purpose and ask questions. For example: What does this book say as a whole? What structure does the author use to develop ideas? What does each chapter of the book say? Do I agree with the author's point of view? Can the knowledge concepts presented in this book be related to another book on the same topic? You can use Excel to record it. The more questions you ask, the more mature your thinking ability is. Identifying these steps can allow time to be used more efficiently on effective knowledge and information.
3 Refine the content outline and take reading notes
A good memory is not as good as a bad writing. The importance of reading notes is self-evident for reading. Many people can take elementary reading notes by excerpting sentences, but in essence, this approach has minimal effect on mastering book knowledge. A qualified reading note must contain at least three steps: summary - questioning - connection.
3.1 Summary: As the name suggests, it is to streamline the content in your own words. Learn to grasp the theme and core of the book while reading, and master the overall structure of the book - how many parts it can be divided into, and what small parts each part can be divided into. Organizing it on paper is a mind map. . From a macro perspective, it means being able to summarize the central idea of ??each chapter of a book, and being able to use your own words to express what the book is about as a whole. From a micro perspective, it means being able to explain the central sentences and concluding sentences that appear in the book.
3.2 Follow-up question: It is better to believe in no books than to have no books at all. When we see the opinions appearing in the book, we might as well ask ourselves, what is your opinion? Do you agree with the author's point of view? If you agree, why do you agree? Do you think of other knowledge? Can it be combined and connected with the knowledge you have learned before? If you object, what are your reasons? Inquiring is not only satisfied with knowing what the author is saying, but also exploring why the author said it and whether his point of view applies to me? Is his logic rigorous? What inspiration does it have for me? The process of thinking about these questions is also the process of your thinking, deduction and induction of knowledge.
3.3 Lenovo: When knowledge is fragmented, its value is very small and it is not easy to master. Therefore, establishing links between new knowledge and old knowledge is the key to building a knowledge map. Generally speaking, there are two types of associations, horizontal and vertical. Taking Baudelaire's poetry as an example, the horizontal association can be - what do you think of the overall style of his poetry? What other European poets have a similar style? What are the similarities and differences between their works? The vertical section is an in-depth exploration of Baudelaire's poetry - is there any biography of Baudelaire? Or what other people at the same time said about him? What did later poets think of him? ....etc. The more skillful you are in using association, the clearer the connections between knowledge will be in your mind.
4 Read your notes regularly and check your reading results
The fact that your notes have been recorded to this point does not mean that you can "take it at your fingertips" with the books you have read. Because of Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve Tell us that if the recorded content is not reviewed in time, it will become a short-term memory and will be quickly forgotten. Therefore, you must read the reading notes you have made in time and read them again and again. And it’s not just reading, but more importantly, consciously shaping a way of thinking that the book works for me. There are two specific methodologies: one is to write a book review, and the other is to retell it.
4.1 Book review: The generalization-questioning-association mentioned in 3 above, the specific extension of related issues, and the writing of supporting materials can all be a book review. For different topics, book reviews can also have different directions. If you have a strong ability to use knowledge as a whole, you can even start a themed book review of multiple books on the same topic and draft an article.
4.2 Retelling: After closing the book, you can pick out the overall structure of the book and explain it in your own words. You can have your own understanding of the key words and core concepts mentioned in the book, and you can also interpret the content in the book. Combine the knowledge that emerges with your previous knowledge (for example, the knowledge about time management and concentration is related, and the content of sociology and economics are combined). After doing these three steps, you can basically do it. The so-called book "comes at your fingertips".
Of course, this is not an easy task and requires repeated practice and thinking.
Summary
1. Clarify the purpose of reading. Start with your immediate needs and look for useful books, or start with interests and look for interesting books.
2 Develop reading strategies and read in different ways according to the purpose of reading. Reading notes serve the purpose of reading.
3 Methods for in-depth reading: Find suitable books - extract the theme framework - think with questions - take reading notes - check the reading results.
After completing the notes, review and browse regularly, learn to write book reviews and retellings, deepen the impression of knowledge, and apply what you have learned.
The purpose of reading is not to give yourself something to talk about in a pretentious way, nor is it to post book lists and reading notes, and gain likes from your circle of friends. It is to make you read in the vast world of books. In the sea, find what truly belongs to you.
Left Bank Notes: A good way to read is to interact with books as much as possible. The more you interact, the more knowledge you gain, the deeper your understanding, the deeper your impression, and the more you can apply it. freely.
Note:
[1] Ten rights of readers: 1. The right to read; 2. The right to skip pages; 3. The right not to finish reading; 4. The right to re-read; 5. The right to read anything; 6. The right to have fun; 7. The right to read anywhere; 8. The right to browse; 9. The right to read aloud; 10. The right not to have to defend one's taste.