I have just recently started reading, but I find it hard for me to understand the books. I don’t read fiction books, (Nothing against them, just not really interested in them), but rather books about history, stoicism, philosophy, or just historical books in general.
My problem is that I have never truly read in my life. In school, I would always fake read and didn’t actually read any books. I’m only just getting started, I want to learn and gain knowledge, but I find it quite hard to understand these books.
I can understand them if I reread constantly, but it gets annoying after awhile and feels like I’m not getting any better. I just read the Art of War, and that 60 page book took me a solid 3 days to read because I could only read about 20 pages a day. I annotate and underline things I need to study more, but I just don’t feel like I’m improving.
I’m currently reading the prince by Nicole Machiavelli, and it’s so hard to understand it fully. I have only read 10 pages so far, but I had to reread them constantly to fully grasp what is being said. Is there anyway I can improve with this? Am I starting on too hard of books? Should I just keep reading to try and improve my reading ability?
by DreamLeaf2
12 Comments
I can’t visualize anything when I read so I feel you
You’re starting with all old books that are written in archaic language. It’s like you picked the densest, most difficult to understand books to start with. Try picking secondary sources that are syntheses of these types of books. Like stick with the same topics if that’s what you’re interested in but pick more contemporary authors. Let the experts do the interpretive work for you
I listen to the philosophize this and it gives me a great basis of understanding context for me to then go read the actual text afterward
Try writing summaries of what you’ve read. Put it in your own words.
Good lord, maybe don’t start with books written hundreds of years ago, in a different language to boot. If you’ve never really read any books, why would you start with books so difficult? I mean, the language they are written in is not only old-fashioned but they are also using references and metaphors unique to their authors’ eras and cultures. All to make you think, so the language is also layered with multiple meanings and complexities beyond the superficial meanings of the words.
Read some modern stuff first. Get used to reading in general before you tackle the older stuff. Seriously – this is not to put you down in any way – reading takes practice, and no one begins practicing with the hard stuff, whatever age they are.
I started reading at 26 years old.
1. make yourself believe that reading is going to be a lifetime thing
2. no matter how much you read you will not read everything you want to read
3. let go of the idea that you will remember things
4. **Read fiction** – it will teach you more than self-help
5. if you find the book had or boring, drop it (we can’t tell you whether “Art of War” or “50 shades of gray” is hard for you)
6. utilise audiobooks
7. read a lot.
8. Don’t think of reading “at your level” but at your interest.
Unless the books you mentioned make you sing, I would have left them for a later date (personally I have zero interest in reading them).
Recently, I stopped annotating. I read 2 books in three days. If I read 10 books on the same topic, I think I’ll get more than annotating 1-3 books.
Relax, it’s not homework, you don’t need to catch up to anything or anyone. Paradoxically this got me consuming books a lot more. Almost all the questions fell away
Read secondary sources that will explain and interpret them.
You’re working at the problem from the wrong angle. The books you’re reading are centuries old. As they say “the past is a different country,” and so are China and Italy, so you have both those factors working against you. Authors assume readers know things you won’t since you’re not from ancient China or Renaissance Italy.
Read some higher level overviews that give you context of the place and time they were written.
For example, if you’re interested in German military history, I can recommend Robert Citino’s *The German Way of War* as a good starting point. It’s a broad (but scholarly) overview, written in modern English. If a book like that gives you trouble, it may at least give you a more specific idea of what you’re struggling with. Starting with translations from ancient Chinese doesn’t give you a very accurate concept of your reading skills.
In general, you might have an easier time right now reading modern secondary sources (ie books about these books and topics) rather than the original. You get better results with a weight that’s difficult but achievable than one almost impossible to lift.
That said, the same reading tips will help you with any book:
1. Get a pencil and some paper.
2. Read the back and look up the book online so that you have a general summary of the contents. This is really helpful as your guidepost to be sticking information too. As an advanced move, read a little bit about the context it came out in, how people have responded to it since, and what the modern general reaction to it is now.
3. Read the first chapter / introduction carefully. Copy out the thesis statement on your paper. For example, “this book is going to prove X, Y, Z.” Take a moment to consider it. Do you agree, disagree, not know enough yet to pin it down? What kind of evidence do you expect the author to provide? This will help you better understand the book and evaluate its claims.
4. Now flip back and read through the table of contents / chapter names. Compare that to your thesis understanding. How is the author going to walk you through this topic? This will give you a sense of where you’re going, and help you predict how things are going to develop and connect.
5. Okay, now you can start just reading! As you go, take some notes as is useful to you. This can I include anything you need, but consider:
– a. Write the definition out of any word or reference you don’t know.
– b. Flag any important points. Underline, highlight, tag – if you write down the page number and main concept on your paper, you’ll have an easier record to refer to and avoid any mess in the book if that’s a concern for you. Important here is going to mean: major arguments, interesting ideas, strong evidence – and/or things you don’t agree with, aren’t clear on, or don’t think is supported by the text. If you aren’t sure yet what those passages are, that’s okay! This skill will develop as you practice.
– c. Flag too any things you just think are interesting, want to learn more about, want to read next – the more you read, the more you’ll see the big conversation the literature is having with each other and with you. Coming away from the book with a fun anecdote will help you remember it better.
– d. Is there anything you’re still confused by? If this is a famous text, look it up! The answer is probably already online. Other ways to dig through a confusing passage is to read it out loud, paraphrase it in your own words, or put it away until later. Sometimes you’re just tired and that’s ok.
6. Pause at the end of the chapter. (You made it!!) On your paper, write down a quick summary of it, including: What was it about? Do you agree or disagree with it? How does it relate to the thesis? Did you find it interesting? What main points do you want to remember? A helpful goal is to have one summary sentence and three main points.
7. Take a break and then keep going, chapter by chapter.
8. At the end of the book, review all your notes and reflect back on those same questions about the introduction and each chapter, but now holistically. What do you think? What citations looked most interesting to read next? Why do you think the book was as recommended as it was? Can you defend or oppose it’s argument?
9. For extra extra bonus points, now get a fresh index card. Write on it the title, author, and publication date. In your own words, record the books thesis, most important (3-5) points, and a quick personal reflection. Now when you need to reflect on the book, you can pull that out and have your conversation ready to go.
Please note: This is a lot of work! It isn’t obligatory! You can just do little pieces of it only in your head if you’d rather! But if you really want to dive in, discuss, and remember a work – this method really well unlock doors for you. Happy reading!
For me, my main struggle is PUT THAT PHONE AWAY
After that, I take notes if its non-fiction. If its history notes and a little timeline helps me
Read books that you already want to read and that you’re pretty sure you can get through, not books that you need to try to make yourself read
Philosophy, stoicism, history… All great topics, but all notoriously dense. They aren’t necessarily designed for ease of reading; they’re designed to convey sometimes quite complex, weighty information. One thing, too, about non-fiction books is often pre-existing content knowledge has a more significant impact on your ability to access the text–the more history you know, the easier related texts will be to read, and perhaps even generally history becomes easier to read.
If you want to read *The Prince,* and can suffer through the difficulty and find appropriate resources to help you understand, then it will have compounding effects–you may jumpstart your comprehension. It may take a few books like that but it will add up. If you want an easier ramp, there are easier-to-read books as others have mentioned. You could also think about finding like an AP Language reader, which would have a collection of high school appropriate texts that might be a good starting point.