There are basically three kinds of reading. We can read for entertainment, read for information, or read for understanding.
Reading for entertainment is the simplest of all reading. While it’s true we can be entertained when we read for information or understanding, reading strictly for entertainment is its own kind of reward.
When we read something we can immediately understand, something like a magazine, or the newspaper, we are reading for information. When we read for information, our intellect is not challenged. Rather, we are simply acquiring more information that can be stored for our use at a later time.
On the other hand, when we read something that seems to be above our comprehension, something we have to ponder, reflect on, and wrestle with, we grow in understanding. We are not simply adding to our storehouse of information; we are exercising and building up our imagination.
In his book, How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler explains the art of reading is
The process whereby a mind, with nothing to operate on but the symbols of the readable matter, and with no help from the outside, elevates itself by the power of its own operations. The mind passes from understanding less to understanding more. The skilled operations that cause this to happen are the various acts that constitute the art of reading.
Adler goes on to explain that one of the keys to employing the operations that will help us grow as readers is to read actively. Active reading, according to C.S. Lewis, starts with a pipe in your teeth and a pencil in your hand. In other words, active reading requires the reader to slow down, pay attention, and interact with the author by making annotations, asking good questions of the text.
As enjoyable as it might be to slow down, take it in, and take good notes, it doesn’t guarantee we’ll engage in active reading.
While technically, there is no such thing as purely passive reading, reading actively means receiving what the writer is giving out, not like “receiving a blow or a legacy or a judgment from court,” explains Adler. Instead, active reading is like catching a ball.
The catcher has to anticipate everything from fastballs and curveballs to changeups and sliders. A catcher has to watch attentively, move quickly, and adjust constantly. So it is with reading.
Adler explains that “the art of reading is the skill of catching every sort of communication as well as possible.” And as every catcher knows, it takes a lot of practice to be able to catch everything a pitcher might throw your way.
If you’re interested in joining others who are learning to read actively, consider enrolling in one of my live online courses in which we read and discuss classical literature.