Chapter One of How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler 1966 Special Edition

I am a follower of Jim Rohn and one of the books that he recommended is the "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler. The first thing that came into my mind was that it is a book for English reading and comprehension. However,after reading the first chapter, I have realized that it is not only a reading and comprehension guide but also a book for Personal Development. It is one of the self-help books. According to Jim Rohn if a person wants to grow and improve himself/herself, he/she must be come a voracious reader. The author has explained very well in this chapter the reason why a person must keep on improving the reading skill. 

The first chapter is entitled "To the Average Reader". On this chapter, Mortimer Adler is educating us that majority of the readers do not know how to read well. He explains in this chapter that the activity of reading is not simple and it requires practice and time to master. He also explains that reading very well is a source of wealth specially if we read great books. One can maximize the benefit of reading a great book if he or she is skilled in reading. 

The author said that the education system is not able to train students on how to read a book. He said that reading does not end in memorizing information from the book. He himself confessed that he was not able to really learn how to read a book until he became a teacher who is teaching students on how to read. He clearly explains in this chapter the reason why this book was written. Majority of the readers need to improve their reading skills specially if their job has reading activities. 

Mortimer Adler is telling us that we have to exert effort and spend time in order to improve our reading skill. He is telling the readers how important it is for people to read very well. Most people only read a book as a way of getting information. However, he effectively explains how people do the above average manner of reading. In the last portion of the chapter, he mentions that people do the right way of reading whenever they read a love letter. 

What the author is trying to explain in this chapter is that reading is very important for self improvement and that we have to invest our time and energy in this activity. He is promoting reading as a valuable skill that could be our source of wealth. This chapter implies that it is possible to apply the manner on how we read love letters whenever we read great books. However, just to set our expectation, it will not be easy but once we have the skill, it is rewarding.