How to Get the Most out of a Book | Analytical Reading

GET MORE FROM ME:

SOCIALS:

WHO AM I?
Hey there, I’m Cinzia DuBois. I’m a part-time, self-funded PhD student and YouTuber, Podcaster and writer. I’ve been creating videos for over thirteen years. On this channel, I talk about dark and ancient history, literature and folklore. I discuss productivity, personal development, PhD, academia, and mental well-being on my second channel.

❗️DISCLAIMER
I am just a random student on the internet who loves reading, especially about ancient history and classics. My videos aim to make classics and ancient history interesting and accessible to everyone. I am not a professional or qualified educator, “expert”, historian or classicist. However, I ensure that all the information I use in my video scripts has been collated from numerous credible sources. Additionally, I am dyslexic, and I will mispronounce words. This does not stem from willful ignorance, and I try to research how to pronounce words before filming, but I often misread my phonetic spelling. In light of this, please do not rely on my video for an authoritative or reliable source of how to pronounce certain words.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction

[holyfreak]

It happens to me since I fell in love with reading as a kid: if it is for pleasure, I can read 200 pages a day; if it is for study I can be days with a single page or read without paying attention.

[edwinrollins]

When I was a kid I was often a bit embarrassed by how slowly I read. My peers would rip through books and quickly finish them while I was still only a fraction of the way through. Now I know that it was just because I had a different reading style. While I didn't necessarily get as meticulous as you've described, taking notes and such, I still always read slowly, carefully, and with intention, thinking about what I was reading as I went along, frequently stopping every few pages to think even more about what I had just read, and often going back again to reread various passeges, pages, and even whole chapters, to think about them again and make sure I fully understood and got the most out of what I was reading. My slow and thoughtful reading style apparently helped me academically, though, because I always got very high grades, high marks and glowing notes on my book reports, and consistently tested at the top of my class in reading comprehension, to the point that, by the 3rd grade, I was told that I was reading at a college graduate level. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was raised by two university librarians, lol.

[lesliemoiseauthor]

This applies to writing, too. Drafting can be fast for me, and revision is much slower and more conscious.

[zennaluna]

I think analytical reading is something authors need to keep in mind. Rather than getting defensive over their creations, we need to remember that once the art is out there, it becomes the consumers'; the world's art.

[pinxsol]

I suck at analytical reading. I had a course of german lit in uni once for a single term, and the teacher literally asked me if I, well, had a medical condition because my interpretation was so inane (I'm not even gonna get into how unprofessional and insensitive that was of him). Since then I just gave up on the 'curtains were blue', as you put it, way of it, and my analytical reading has been literally whatever I make it out to be, and honestly, it made me feel so much better. I get to my own conclusions, follow my own goals and never seek to meet other people's expectations.
Love videos about books, hope you make more of those in the future!

[WinnieCarter]

This video came at the perfect time for me! I just started a book I was hoping to read more analytically than I typically do, but wasn't really sure how do to that. Thank you so much for sharing your recommendations!

[jasoncuculo]

This is applicable to art as well. My mother attended the Art Student's League in the early 1950s on 57th Street (then) in Manhattan. In the 1990s a PBS program "Sister Wendy's Odyssey" featured a nun criticism art work. My mother was annoyed to no end that the nun would described emotions and meaning the long dead artist who could not be interviewed for confirmation, supposedly inculcated in the paintings. My mother would say, " what if it's just a painting! Means nothing at all, the artist just wanted to paint that!"

[courtneyandkavita]

I really appreciate this breakdown of the process. Even though I am an advanced PhD student myself, I often struggle to articulate what is meant by "critical reading" or "analytical reading." The ironic thing, though, is that when I was doing my coursework and exam prep, I had to learn how to fast-track my reading. Instead of getting to savor the texts and take my time to understand them, I was forced to use certain strategies to speed up the process in order to be ready in time for in-class discussions. It wasn't until earlier this year (as I've been working on my dissertation) that I felt justified in reading a little more slowly. I read "We Have Never Been Modern" by Bruno Latour, and the book grabbed me so forcefully that I felt I had to engage more deliberately than I had been taught.

[Ashleygeneralstuff]

"The curtains were just bloody blue!" Oh my yes!

I used to love a particular author and I was on an email newsgroup (days before Internet was such a big thing) and in one book there's a scene where the main character and family are driving along a road through a woodland and a moose comes out of the woodland, stops in the road, looks at the car, and then moves on. Neither that incident nor the moose was ever mentioned again in the book.

There was a HUGE debate on the newsgroup about what the moose symbolised and when I put up that maybe it was just something to "add colour" to the scene of them driving along, I was shot down as "obviously the moose was there to symbolise something".

Too often people get tangled up in trying to add meaning to practically every word in a book, instead of just enjoying the story (assuming it's a novel).

Well done on this video, it has helped me to understand analytical reading far more than "How to Read a Book" has done (which I found difficult to get into - perhaps I need a book to tell me how to read "How to Read a Book").

[sweetpeamissyp]

Not going to lie....I was bummed when I read the post that you were taking a wee break from the historical video essays. I'm one of the history buffs you were worried about letting down & I wanted you to know that you have no reason for worry. I've enjoyed the videos you've posted since then & am still learning new things, which I love! Thank you for being you! Lots of love! ❤😁

[martinak]

Wow, throughout my entire studies at uni no one has explained this so well and so understandably. I wish I could go back to studying now after watching your video 😂 thank you!! 😊

[ClaudiaDCD]

Love this video!! Love the idea too. Just read The Crane Husband and compared it to the classical Crane Wife folktale and the Crane Wife essay from the New Yorker. I compared and contrasted not only to understand the authors differences but mostly for my own reflection, to understand my own life and transitions in it, what I want in life, what the world is willing to give and what I'm going to have to wrest from the world.

It was really fun reflecting on it with my husband, strengths and weaknesses of authors, perspectives (like you said) and then how it relates to us. Got so much out of those stories.

[janetgriffith]

Oh my gosh. Someone who gets it and explained it. I now know how to do this. Thank you❤❤❤

[EmL-kggn]

This video came at a perfect time for me!!! I just read The Captive Mind by Czesław Miłosz and it really hit home for me. I’ve seen so much of the mindsets he describes reflected in today’s politics, on both ends of the political spectrum, and also in religion. It’s kind of scary tbh but it’s comforting to have more words for what’s happening around me

[aprajitasharma]

This is so useful for everyone 💗
Thank you so much ✨❤️

[feanorianmaglor]

This is a very useful discussion on how to read a book. I've read lots of classics in recent months and having these tips in mind would have been useful. I'm reading Ulysses right now. If someone asked me why, though, I'd have to echo George Mallory (and sometimes I feel reading this novel is right up there with climbing Everest) and say "because it's there"!

[winterburden]

Thank you so much for sharing this skill with us Cinzia!

[darthkahn]

This was precisely what I was looking for and you explained it wonderfully.
Thankyou
The plan was to take on the Count of Monte Cristo but something a bit smaller first to get into the swing I think...

[Itsgayread]

I've started recapping books, inspired by many booktubers, and noticed I've had to apply a more analytical reading style to my approach. I love it, it gives me new insights into books, especially rereading those I'd already read when I was younger.

[colinthompson]

Thank you for doing this video. I really appreciate your explanation of your method.