Today, I’ve read Molly’s great piece called, On Learning to Read Generously;. Here are my notes and thoughts.
I am too generous with books. Instead of spending enough time with books, I spend more than a book deserves, especially for non-fiction books. So, I’m on the other side with Molly. Although I know there is no need to read every word in a book if I already get the idea, my most lacking skill is reading with just enough generosity. That’s why I try to follow one motto these days: “Strong books, loosely read.” Finding a strong book and ensuring that it’s strong requires an inspectional read. Once I’ve done it, then I can do an extensive read and be generous with my time.
Molly also talks about reading critically and compares it with bad faith reading. Reading critically is another skill I want to hone. I’ve had too much good faith as a reader and easily accepted the arguments of the authors I’ve read. Because I thought if they had spent countless hours writing a book about it, they must have thought it well, and it should be closer to the truth. My thoughts became the thoughts of people I’ve read, and now my brain is like a weird soup. I have strong ideas coming from people I’ve read in certain areas, and no idea at all in others. This ties pretty much to Molly’s argument of mixing up bad faith reading and reading critically. Reading critically is a fantastic skill every reader has to build one way or another. While learning that skill, I mixed it up with being unjust to the book and its author. I also thought, “Who am I to judge if a person wrote a book about it?” Molly separates them well and also pushes me to read more critically while maintaining a beginner’s mindset. I now feel much better while reading because I am not trying to destroy an author’s argument; I’m trying to make it even better by filling in the gaps they have missed.
- Related Note(s):
- Source: On Learning to Read Generously;
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