On the Art of Reading · Chapter
Lecture II: Apprehension Versus Comprehension explained
The lecture explores the art of reading, arguing that true reading is about apprehension rather than comprehension, and that the purpose of reading is not to accumulate vast knowledge but to cultivate the reader.
What happens
The lecture explores the art of reading, arguing that true reading is about apprehension rather than comprehension, and that the purpose of reading is not to accumulate vast knowledge but to cultivate the reader. The narrator critiques the examination system and the use of manuals, citing Bacon's 'Of Studies' to support the idea that reading should be selective and digestible, not overwhelming. The destruction of the Library of Alexandria is discussed as an example of the impossibility of reading everything, and Gibbon's perspective is challenged.
Themes in this chapter
The Art of Selection
Central to the lecture: the difficulty and discipline of selecting what to read from vast material, supported by Bacon's advice on tasting, swallowing, and chewing books.
Education vs. Examination
The narrator criticizes examiners who test derivative knowledge rather than firsthand reading, arguing that true education is about producing a certain kind of person, not accumulating facts.
The Purpose of Reading
Reading is presented as an art for delight, ornament, and ability, not for mere accumulation; its best purpose is to educate the reader through apprehension.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
Delivers the lecture, arguing for the art of reading as apprehension over comprehension, and criticizing the examination system.
- Bacon
Quoted extensively from his essay 'Of Studies' to support the selective and purposeful approach to reading.
- Gibbon
Quoted regarding the burning of the Library of Alexandria; his view that the best works survived is challenged by the narrator.
- Philip Gilbert Hamerton
Mentioned as an example of someone who might push the argument further, with a reference to his book 'The Intellectual Life' and a French cook's art.
- Euripides
Mentioned in the context of lost plays, such as the Sthenoboea, to illustrate the loss of works that were once highly regarded.
- Wordsworth
Quoted for the phrase 'wise passiveness' to describe the receptive state of mind in reading.
Key passages
“It teaches by apprehension not by comprehension —which is what many philosophers try to do, and, in trying, break their jugs and spill the contents.”
Literature instructs through intuitive grasp rather than analytical understanding, unlike philosophers who often fail by attempting to fully understand the universe.
Highlights the core distinction between apprehension and comprehension in the art of reading.
“Some Bookes are to be Tasted, Others to be Swallowed, and Some Few to be Chewed and Digested: that is, some Bookes are to be read onely in Parts; Others to be read but not Curiously; and some Few are to be read wholly, and with Diligence and Attention.”
Books should be approached differently: some skimmed, some read casually, and only a few studied thoroughly and thoughtfully.
Bacon's advice on selective reading, used to support the art of selection.
“Where are the trousers of the drowned?”
What about the works that were lost despite being highly regarded in their time?
A rhetorical question challenging Gibbon's claim that the best works survived the Library of Alexandria burnings.
