How to Read a Book--by Mortimer J. Adler (Discussion 2--Readable)

Readable.What is this means? Apparently, it means easy to understand. You may say, Oh I get it--magazine is readable, newspaper is readable, sixth-grade textbook is readable.

It is true that these books are easy to read because ithe language they use is simple and straighforward. They convey idea and information that are easy to catch. They call for little effort to understand.

But this is not truely readable, as far as I am concerned, they are just simple to read. The readable ones should have logical sense with little gramma mistakes. What the books are trying to say should be well structured and has no or little ambiguous expression and can be understood by readers who have make reasonable effort to read.

One clue to see whether the book is readable is to find its "bone". If you can briefly state what the book is trying to say and what is the important words or sentences in the book and what the author is trying to argue, the book might be readable one.

The great books are readable in this sense. Why the great books can pass from long time ago to nowadays is because they are readable, well written and can convey knowledge to the readers.