Note: I apologize for the long delay. An unfortunate situation has occurred to my family. It has required trips to Boston, and most of my day spent on the phone dealing with it when I’m not in Boston.
Note note: These pieces are quick riffs and off the top of my head. They will likely have grammatical and spelling errors as I write this and then publish. And the video, as always, is a riff.
Note note note: I’ve finished the Last King. This article is a time capsule before the family situation erupted in Boston. I started it, situation erupted, and it went left unfinished. I’ve decided to finish it, no video will accompany it. As of this writing, I’m beginning A Patriot’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen. I’ll make a formal announcement soon. And below I’m trying something new, all subscribers will see something and paid subscribers their bookclub notes.
Names.
Dates.
Battles.
Policies.
Towns.
Cities.
Events.
The Last King of America hurls all of the above at you and more. Many readers are under the notion that they comprehended and got the lessons from a history only if they remember the Jeopardy gameshow facts. That you best know the book if you can not only recite the dates and events, you can then divulge the particulars of those dates and events.
Readers with that mindset, the mindset of needing to remember the names and dates of events, go into a work like The Last King and soon find themselves guilty, anxious, and frustrated. They see some names, then a few pages later some new names, but wonder if those names were mentioned before. Then, an event happens, and maybe 100 pages later that event is mentioned again, and what happened with that event again exactly?
Reading a history via the perfect recall and perfect comprehension mindset is well-intentioned but misguided.
On one end, this mindset comes from the Self-Development world plus the “prep for the test” mix of reading, which the self-development world pushes despite self-developments claims of school teaching them nothing. On the other, it comes from a notion that good readers read a book and turn into an expert on the topic. That they could go on a podcast, or often, speak to someone at a social event, and impress people with their profound knowledge on a subject.
If you want to be an expert on a topic reading one book, even a big one, will not cut it. To have a good level of knowledge you need to immerse in that topic. You need to read a ton of different books on the topic, whether it’s a bunch in a row similar to this American book club, or spread out over time. To be an expert on it, you need to be trained on it, such as Victor Davis Hanson or Barry Strauss or Andrew Roberts. Those top notch experts have devoted their lives to their craft.
Keep in mind, those historians you admire on a topic, or perhaps a fan of a topic who riffs on a podcast with depth, they have spent enormous time with a topic. They didn’t just read one or two books, and suddenly they turn into Will Hunting with polymath knowledge on the topic.
Another overlooked aspect, you will remember some books better than others. A glib saying goes that if you don’t understand what you’re reading or you walk away not an expert, that’s on the author. Sure, that can be the case in many instances of academic writing of the tone-deaf intellegentsia or jargon LinkedIn writing. But on the whole, some books and some authors will offer you a challenge. Thomas Sowell’s Conflict of Visions is written simply, it uses simple Anglo words, but the philosophical topics are a challenge. The Last King by Andrew Roberts is written with incredible style. He’s not as Hemingway-esque as Sowell, but he uses repetition in two ways, to keep you abreast and to then show the historical consequences playing out. Readable, but it takes cognitive capacity to grasp what’s going on. Other times, you will read a work, really enjoy it, and then months later forget it. That’s natural. That’s nothing on you. In some way it did not resonate deeply with you. For instance, I read James Madison by Jay Cost around three years ago, and I can’t remember a thing from it. Is that on my not reading it well? Or is it on the author, Jay Cost? Sometimes, perhaps more often than we’d like to admit, we forget some books. The answer is distinct to each reader. I remember other histories I read around that time far better than I do James Madison. But I’m not worried I didn’t remember it, it’s the nature of reading. Some books will stick with you for a lifetime, others you’ll forget after a few weeks.
What should you focus on?
First, the enjoyment. If you’re trying to read as a means to some end, you’ll wear yourself out, especially with a book like The Last King. You don’t need to walk away from a book like it to impress anyone or recite stats. You can just enjoy it and move on. That’s the most important part.
Second, when curiosity strikes, go with it. Spend time with a passage. Look up some things if you want. See where your thoughts go.
If you want to engage more…
Third, ask questions. Any question. It doesn’t have to be intelligent, just ask question. This starts the process of engaging with a book.
Fourth, see if you recognize themes or a position the author is taking. Note them in some marginalia, and see if those positions are expanded upon, repeated, or added to.
Fifth, if you have some previous wisdom on the topic, or remember something on it whether in passing or in depth, and you see it pop up, note those sections mentally or in marginalia. See how the author handles that information. You might have a myth busted, a previous conception validated, or something else.