How to read long, difficult books

Berkeley economics prof (and former Clinton deputy Treasury secretary) J Bradford DeLong (previously) has written a guide for reading "long, difficult books," in response to Andy Matuschak's "rant" Why Books Don't Work.

DeLong specifically presents his advice for students enrolled in his Econ 105 class, "History of Economic Thought: Do we live in a Smithian, Marxian or Keynesian World?" in which students are expected to read Adam Smiths "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," Karl Marxs "Capital," and John Maynard Keyness "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money."

DeLong's advice -- ten tips in all -- is all about "knowing what to do with a book that makes an important, an interesting, but also a flawed argument" and calls on the reader to approach it critically, reading it through twice in two different mindsets, first as "the kind of person with whom the arguments would resonate" and then as "a sympathetic but not credulous" reader.

1. Figure out beforehand what the author is trying to accomplish in the book.

2. Orient yourself by becoming the kind of reader the book is directed atthe kind of person with whom the arguments would resonate.

3. Read through the book actively, taking notes.

4. Steelman the argument, reworking it so that you find it as convincing and clear as you can possibly make it.

5. Find someone elseusually a roommateand bore them to death by making them listen to you set out your steelmanned version of the argument.