Here’s an interesting remembrance of Mortimer Adler and his late conversion to Roman Catholicism by a blogger who knew him and worked with him. Neat stuff.
The View from the Foothills
A tiny principality in the Commonwealth of Letters
Here’s an interesting remembrance of Mortimer Adler and his late conversion to Roman Catholicism by a blogger who knew him and worked with him. Neat stuff.
The View from the Foothills 
Great link! It has a video of a 1991 C-SPAN interview in which Adler said he read no more than 20 pages an hour, and usually didn’t read more than an hour at a time, because reading is such hard work. I found that very comforting. I recently saw a productivity/organizaton website which advocated reading more by making a habit of reading 50 pages every time you pick up the book. Which might be great if you’re skimming a self-help book for tips, but is another thing entirely if you’re reading Lord Jim. Adler’s habit of thoughtful reading also tied into your following post, about asking yourself what you are to take away from a selection as you read it.
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I’m a very fast reader….of light fiction. When it comes to the heavy stuff, I’d be lucky to get through 20 pages in a sitting, unless I’m reviewing something I’d read previously.
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20 pages in a sitting – that’s exactly Adler’s pace. In the video, he says that he reads the Great Books at maybe 20 pages per hour, spending no more than 1-1.5 hours per sitting.
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Btw Will, on your About page you mention “I’m a software developer with an interest in the Catholic faith.” Come join us at the Association of Catholic Computer Programmers, which shares these two key intersts (accp.ning.com).
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