The Art of Reading

De: Timothy Spurgin, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Timothy Spurgin

Artful reading - the way we read novels and short stories - is less about reading for specific information and more about reading to revel in the literary experience. Learning the skills and techniques of artful reading can improve your life in many ways, whether you're a fiction reader, an aspiring writer, a book club member, or a student.

And the best part: These skills are not difficult or unwieldy; rather, they are well within your reach. This entertaining, 24-lecture course gives you a veritable toolbox of knowledge and methods to approach even the most daunting reading experience with increased confidence.

You'll learn the definitions and characteristics of terms such as authorship, master plot, and genre. While some of these nuts-and-bolts concepts may be familiar to you, Professor Spurgin examines them from multiple angles, revealing hidden meanings that can escape even experienced readers.

Practical tips and techniques will maximize your effectiveness as an artful reader. You'll see why holding an initial reading session will acquaint you with the author's writing style and the characters, making the book easy to return to even if you take a few days off.

You'll also discover the benefits of "pre-reading" - exploring a book's organization and structure - and how to constantly ask questions to become more deeply involved with the characters and their stories.

Throughout the course, a host of literary "case studies" will refine and elaborate on the concepts of artful reading. Literary examples show how you can finally approach works that, in the past, might have seemed intimidating - making your future reading experiences both more engaging and more enlightening.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2009 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2009 The Great Courses

Excellent course on artful reading

Entertaining, interesting, clear, useful. A much better way to spend time than watching nonsensical social media video clips.

Endurance

The content is good. I don't like the cheap, synthetic applause that opens each lecture. I want to want to listen to this, and as lectures go, it's good. Still, it's a lecture. I could be listening to something more entertaining. If your focus is on writing better, then dive in. And yes, it does help appreciate good writing. But be warned, endurance is required to get through these.

Excellent and entertaining

This was chock full of information every serious reader should have. Timothy Spurgin is engaging and his presentations are as entertaining as they are informative.

Understanding the craft of writing as a reader

When reading a book, I wanted to be more understanding/ mindful of what ingredients are used to distinguish a great book from mediocre ones. This was the right book for this objective.

Long but worth it

If you want a fast course on literarure appreciation and profound understanding, this is the right investment for your time.

Practical for Readers and Writers

If you're a writer or a literary-minded reader, this set of lectures is insightful and immeasurably practical. The idea is teach styles and literary devices through example of works of great literature. Many of the examples used were not necessarily in my wheelhouse of normal reading, but the lessons still came across easily.

Prof. Spurgin is, on the whole, a good educator. His presentation is clear and well-constructed. I was often distracted, however, his delivery. It came. Across. At times like. William. Shatner. Should have. Been speaking. Ok, perhaps it wasn't quite as bad as all of that, but once noticed, it cannot be unnoticed. If you try this title out, apologies in advance for ruining that for you.

Interesting, insightful, really great course.

Why is this course disappearing from the catalog on February 2022? It is the best course about understanding Literature formally I know, it is greatly didactic and so much fun. I love Spurgin's voice, I love his energy and passion, I love to pieces everything about this course.

Very informative and unexpectedly funny

I expected a lot from this series of lectures: inspiration to read (even) more, freshening up my college knowledge, learning new things and the opportunity to do all that whilst commuting by bus looking like a serious young business woman.

Unfortunately, the narrator is so enthusiastic and driven that a serious listening attitude was not always applicable and at times I found myself unexpectedly giggling at best, squeaking audibly with delight at worst. How I would have loved to be in this professor's class room!

The lectures are well organized and clear, the narrator keeps a nice pace and is very easy to understand.

Additionally, through these lectures I have discovered some intriguing new titles to try my new found expert reading skills on.

So helpful!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Art of Reading to be better than the print version?

No idea.

What did you like best about this story?

It made me get so much more out of my reading.

What does Professor Timothy Spurgin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He made me feel like I was back in a classroom, which I loved.

Thoroughly enjoyable!

I’ve “taken” many of the Great Courses, but this was the best so far. The narration is melodic and clear despite a couple mistakes that probably were sound editing issues rather than narrator error. Far more importantly, the lectures were organized, detailed without being pedantic, and offered a pain-free (and affordable!) education. Thanks, Dr. Spurgin!