For me, it depends.

I don’t fully understand anything till I’ve read it multiple times. Not necessarily the whole thing. It helps to take breaks between reads. I can read a text today, tomorrow, next week, and next month and arrive at completely different interpretations/conclusions every time.

So if I really need to understand a text, I’ll read it and re-read it, with different length breaks in between.

Most of the time I don’t need to bother with such depth. For example I might read ‘Better Fewer, but Better’ and get a lot from it, making sure the main conclusions are clear. Then if I read it a year later, a lot of the details will jump out at me that I hadn’t noticed much before. Like the names of the journals that Lenin and his comrades/enemies/frenemies are writing in, the dates of different movements (how slow things were and then how fast came the revolution), the nuances in the arguments of the different movements/groups. While this is all interesting to know, it’s not always essential. So I have to make a choice: read widely or read closely; do I read the same text twice or two texts, for example?

Then there are texts that I need to do something with. Maybe I’m writing something. If so, I’ll make notes. I use four methods depending on what I need.

1. Annotating. Reading a physical text, I usually underline key phrases/words (or highlight if digital), draw a line down the margin instead of underlining a whole paragraph, use asterisks for key quotes, question marks (for things I don’t understand or which don’t add up), ticks (for parts that seem incontrovertible), exclamation marks (for parts that are factually shocking or shockingly incorrect), ellipses (where I think a point needs to be expanded further because it’s interesting, poorly evidenced, or would lead me down an interesting path). Using two or three symbols for emphasis.
2. Marginal notes. I might write a question. Or write a word or two next to each paragraph summarising it’s main ‘move’ so that I can recap the whole argument by reading a string of these moves in the margin. This helps to keep track of complex arguments. Or I might use one word to describe each premise in a section/argument (I’ll write these at the start of the section so I have my summary of the argument next to the heading).
3. Copying select quotes into a document or a physical notebook, adding some analysis, criticism, synthesis, and evaluation. I’ll focus on the most interesting parts and get to know a few sections really well.
4. If I really need to know a text, I’ll copy the text (or a section/para/chapter) into a word processor, then go through and reword each paragraph with my own summary, keeping the ‘quoteable’ words/phrases/paragraphs as quotes. In this way I’ll create a summary of the whole text, to which I’ll add criticism, synthesis, and evaluation.

Honestly, though, the most effective method for me is just to read. I prefer epubs so that I can read on a smaller screen (e.g. a Kindle). Then I’ll read while I’m waiting for the kettle to boil or the tea to brew or while I’m otherwise waiting (for buses, meetings, colleagues, any down time, really). I wouldn’t be able to go through the intense process described above for many texts or I wouldn’t get through enough literature. (The problem with PDFs is that I can only read them on a computer, which limits when I can read them.)

I’m not a huge fan of audiobooks but I do use them when doing chores, walking, etc. I prefer podcasts or lectures for this, though. There’s something about the cadence and rhythm of an audiobook—it just doesn’t seem to go in the same way as reading the same text myself.

Maybe it also depends on the author? Zac Cope or another ‘Western academic Marxist’? If I don’t follow the annotations and marginal notes methods, above, as a minimum, I won’t understand a word.

I think ‘just reading’ works best for me because I’m like a sponge when the stakes are low and I’m just chilling. Almost as soon as I make it ‘work’, when I’ve decided that I need to know the text inside out, it all becomes so intense that I go sloooowly and it can get quite stressful, re-reading every line to make sure I understand it perfectly (an impossible standard). I learn a lot quicker and take in a lot more if I keep it light and keep the pressure off; I can always go back in more depth later if I need to.

Hopefully this waffle is helpful! ❔❓

What are you reading theory for, DankZedong?

Some people swear by reading two+ books at once. I marvel at people who can do that. It might work for you though.

My recommendation is to set up focus mode or whatever it is on your phone. It’s best not to have notifications distracting you.

I’d also recommend not reading on your phone but using an ebook reader or the physical book instead. Use your phone for pulling up definitions, Wikipedia entries, articles etc. that will help you to better understand what’s going on in the theory, as needed.

Highlight passages which speak to you, which are of particular interest, which are the important parts of the book if you were to make a short summary, and especially which you don’t understand or feel like you could understand better.

Revise the highlighted passages each chapter to help consolidate your learnings and to see if further on in the chapter you now understand the highlighted parts make sense to you (and thus can be deleted) or if you need to do some research, post a question to social media or a reading group etc.

If you find that you’re highlighting more than a few passages because you don’t understand them in a chapter then that’s a red flag. Either the theory is too “deep” in conversations with prior texts (this is something that happens with philosophy) and you probably need to read what came before it in order to really grasp what’s being discussed in this book or you might need to read the prior work(s) of the author.

I would recommend engaging in some extra processes to help reinforce the learning. This might mean talking to someone (it can even be a pet!) about your learning. Having a friend who is open to hearing about your learnings is really valuable here - giving them updates on each chapter is great for keeping motivation up and for reinforcing learning. You might want to draft a mini essay or summary of the theory. It doesn’t have to be perfect or make sense because you aren’t going to submit it anywhere but the act of typing out the learnings can really enrich your learning experience and consolidate the learnings.

I’m a savage when it comes to books. I will underline passages and write notes in the margins. I’d recommend it. Or you can put sticky notes in your books if you prefer to. You can even get transparent sticky notes to place over pages and write on.

I’d also recommend reading groups, podcasts, lectures etc. to enrich your learning.