“All reading must to some degree be active. Completely passive reading is impossible.” —Mortimer Adler

Some people might think that reading is a passive activity. A reader stares at a page, moving nothing but their eyes. Outwardly, they don’t seem to participate or contribute much to the activity.

However, reading is anything but passive. It’s not always active in a physical sense, but honest reading is always active mentally. It requires work on the part of the reader. Understanding and appreciating writing takes mental exertion. Without effort, there is no reward.

As Anne Bogel said:

“When we talk about reading, we often focus on the books themselves, but so much of the reading life is about the reader as an active participant.”

Reading is an act. And it requires not just a passive book, but also a reader to act on it.

In his seminal work How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler compares reading to the game of baseball. He describes the reader like a catcher, and the writer as the pitcher. The writer throws the metaphorical baseball by putting words on the page. The reader receives the ball by reading them. The writer might be initiating the activity, but the catcher still has to act to catch the ball.

Adler’s metaphor shows that reading is an active pursuit that takes two parties to happen.

Some writers are more difficult to catch than others. James Joyce, for example, would probably considered a knuckleball pitcher. His words dance and float around on the page, trying to evade capture. It takes a seasoned veteran to catch what he’s throwing.

Other writers are more direct. Hemingway is a pure fastball pitcher. He doesn’t mess around with his writing. He fires fastball after fastball directly at the catcher. No mistaking what he’s trying to say. Although, sometimes your hand hurts after a long inning.

Most writers throw the occasional curveball, which takes a turn at the last second. If you aren’t actively watching where the ball is going, it might slip past you. There are also plenty of writers that specialize in changeups—pitches that slow down dramatically. Readers must remain diligent to wait out these slower parts.

Some writers are terrible and their pitches barely make it to home plate, or are thrown wildly in odd directions. These writers aren’t worth playing baseball with. Avoid reading their works and stick with pitchers who are accurate enough to at least try to throw in your general direction.

Steve Leveen says it succinctly: “If you want to read well, read actively.”