Reading comprehension--understanding, interpreting, and evaluating written texts--is a highly complex construct that involves ''the process of simultaneously constructing and extracting meaning through interaction and engagement with print'' (Snow, 2002, p. 413) and requires "the most intricate workings of the human mind" (Huey, 1968, p. 6). Given the ubiquitous demand of reading in contemporary information-driven society, it is critical to understand the skills that contribute to reading comprehension. One of the theories of reading comprehension that has garnered tremendous attention in the last three decades is the simple view of reading (SVR hereafter; Gough & Tunmer, 1986). In this chapter, I review SVR and associated empirical evidence. I then present a recent theoretical model called the direct and indirect effects model of reading (DIER; Kim, 2017, 2020a, 2020b), which builds on and critically expands and integrates SVR and other theories and lines of work. [This chapter was published in: "Handbook on the Science of Early Literacy," edited by S. Cabell et al., Guilford Press, 2022.]