"Renting" Books

[per_passionem_eius]

The problem with the habit of marking up books is it severely limits the possibility for deep reflection over time.  It's pretty arrogant to think that tiny margin space will be sufficient, or that the rereading of some highlighted passage will always bear the same fruit.

[Spooky]

The problem with the habit of marking up books is it severely limits the possibility for deep reflection over time.  It's pretty arrogant to think that tiny margin space will be sufficient, or that the rereading of some highlighted passage will always bear the same fruit.

In what way is it "arrogant"?

[per_passionem_eius]

No one can be sufficiently brief to make good enough use of such a tiny notepad as a margin, and only someone who thinks they'll never change (why would they think that unless they thought they were already perfect?) would dare highlight (except with an erasable highlighter, if there were such a thing).

[Spooky]

No one can be sufficiently brief to make good enough use of such a tiny notepad as a margin, and only someone who thinks they'll never change (why would they think that unless they thought they were already perfect?) would dare highlight (except with an erasable highlighter, if there were such a thing).

??? I don't follow. Why would writing stuff down or highlighting indicate you thought you were perfect?
I read stuff I wrote in the past and chuckle at my naivete. Or come across an old highlight I don't remember making and think "what was I trying to tell myself here?" If anything it would be an aid to growth rather than a hindrance.

[Penelope]

The problem with the habit of marking up books is it severely limits the possibility for deep reflection over time.  It's pretty arrogant to think that tiny margin space will be sufficient, or that the rereading of some highlighted passage will always bear the same fruit.

Marginalia isn't the be all and end all of literary analysis; far from it--it's the first step of deep reflection and analysis. For students, when they begin to write the paper, they should have notes to review so that they know what parts of the book in particular that they want to reference in the paper. Furthermore, no one was suggesting that to write something in the margins the first time you read a book means that this is your absolute and final reflection on the matter. One thing that I'm really enjoying is teaching The Scarlet Letter again. The first time I taught it, I marked my copy of the book up. Now, I'm marking up a second copy. Comparing the two has actually been fruitful in itself. It's interesting to see what I missed the first time that I'm catching now (and vice versa) and how my understanding of the novel deepens with each time that I read it. Likewise, as I've grown in the Faith since I first taught the novel a few years ago, my understanding of the book has changed. Comparing the marginalia in the two copies is allowing me to see these changes. I should go back and put dates in the different copies for future reference.

Also, something that I keep imagining is that as my children grow older (the first one is still in the womb, so we're talking years from now), they'll pick up books from my shelf to read and they'll open up to my margin notes and learn a different side of me than what they see day-to-day: a woman who taught high school before she was anyone's mother, a woman who sits around marking up books as she ponders their content, a woman who thinks deeply about life's big questions, a woman who chuckles as she reads Hawthorne and Fitzgerald and Twain. Children have a difficult time conceptualizing that their parents had lives, jobs, relationships, and deep thoughts about the world prior to the children's arrival in it. I hope my marginalia will one day help me to build a deeper relationship with my children. We'll see.

[Penelope]

No one can be sufficiently brief to make good enough use of such a tiny notepad as a margin, and only someone who thinks they'll never change (why would they think that unless they thought they were already perfect?) would dare highlight (except with an erasable highlighter, if there were such a thing).

I can be sufficiently brief as to make good use of a margin. I do it almost every day. That doesn't mean that I think that my response to the literature is the most unique, deep, and special thing ever to have been written. It's simply a record of what I was thinking at the time that I read X or Y book. A future reading may well yield different, possibly better, reflections, and those can likewise be marked in the book. Or in another copy of the book. Go to a used book store and buy five copies of your favorite book. Then read one copy a year, marking the margins with your musings. Then compare them. I bet that'd be an interesting exercise.

Erasable highlighters do exist.

[per_passionem_eius]

Marking a book makes the book about you.  It makes you something of a co-author.  If you want to note your own thoughts etc., why not use something more suited to that purpose, like a diary?

[Spooky]

Marking a book makes the book about you.  It makes you something of a co-author.  If you want to note your own thoughts etc., why not use something more suited to that purpose, like a diary?

Well, if making notations in a book is making yourself the co-author (it's not, but whatever) then a diary is one big narcissism-fest of self aggrandizement. I suspect you're against diaries as well then?

[OCLittleFlower]

It's so you can remember the important things you've read. If I tell my students to trace the use of a symbol throughout a novel, I want them to write down every single time that symbol pops up and then some ideas about why it's important. If I want them to trace a character's development, I need them to come to class with notes prepared so that they know what to say during a discussion. I need them to jot down page numbers so that they can tell the rest of the class where to flip to in order to find the references. If I ask them a question about the novel and tell them to come to class prepared to discuss it the next day, they need to have written down something concrete so that they can easily point everyone to it. Most people can't hold all of this information (particularly specific page numbers or the number of times a symbol is used) in their minds. They have to write things down. Those students who refuse to write anything down are the ones who are unprepared for class and have difficulty participating in the discussions.

I'd take notes in class to prove I was paying attention, but I never used them or referred to them -- I certainly never took notes when reading except when it was assigned and, again, never referred to them.

I can almost always find the part of the book I'm looking for quickly, even without the exact page number, just by having read the book recently and knowing what part of the book is about what topic, etc.

[OCLittleFlower]

The problem with the habit of marking up books is it severely limits the possibility for deep reflection over time.  It's pretty arrogant to think that tiny margin space will be sufficient, or that the rereading of some highlighted passage will always bear the same fruit.

Marginalia isn't the be all and end all of literary analysis; far from it--it's the first step of deep reflection and analysis. For students, when they begin to write the paper, they should have notes to review so that they know what parts of the book in particular that they want to reference in the paper.

I know, personally, for my own writing process or whatever you want to call it, that aspects of a book that fail to stick with me enough to jump out on a second flip through when I've actually sat down to write a review or paper are the last thing I should attempt to write about. 

I get that everyone's different, though -- my husband can read three books on a topic and forget which is which, even after taking notes.  But hey -- he understands computers while all I know how to do is break them.

One thing in academia -- and even in the novel writing community -- that never fails to annoy me is the belief that everyone's process needs to be the same.  I call garbage on that -- at the end of the day, the real world judges the product, not the process. 

Yet some writing instructors insist on telling people that they need to write in the morning, or that all good writers use an outline, or any of a number of other kinds of foolish untruths.  If I wrote a writing book, it would have such suggestions as, "Some people are morning people, others are night people.  I'm willing to bet that you know which you are.  If you don't know, try writing at various times of the day and see what works best."

At the end of the day, no one can tell if you wrote an outline, took notes, waited until the night before, etc, etc.  If anyone cares, they shouldn't.   :tongue:

Also, something that I keep imagining is that as my children grow older (the first one is still in the womb, so we're talking years from now), they'll pick up books from my shelf to read and they'll open up to my margin notes and learn a different side of me than what they see day-to-day: a woman who taught high school before she was anyone's mother, a woman who sits around marking up books as she ponders their content, a woman who thinks deeply about life's big questions, a woman who chuckles as she reads Hawthorne and Fitzgerald and Twain. Children have a difficult time conceptualizing that their parents had lives, jobs, relationships, and deep thoughts about the world prior to the children's arrival in it. I hope my marginalia will one day help me to build a deeper relationship with my children. We'll see.

I can see that.

My children will probably think of me as the crazy one who barely even allowed them to write their names in their books.  But they will have hand journaled scrapbooking layouts galore -- and if they really want to get inside my head, I've got a blog for that.   :tongue:

[Spooky]

One thing in academia -- and even in the novel writing community -- that never fails to annoy me is the belief that everyone's process needs to be the same.  I call garbage on that -- at the end of the day, the real world judges the product, not the process.

Dean Koontz suggests perfecting a page before moving on to the next, whilst Stephen King says go back later, what's what rewrite is for.  Two totally opposite tactics but they're both hugely successful authors.
It takes a little practice, trying to figure out what works best for each person. But I certainly wouldn't call someone arrogant or a bad person for not doing it the way I do.

[OCLittleFlower]

One thing in academia -- and even in the novel writing community -- that never fails to annoy me is the belief that everyone's process needs to be the same.  I call garbage on that -- at the end of the day, the real world judges the product, not the process.

Dean Koontz suggests perfecting a page before moving on to the next, whilst Stephen King says go back later, what's what rewrite is for.  Two totally opposite tactics but they're both hugely successful authors.
It takes a little practice, trying to figure out what works best for each person. But I certainly wouldn't call someone arrogant or a bad person for not doing it the way I do.

Stephen King is one of the worst offenders of "you must do it my way to be a real writer."  He strikes me as very smug in interviews, which amuses the crud out of me as I've never managed to stay entertained enough to finish one of his books.  (I could have made myself, but my days of required reading are long over.  Life is too short to read "bad" books.)

[Spooky]

Stephen King is one of the worst offenders of "you must do it my way to be a real writer."  He strikes me as very smug in interviews, which amuses the crud out of me as I've never managed to stay entertained enough to finish one of his books.  (I could have made myself, but my days of required reading are long over.  Life is too short to read "bad" books.)

I enjoyed most of his books, but right around Cell I started seeing the awful liberal bias in his books. The last one I read was Duma Key (2008).  It was alright I guess. I just now see he's written a sequel to The Shining, so I want to see what that's all about.

[OCLittleFlower]

Stephen King is one of the worst offenders of "you must do it my way to be a real writer."  He strikes me as very smug in interviews, which amuses the crud out of me as I've never managed to stay entertained enough to finish one of his books.  (I could have made myself, but my days of required reading are long over.  Life is too short to read "bad" books.)

I enjoyed most of his books, but right around Cell I started seeing the awful liberal bias in his books. The last one I read was Duma Key (2008).  It was alright I guess. I just now see he's written a sequel to The Shining, so I want to see what that's all about.

I got about halfway through The Shining.  The whole "redrum" thing was amusing, at best.   :tongue:

But then, horror often strikes me funny.  It's like they try so hard to be creepy that they wind up over the top funny.

I'm also tough to scare -- Rear Window scares me more than something more supernatural.  Because it's much, much more likely for your neighbor to kill his wife than it is for some of the weird supernatural stuff to actually happen.

[per_passionem_eius]

Well, if making notations in a book is making yourself the co-author (it's not, but whatever) then a diary is one big narcissism-fest of self aggrandizement. I suspect you're against diaries as well then?

Your suspicion is unfounded.  I think many saints would say that diaries can be extremely helpful for the spiritual life.