you missed my personal invention: when you buy a book - put your name and date on the inside cover and a short anecdote about what happened the day you bought it - you can look back a decade later a re-live that particular day - I think this is brilliant and I have done it for three decades now.
Can you do that with your hardcovers? especially the beautiful everyman library books? I cannot gather enough courage to write in any of my books, can not even fold the pages. But I want to, want to make them mine.
@@ashwanikumarsharma15151You can actually buy post it and write on them so your book will not get “damage”. I feel you for the books that are expensive : I dont want to get them dirty lol
Thank God someone said something about the Introductions in books. One of my pet peeves is that the first thing you are confronted with while you are starting a new book is some supposed expert telling you how to think before you even see the work. They also will include spoilers and such in there as if you should already know what you are reading. Not sure why its not in the afterword or something, but definitely bugs me.
It should be placed as an addendum, which you can reference with appreciation after you both have shared an experience, or to further understanding if you're stuck, enriching in context and now meaning and relevance. That is how I treat 'introductions', for the reasons you've stated.
I agree. I don't like to read the introduction until after I have read the book. They tend to be boring and can make me disinterested in reading the book.
I usually do a quick read first, without judgements or analyzing, either a speed read, or audio. Sometimes that makes me realize it's not a book I want to spend more time on (now? ever?), and sometimes it confirms I do want to study this work. Having studied and taught literature, and worked with thousands of students, I know there are so many reasons, ways, and methods for reading and learning. It all goes back to Aristotle's rhetoric--purpose, audience, and style. I so appreciate you bringing so many books, ways of reading, conversations, encouragement, and community to readers. Well done!
When reading fiction, mind maps are useful to track the relationships between characters. I create one map for each fictional book. Helps my memory for quick reviews.
If I had had someone like you for college English courses I would have gotten so much more out of the classes I took. Thank you for putting these nuggets together for those of us who are looking to expand our reading experiences and dive deeper
This is the 2nd time I've listened to this. I'm a lifelong student and as an older senior am wanting to re-read some of the books I read in the past for pleasure or as a student. I've wanted to take notes in my books and never knew how to do it. I love your suggestions and am excited to put them into action. Back in the 1970s, I read Siddhartha in college and have read it several times since. I'm looking forward to reading it again using your VLOG on Siddhartha and using annotations to expand my love of the book. Thanx for sharing your love of books with us!
This is one of the greatest lectures that I've ever listened to. I would say it is a landmark for those who would make the pilgrimage into English Literature, Philosophy, Religion or any number of subjects. Sir, your erudition and penetrating insights have opened new vistas for me. Congratulations on your scholarship and please continue your illuminating workthe sake of your rapt audience, myself included!
I loved thus video, but I have a horror of marking books as I grew up in a working class home where books were valued, but expensive for all of us.. I early learnt to take my pocket money, and later my newspaper round and Saturday butcher's shop earnings to an old secondhand bookshop. The older woman who owned it became one if my life mentors, putting aside books for me, sometimes letting me have a book that I wanted and didn't have all the price even after discount, so she'd tell me to pay the rest next week, or recommending other books. However, recently I have bought paperbacks for this group and am evolving a method of marking up these books. I don't like dogeared, so have tins of brass book darts which do the sane thing. I still make notes in a journal when reading books from my Everyman , Modern Library or Folio Society collections. I have taken a lot from this video. Thanks Ben for connecting across the generations to an old lady. I very much all you do and am totally immersed in the Hardcore Book Club.
Its hard to describe the feeling when you find genuine content. Where what it tries to sale its deep and without a dollar sign. Im amazed by this channel.
You definitely have a cool way of annotating your books. It’s not overdone. You’ve captured the essence of the text and what is important to you and your studies. Thx for sharing.
What I learned: Come to a work with purpose but be flexible and open. Take note of what is being said and make observations and ask questions. Engage with the author and bring into the discussion your own thoughts as well as those of other writers and thinkers. Above all enjoy yourself and the learning process!
I would have never marked up a book until a friend of mine shared the concept with me several years back. He also introduced me to Adler's book, "How to Read a Book". Since then, I've been a very active highlighter/note taker/asterisk marker in my reading. You've given me several more tools to use in marking up, so thanks for that! The only downside with marking up a book it that it makes it a bit more difficult to then hand off that book to someone else, which I do quite a bit. I've found myself then buying more copies to give away!
4:58 Create an index with a list of themes or ideas with page numbers that point to theme, 5:47 underlining in conjunction with a thought or a keyword, underline turn of phrase you like, 6:18 use 3 vertical stripes on margin to emphasize a paragraph; 6:44 use asterisks sparingly to emphasize the most important ideas. When rereading, mark up pages where author makes supporting arguments
I've always been squeamish about making notes in books. I think part of that is not wanting to sully great works. And part of it is that I often don't care for the notes I make on things in general - when I return to them I disagree with the insight, or find it pretentious or something like that. So I then feel like subsequent readings are being guided by my notes and guiding me to notice the things that I've already highlighted, and thus lessening the chances of me picking up on things I missed first time round. But after never making notes before I finally decided it would be good to make notes while reading The Brothers Karamazov for the third time. I made notes in a journal and found the act of doing so, in itself, helped me retain more. And it helped me to pull together the key themes and feel like I had a better handle on Dostoevsky's intentions with the novel. So I think I will continue to make notes in the future. However, I think I'll stick to making notes in pads/journals rather than write in the books themselves. And I think I'll only make notes on second and subsequent readings. (albeit, I find it helpful to make some little notes around keeping track of who different characters are and their relationship to other characters. Especially useful in long novels with many characters where I might otherwise spend a lot of time flicking back through the novel trying to track down who this character is that has just reappeared after not being mentioned for 400 pages).
I make most notes in margins in pencil on the first reading. They are often questions to myself about things I don't understand. On subsequent readings I can often answer my own questions. If I said something embarrassing because it's so dumb I'll just erase it.
I do that and then annotate again, in a different colour, to state how my thoughts have changed. I actually love seeing that on further readings (and sometimes further colours are needed). Don’t be afraid of your initial reaction to a book. There’s nothing stupid about it. If you’re meant to know everything about the end of the book while you’re reading it, there’d be no point in reading it.
I love your comment about being allowed to write silly stuff while annotating, specially in conjunction with what you said about swearing. I'm currently re-reading Pride and Prejudice for the uptenth time, and the other day I found a comment I wrote around 3 years ago that made me laugh out loud. It was something along the lines of "Mary had to learn how to play the piano and practice hard because she fugly"(sic). When we read and annotate we sometimes take ourselves too seriously and forget that we're supposed to be enjoying the story and the actual reading process.
This was incredibly useful. I usually use a mix of annotation and typing up notes on OneNote. However, I have always struggled with hierarchy and your ideas may contribute to better organisation. I particularly like the idea of an index. As an aside, I recently read your blog post on experiencing an Oxford English Literature degree without attending. I often regret not studying English Literature at university and found your suggestions really quite inspiring (I then picked up Othello). So thank you!
Thank you, Russell! So happy you found the video useful. I used to experiment with Evernote myself, and may have to return to a digital-analogue combo. I must say that I've found creating my own index to be one of the most beneficial and enjoyable parts of marking books. It's particularly fun when I share the index with another person and let them pick out topics to dip into. And thanks for checking out that article! No need to regret not studying Literature at university - you can get just as decent an education setting your own reading program for a fraction of the cost. Enjoy Othello! I'm hoping to put out a video on the play soon!
Don't be scared writing in or marking up your books. I just saw a Ryan Holiday video at Daily Stoic. He says, "As I'm reading, I'm either highlighting or writing in the margins. If anyone does this with my books, I consider it to be an honour. You're supposed to be in an argument or discussion. It's a 2-way communication with the author." Hope that helps, if not for yourself, then anyone else who might have reservations & read this. :)
You've just inspired me to start a OneNote notebook for my reading. Yes, pen and paper is better for thoughtfulness and remembering (wholeheartedly agree) but being able to search in the notebook across pages and sections (and therefore all my reading notes) will assist in making connections between ideas in a faster way. I've always adored books, and was raised that you never write in a book. At 50ish, I'm getting over that. Thank you for giving great arguments for annotation. Reverence for books should include reverence for the content, and failing to engage with the material is a bigger sin than writing in the book. After all, it's not like it's the only copy of the book in existence (in the vast majority of cases), but as you point out, it's YOUR copy.
Wow! I’m so I,pressed with myself! Lol For years I was a Bible study student and then teacher. I annotated my Bible EXACTLY the way you described!! Basically I outlined the text right there in the book. And I included cross references. And I use boxes, parenthesis, vertical lines as opposed to underlining. I also use different colored pens whenI reread and write down which read has which color. So, for e.g. first read may be purple ink; 2nd read may have black ink; 3rd read may have turquoise. This way I can see what growth takes place. Also, as a child my Mom taught me to NEVER write in a book. And, of course, at school we weren’t allowed to write in text books. Even in college we had to keep pristine so we could sell,back. So getting over writing in a book was a really hard thing for me. First book I wrote in? My Bible. Why? I was in church. Heard something awesome and had no paper! A lifelong habit was broken. Lolol
I totally understand what you said regarding lending annotated books. When I was doing my master I had a textbook that not only was a huge brick, I profoundly disagreed with the author and used annotations as an outlet to all my outrage and sarcastic comments To endure the reading. Two years later a friend ask to borrow it for his class… because it was one of the expensive type of textbook I had to lend it, but felt completely embarrassed doing so… 😂😂
I used to annonate on my books directly as well. I enjoy it very much; however, I did a re-read and it kinda distracted me from the book. Afterwards, I just decided to have a book journal whenever I read.
I always use a straight edge when underlining, if I can. Anthony Madrid says to do that so you don't ruin a book you like. When I don't have a straightedge I try to underline in pencil.
I do right, and mark up all of my classic literature novels. However, for my general fiction, I generally put all of my notes in my Bookly app. This is really good advice to try as well.
Love THIS lecture. I've always written in my books. I've never discussed with anyone b/c I anticipated gasps and sneers. Now, I also use sticky notes in my good books. I put PG #s and cross-reference pgs in books.
I've become so engaged with some of my books that I've literally glued makeshift index card holders inside the back flap, and use index cards as book marks. I underline, note in the margin, and then note in the current index card bookmark. Once the "bookmark" is full of notes, it gets slid into the makeshift index card holder, which also contains some blank index cards. I then grab one of those blank index cards and it becomes my new bookmark/notebook.
Thanks for encouraging writing in books! So important to a deep reading. We are fortunate that so many books are available to us in cheap, used forms, so we should not feel at all guilty about writing in our own books. And thanks for the advice to do a quick review. Wish I had taken this advice years ago. I've read quite a lot over the years but my memory is not helping me much these days and I'd appreciate a reminder of what my first thoughts were.
You have presented such a helpful guide to reading, understanding, and absorbing books into your soul. Thanks for giving us the freedom to brain storm and make connections to ideas in the books without fear of embarrassment. Many of my "notes" are for my eyes only. This should be required watching for all students of literature and philosophy. Excellent.
I am so glad to have found your content. I love hearing how others go about actively reading. I find that I annotate much more for nonfiction books. But definitely also for literary fiction. I have done a similar process of writing questions/comments, underlining/circling/boxing/starring sections. I’ve also found myself relating books that were written years ago to current events like Covid or politics. Great topic and well presented! Thanks for sharing!
Im grateful for this video. I’m a new but avid reader & I’ve just been highlighting the shit out of every other page until now lol. I knew there was more I could do but didn’t know where to start. Hopefully I enjoy the process of creating a system of my own🤙
I use yellow sticky notes for my reference. I also just scribble in too left or right on top-that way I go back and use that reference! I do speeches and use the notes for illustrations mostly! I was taught unless you read a book five times you don’t know it! This is absolutely and ridiculously almost correct? Sometimes, more than five with lots of marks and more marks. The book, “How to make young’s stick” is a must to know how to get people to remember what you taught!! Secret, storytelling is the most vid I’d and comprehensive way to get individuals to remember what you just taught!! Read the book, it’s a must.😮
i love sharing annotated copies & would even consider letting someone annotate a book they borrow from me. reading each other's thoughts makes for good discussions.
Excellent discussion. Sometimes I've enjoyed s/h books which are already annotated by students. But it's important not to highlight too much on a page! I've learned many tips here about annotations and references. Looking forward to using them! Thanks.
I've tried writing in books but find it most useful for nonfiction work that I'm planning to teach or otherwise share with others. In other situations, I find that what strikes me as important to emphasize on a first read is obvious to me on a second read, and markings that draw my attention back to what I first found interesting become distracting and impede my efforts to dig deeper. I like coming back to a clean page without past-me trying to tell me how to approach it. Just my experience.
I’m on my second read of The Rosy Crucifixion by Henry Miller and have begun using a few of your ideas on how to annotate my reading. I particularly like the idea of a index in the front. It encapsulates what struck me as important/worth further exploration/similar themes of other authors/unique. Also, I appreciate your method of circling, triple lining, boxing as it vastly improved upon merely underlining/highlighting. Thank you for your podcast.
This is the best video on annotating I have ever seen! Exactly what I was looking for. I was trying to start with On the Genealogy of Morals but didn't know what process to use.
I do not deny but admit: I read on line! On line, I notate, use four highlight colors. I click a word and a dictionary comes up complete with etymological analysis. Program recognizes which language I'm in and translates on demand. Click, click, click. Lazy, lazy, lazy. When I mark a book in hand, I've got a number of "codes" as you describe. Well done, BTW. Many thanks.
So glad I found this video. It goes against my upbringing but I’m now making notes in the books I’m currently reading. I started with War and Peace that we’re reading in the HLBC and it’s been a great help in getting me to slow down and really focus on the writing. I haven’t made an index but that’s a great suggestion so will start doing that too. I like the idea of using a different colour pen for subsequent readings and I’ll definitely be reading WAP again.
I really enjoyed your talk about annotating books. I have been watching Lots of you tubers talk about it, but I think yours tends to make a lot of sense to my way of thinking. I usually over-analyze the process, like whether I should write in my expensive hard covers, or I totally scribble a book up, with no real unified plan. So your talk makes me want to jump in, possibly using a variety of approaches, but just doing it! Also, what is your thought on using colors?
Thanks so much, Melody! Glad you enjoyed the video. I used to over-analyse the process too. That's when I was right on the cusp of being a full-fledged annotator. Don't overthink! Take the plunge :) It does feel wrong at first, especially if you do it in an expensive hard cover (that's why I recommend keeping those copies clean), but soon you won't be able to read a book without marking it. I love comparing my recent marked books to books I marked a couple of years ago - you can see me becoming more confident by the pages getting inkier. As for colours, I personally favour just a black pen (preferably the muji kind from Japan), but you certainly could systemise using different colours. I used three different colours whilst studying for finals at Oxford - black, blue, and red. The black was for my personal thoughts, the blue was for linking the thoughts of other critics/books, and red was for linguistic analysis. This made it easier for me to pick out what I needed at a glance.
Thank you for sharing tips on how to mark inside literature as well as a quick review of the book you used to get you started on an annotation journey. Have you heard of ESV Single Column Journaling Bible or ESV Journaling Bible, Interleaved Edition? The paper texture/thickness is made for writing and drawing on and the margins are wider with the first one and the latter is a full blank page next to every page with text.
I just bought Adler's " _How To Read A Book_ " a couple of days ago and have started to read it. I will follow what you did. In fact I have already marked some parts of the book. I will be follow my reading with Carnagie's " _How To Win Friends And Influence People_ " and Holiday's " _Daily Stoic_ " (I've just got interested in Stoicism).
I’m on my second read of The Rosy Crucifixion by Henry Miller and have begun using a few of your ideas on how to annotate my reading. I particularly like the idea of a index in the front. It encapsulates what struck me as important/worth further exploration/similar themes of other authors/unique. Also, I appreciate your method of circling, triple lining, boxing as it vastly improved upon merely underlining/highlighting. Thank you for your podcast. 39:18
It is marvellous and it should be taught in schools and this would take the students into a total new higher level. I feelit is the missing part of eduaction at schools. Thanks Benjamin. Love from India
I'm out on a limb here, Benjamin, but I think it's sheer vandalism writing anywhere on a book. I do make notes though, when I consider a book important and one that I will comeback to for further readings. I read reams of non-fiction in research for my own writing and just do it on separate A4 sheets with a simple reference system that allows me to locate the text I am referring to. I keep the notes in the book itself. I agree with you about really owning a book, though. You get that feeling when there is a grubby thumb mark from the hundreds of times you have looked up something in the index. Little items accidentally left behind in a book often remind me of an era in my life or an incident. You often find such items in a secondhand book. I own one famous recent biography that turned out to contain a restaurant receipt showing that the previous owner of the book took the author out for a meal, where and when, and how much it cost them. Intriguing item! Courtship? Probably not because whoever it was has sold the book and now I own it. I keep the restaurant receipt in the book as a bookmark. The book is as good as new.
I LOVE this video. Where have you been all my reading life? Thank you for all the useful tips. I’ve been annotating my books in similar ways for many years. The new idea I like is an index in the front. Bravo! What are your thoughts on tabbing? I see a lot of young girls in their 20’s or 30’s (I’m 63 years young) making YT videos about annotating and tabbing fiction - mostly fantasy series. Your video is the first I’ve come across that was a serious discussion about annotating for the rest of us. No offense to fantasy readers and that process. But, I notice you don’t use tabs, which actually seem potentially useful to me. Thoughts? I notice there are no newer videos so I hope you are well and thriving and can return to YT soon as you add much to us readers!
Incredible that we get an oxford teacher/student/professor teaching us, thanks for your time, when you get time, if I were reading an English translation of say Balzac, is the prose subject to the translator understanding of the language concerned? Meaning I read extremely good English in the Balzac prose, how do we know Balzac was as poetic as the interpreter? Same for Tolstoy, Tagore, and so on? In short to see if a work of literature is great, must you know the language it was in originally?
I am going to read Jane Austens complete works this year, for the first time. I ordered the beautiful leatherbound edition and i will be annotating it to bits.
Another great video! I’ve been binging all your videos again (since I’ve been home with Covid 😩) Ugh I’m still like the second type of reader I’m very weird about my books even paperbacks even as far as wrapping them in contact paper.. But lately I have been buying journals for each author I dig into to write my notes on each novel I read.
Great video! Thoroughly enjoyed and got a lot out of. A few months ago I picked up Russel's History of Western Philosophy and began to take myself on my first more deeper dive in philosophy. I ended up stopping to read Adler's book and was glad I did! Would you agree with him in that just starting wherever your curious is a good place to begin? It makes sense as someone who isn't studying this is in the classroom, but I also consider, particularly with philosophy, the way that thought and ideas have developed over time. They all reference eachother, so with time you sit down with all of them I suppose. Cheers!
I freely admit I’m the second reader. Having grown up at a time when librarians and teachers forbid marking in books, I just can’t. In college it pained me to mark up my text books…granted I knew I wouldn’t keep many of them. I’m in my 50s and I’m not sure I can transition to marking them. I’ll watch the rest of the video now. Ha!
I am older than you and I strongly share your sentiments about not marking up books. Let me tell you how I've managed to broach this issue. What I do is make a small dot (about the size of a normal period mark) in the margin and in pencil next to the passage I want to make note of. Then I write the page number of this note on one of the back flyleaves of the book (also in pencil). I might include one or two words to explain why I am citing it, but most of the time I don't. If I ever return to this book, even years later, and look up those notes I will remember why I recorded them. If I found a passage important enough to note once I will recognize its importance even years later. Another thing I disagree with is how they now allow people to talk at full volume in libraries (at least where I live in the U.S.A.). I've been in the library where people are holding conversations loud enough to be heard within earshot of people who are trying to concentrate on literary investigations or study.
Am starting out with a few kindle books until I get through my To Be Read stack. Then I will be moving back to physical books. I will likely have a look at Against Nature with this technique first.
Could you expand on what you discuss at around 08:00 in regard to first-pass and second-pass readings? I was never taught this and find myself doing a deep read the first time through with no second pass - at least not until I re-read the text at some indefinite point in the future.
Omg you're the first person I've heard of who has the same problem with annotations that I have as well. I try to only buy used copies to mark it up and if I really like the book I'll buy a nicer new edition. I've always been called OCD for keeping my books as nice as possible but I always figured "I paid for the book, why would I damage my own property?" Post-it notes help a ton as well.
I was type 3# reading finding Alaska I marked it up quotes questions I had for the author it did make the experience better an meaningful an special in its self
I am afraid of marking books only because my family might open one of them and see whatever I love or whatever the heck I am finding interesting. I am shy ;;; Instead whichever the paragraphs i find interesting I just copy them into my notebook as if I wrote them ... Is this fine ? 😅
9/2022 Just watched your informative video. I appreciate your work. I am currently marking up the book Josephus The Jewish War. Thank you for providing clarification and assistance in marking and reading books.
But my wife and kids also read my books. I use Joplin for keeping notes. I chose Joplin because the notes are stored on my computer, with auto backup to another hard drive. Other note taking software stores the notes in the cloud, so potentially accessible by employees of the company that is storing your data.
I like in Thackeray's Vanity Fair where he talks to the reader and at one point says "the reader must be writing in his margins 'xxxx' at that", like he expected it. Appreciate the story, im a NEVER MARK BOOKS EVER person but I recently read Jane Eyre and had a cheaper copy and thought ok i'll highlight, now im reading 2 editions of Hardy's Madding Crowd because i bought another to highlight!
i think its important to note that you dont need to do this to every book. i dont annotate to this extent when i read romcoms or similar types of books, sometimes reading is just for like turning your brain off and enjoy the plot!!
I feel very uneasy about marking books, and I certainly would never dog-ear pages. I grew up in a very orthodox Jewish environment where the only books were Holy Books and had to be treated with the greatest of respect. So I guess I am forever influenced by my upbringing. So the only marking I feel comfortable doing is to use a pencil to make a light and minimal line against a paragraph. I also use little sticky flags called Post-it to mage a page that I really want to find easily. As for making notes, I write them in a separate notebook (journal).
Great question. If it's non-fiction, and a book I'm really focused on absorbing, I'll often read a chapter straight through first, then go back and underline. But most of the time I underline and annotate on my first read. I'm basically thinking on the paper. This means a first read will typically take at least three times longer than reading without marking and note-taking.
I do not like writing in books. I figure I need to extract information from a book and put it somewhere I can find it, and make connections to other things I've read. I'd love to do this on index cards but I'm not confident in finding it there any better than in a book. I'm experimenting with the software Obsidian to do this on a computer.
I am one of those people who doesn't like to mark up their books. I have journals full of reading notes. The downside with this, obviously, is locating the journal to match the book when I want to reread. I guess I should put a table of contents/index in each journal. Any advice for people who feel it is sacrilegious to mark up a book?
The only printed publications I write in these days is my sheet music. But then again i read them more than I do other publications. I’m highly interested in preserving my sheet music library for active use for a very long time, even beyond my own lifetime. I use book darts to flag pages rather than folding, #2 graphite pencil or softer, and if ink, archival only. However marking sheet music is very different than any other form of publication, and actually has a pretty rigid set of rules. Ask any music librarian.
I also keep a note book of any words i dont know the definition of especially older novels and write down the meanings youll be suprised how many things you don't know
Seen two books in an auction one that was damaged but un altered and had no markings by the previous owner however the other was very well kept but full of markings from the previous owner. The book with no markings although in rougher condition was more sought after than the book destroyed with markings from the previous owner.
It has been a while since I've read A.K., but I loved it, especially Tolstoy's descriptions of the land through Levin. I kept re-reading those passages. On Anna's suicide, as someone dealing with depression, perhaps the lack of answers and pointlessness is point? Maybe that is too modern a perspective; but, a lot of the novel is about people losing their path to whims, selfishness, and superficial things. In religion, suicide is considered to be deeply selfish, the sign of being absolutely lost. In a more modern context, we know that people with depression can kill themselves on what is perceived to be a whim, even though it may be after decades of masked pain. Tolstoy could be illustrating two ends of the road: finding purpose and drive in God, and losing it altogether.
I was interested about your seeing SJWs in Zarathustra. At the moment I am reading Beyond Good and Evil, Twilight of the Idols, and The Antichrist in an endless rotation, I see them as a trilogy. What I keep having to remind myself is that the books were written 140-ish years ago! Much of what he says applies to today's politicians, media, woke NPCs, and culture generally.
Can you pls guide which pens to use while annotating books.. I'm using a 0.5 Artline pen. I need to know which pens won't damage the paper in the longer run.. thank u
One doubt, one question, I love my everyman library editions and I always wash my hands before even picking any of those books. I do not know how to write in those? I can not gather the courage to annotate any of hardcovers at least, even if they are not Everyman library. Can you seduce me to make my books mine(by annotation and writing name plate and all those kind of things?).
You should get a journaling Bible they have thicker paper, and plenty of room for writing. As I have read through the Bible a couple of times now I often highlight and journal in a journaling Bible.
The tradition of marking books has history - people like William Beckford have been noted for it. But, as a book lover, and a bookbinder, can I emphasise that this presentation if about marking “your books” - I couldn’t bring myself to mark most of my books with anything more than a pencil line in the margin, and would be horrified to get a book from any library (or seller) which had been mutilated - I use an index card which I put the page numbers on (and any words to check on the meanings) and I create a Word document with my notes on - or my Kindle highlights. The first thing I do on starting a new book (physical or ebook) is copy the contents page to my Word document - and I add notes to that. I have done this since about 2006 and have a record of my reading and of the parts of books I have found worthy of noting. It works- for library books also!
I'm curious, how did you film the two shots? They don't seem like they were filmed in the same setting. But wasn't it weird/frustrating/difficult to film separately?
At 50 years old, my eyes are failing me and reading is difficult without the Kindle's flexible font size. I sorely miss the feel of a book in my hands.
Seems like the ideal situation is to buy multiple versions of each book, mark one and collect the other, then get an ebook version for portability. We did it, everybody. I just needed an excuse. 😂 PS That doesn't account for the various translations of Russian books. Don't worry about how many editions of War and Peace I own. 😉
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you missed my personal invention: when you buy a book - put your name and date on the inside cover and a short anecdote about what happened the day you bought it - you can look back a decade later a re-live that particular day - I think this is brilliant and I have done it for three decades now.
What a great idea! ❤
Can you do that with your hardcovers? especially the beautiful everyman library books? I cannot gather enough courage to write in any of my books, can not even fold the pages. But I want to, want to make them mine.
@@ashwanikumarsharma15151You can actually buy post it and write on them so your book will not get “damage”. I feel you for the books that are expensive : I dont want to get them dirty lol
I do that with all of my books, the best way to track memory ❤
And if the book is too pretty to write in, you can always use a post it😊
Thank God someone said something about the Introductions in books. One of my pet peeves is that the first thing you are confronted with while you are starting a new book is some supposed expert telling you how to think before you even see the work. They also will include spoilers and such in there as if you should already know what you are reading. Not sure why its not in the afterword or something, but definitely bugs me.
It should be placed as an addendum, which you can reference with appreciation after you both have shared an experience, or to further understanding if you're stuck, enriching in context and now meaning and relevance. That is how I treat 'introductions', for the reasons you've stated.
Agreed, I only read the Introduction AFTER I've read the book (if at all).
I agree. I don't like to read the introduction until after I have read the book. They tend to be boring and can make me disinterested in reading the book.
😂 I usually ignore the introduction!
Would have appreciated some discussion about which translation of the Bible and which edition and why
I usually do a quick read first, without judgements or analyzing, either a speed read, or audio. Sometimes that makes me realize it's not a book I want to spend more time on (now? ever?), and sometimes it confirms I do want to study this work.
Having studied and taught literature, and worked with thousands of students, I know there are so many reasons, ways, and methods for reading and learning. It all goes back to Aristotle's rhetoric--purpose, audience, and style. I so appreciate you bringing so many books, ways of reading, conversations, encouragement, and community to readers. Well done!
"I don't want to give you a piece of my soul." Wow, hits hard.
When reading fiction, mind maps are useful to track the relationships between characters. I create one map for each fictional book. Helps my memory for quick reviews.
If I had had someone like you for college English courses I would have gotten so much more out of the classes I took. Thank you for putting these nuggets together for those of us who are looking to expand our reading experiences and dive deeper
This is the 2nd time I've listened to this. I'm a lifelong student and as an older senior am wanting to re-read some of the books I read in the past for pleasure or as a student. I've wanted to take notes in my books and never knew how to do it. I love your suggestions and am excited to put them into action. Back in the 1970s, I read Siddhartha in college and have read it several times since. I'm looking forward to reading it again using your VLOG on Siddhartha and using annotations to expand my love of the book. Thanx for sharing your love of books with us!
This is one of the greatest lectures that I've ever listened to. I would say it is a landmark for those who would make the pilgrimage into English Literature, Philosophy, Religion or any number of subjects. Sir, your erudition and penetrating insights have opened new vistas for me. Congratulations on your scholarship and please continue your illuminating workthe sake of your rapt audience, myself included!
Rapt! I agree. I almost have to have my "daily dose" of Ben.
I loved thus video, but I have a horror of marking books as I grew up in a working class home where books were valued, but expensive for all of us.. I early learnt to take my pocket money, and later my newspaper round and Saturday butcher's shop earnings to an old secondhand bookshop. The older woman who owned it became one if my life mentors, putting aside books for me, sometimes letting me have a book that I wanted and didn't have all the price even after discount, so she'd tell me to pay the rest next week, or recommending other books. However, recently I have bought paperbacks for this group and am evolving a method of marking up these books. I don't like dogeared, so have tins of brass book darts which do the sane thing. I still make notes in a journal when reading books from my Everyman , Modern Library or Folio Society collections. I have taken a lot from this video. Thanks Ben for connecting across the generations to an old lady. I very much all you do and am totally immersed in the Hardcore Book Club.
Me too. We were never allowed to write or draw in books and I still can’t get over it and write in books and I’m seventy years old. 😂😂😂
@@Englishroserebecca I'm 78 in October.
Its hard to describe the feeling when you find genuine content. Where what it tries to sale its deep and without a dollar sign. Im amazed by this channel.
I find myself coming back to this video over and over, like a piece of great literature in and of itself!
You definitely have a cool way of annotating your books. It’s not overdone. You’ve captured the essence of the text and what is important to you and your studies. Thx for sharing.
What I learned: Come to a work with purpose but be flexible and open. Take note of what is being said and make observations and ask questions. Engage with the author and bring into the discussion your own thoughts as well as those of other writers and thinkers. Above all enjoy yourself and the learning process!
I would have never marked up a book until a friend of mine shared the concept with me several years back. He also introduced me to Adler's book, "How to Read a Book". Since then, I've been a very active highlighter/note taker/asterisk marker in my reading. You've given me several more tools to use in marking up, so thanks for that! The only downside with marking up a book it that it makes it a bit more difficult to then hand off that book to someone else, which I do quite a bit. I've found myself then buying more copies to give away!
4:58 Create an index with a list of themes or ideas with page numbers that point to theme, 5:47 underlining in conjunction with a thought or a keyword, underline turn of phrase you like, 6:18 use 3 vertical stripes on margin to emphasize a paragraph; 6:44 use asterisks sparingly to emphasize the most important ideas. When rereading, mark up pages where author makes supporting arguments
I've always been squeamish about making notes in books. I think part of that is not wanting to sully great works. And part of it is that I often don't care for the notes I make on things in general - when I return to them I disagree with the insight, or find it pretentious or something like that. So I then feel like subsequent readings are being guided by my notes and guiding me to notice the things that I've already highlighted, and thus lessening the chances of me picking up on things I missed first time round. But after never making notes before I finally decided it would be good to make notes while reading The Brothers Karamazov for the third time. I made notes in a journal and found the act of doing so, in itself, helped me retain more. And it helped me to pull together the key themes and feel like I had a better handle on Dostoevsky's intentions with the novel. So I think I will continue to make notes in the future. However, I think I'll stick to making notes in pads/journals rather than write in the books themselves. And I think I'll only make notes on second and subsequent readings. (albeit, I find it helpful to make some little notes around keeping track of who different characters are and their relationship to other characters. Especially useful in long novels with many characters where I might otherwise spend a lot of time flicking back through the novel trying to track down who this character is that has just reappeared after not being mentioned for 400 pages).
I make most notes in margins in pencil on the first reading. They are often questions to myself about things I don't understand. On subsequent readings I can often answer my own questions. If I said something embarrassing because it's so dumb I'll just erase it.
I do that and then annotate again, in a different colour, to state how my thoughts have changed. I actually love seeing that on further readings (and sometimes further colours are needed).
Don’t be afraid of your initial reaction to a book. There’s nothing stupid about it. If you’re meant to know everything about the end of the book while you’re reading it, there’d be no point in reading it.
I love your comment about being allowed to write silly stuff while annotating, specially in conjunction with what you said about swearing. I'm currently re-reading Pride and Prejudice for the uptenth time, and the other day I found a comment I wrote around 3 years ago that made me laugh out loud. It was something along the lines of "Mary had to learn how to play the piano and practice hard because she fugly"(sic).
When we read and annotate we sometimes take ourselves too seriously and forget that we're supposed to be enjoying the story and the actual reading process.
lol I love this.
I found something similar in The Woman in White where one character was gushing about another and just wrote “simp” in the margin.
This was incredibly useful. I usually use a mix of annotation and typing up notes on OneNote. However, I have always struggled with hierarchy and your ideas may contribute to better organisation. I particularly like the idea of an index.
As an aside, I recently read your blog post on experiencing an Oxford English Literature degree without attending. I often regret not studying English Literature at university and found your suggestions really quite inspiring (I then picked up Othello). So thank you!
Thank you, Russell! So happy you found the video useful. I used to experiment with Evernote myself, and may have to return to a digital-analogue combo. I must say that I've found creating my own index to be one of the most beneficial and enjoyable parts of marking books. It's particularly fun when I share the index with another person and let them pick out topics to dip into. And thanks for checking out that article! No need to regret not studying Literature at university - you can get just as decent an education setting your own reading program for a fraction of the cost. Enjoy Othello! I'm hoping to put out a video on the play soon!
Don't be scared writing in or marking up your books. I just saw a Ryan Holiday video at Daily Stoic. He says, "As I'm reading, I'm either highlighting or writing in the margins. If anyone does this with my books, I consider it to be an honour. You're supposed to be in an argument or discussion. It's a 2-way communication with the author."
Hope that helps, if not for yourself, then anyone else who might have reservations & read this. :)
Just started annotating Laches/Charmides by Plato! I'm halfway through The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, and I may start marking that one too!
You've just inspired me to start a OneNote notebook for my reading. Yes, pen and paper is better for thoughtfulness and remembering (wholeheartedly agree) but being able to search in the notebook across pages and sections (and therefore all my reading notes) will assist in making connections between ideas in a faster way.
I've always adored books, and was raised that you never write in a book. At 50ish, I'm getting over that. Thank you for giving great arguments for annotation. Reverence for books should include reverence for the content, and failing to engage with the material is a bigger sin than writing in the book. After all, it's not like it's the only copy of the book in existence (in the vast majority of cases), but as you point out, it's YOUR copy.
I've always been confused about how to implement Adler's ideas, so these examples are invaluable
Wow! I’m so I,pressed with myself! Lol For years I was a Bible study student and then teacher. I annotated my Bible EXACTLY the way you described!! Basically I outlined the text right there in the book. And I included cross references. And I use boxes, parenthesis, vertical lines as opposed to underlining. I also use different colored pens whenI reread and write down which read has which color. So, for e.g. first read may be purple ink; 2nd read may have black ink; 3rd read may have turquoise. This way I can see what growth takes place. Also, as a child my Mom taught me to NEVER write in a book. And, of course, at school we weren’t allowed to write in text books. Even in college we had to keep pristine so we could sell,back. So getting over writing in a book was a really hard thing for me. First book I wrote in? My Bible. Why? I was in church. Heard something awesome and had no paper! A lifelong habit was broken. Lolol
I totally understand what you said regarding lending annotated books. When I was doing my master I had a textbook that not only was a huge brick, I profoundly disagreed with the author and used annotations as an outlet to all my outrage and sarcastic comments To endure the reading. Two years later a friend ask to borrow it for his class… because it was one of the expensive type of textbook I had to lend it, but felt completely embarrassed doing so… 😂😂
I used to annonate on my books directly as well. I enjoy it very much; however, I did a re-read and it kinda distracted me from the book. Afterwards, I just decided to have a book journal whenever I read.
I always use a straight edge when underlining, if I can. Anthony Madrid says to do that so you don't ruin a book you like. When I don't have a straightedge I try to underline in pencil.
Very nice!! I'll have to use that myself.
Really love the idea. May
I ask in which pieces of Anthony Madrid that he mentioned this?
I do right, and mark up all of my classic literature novels. However, for my general fiction, I generally put all of my notes in my Bookly app. This is really good advice to try as well.
Love THIS lecture. I've always written in my books. I've never discussed with anyone b/c I anticipated gasps and sneers. Now, I also use sticky notes in my good books. I put PG #s and cross-reference pgs in books.
I've become so engaged with some of my books that I've literally glued makeshift index card holders inside the back flap, and use index cards as book marks. I underline, note in the margin, and then note in the current index card bookmark. Once the "bookmark" is full of notes, it gets slid into the makeshift index card holder, which also contains some blank index cards. I then grab one of those blank index cards and it becomes my new bookmark/notebook.
Thanks for encouraging writing in books! So important to a deep reading. We are fortunate that so many books are available to us in cheap, used forms, so we should not feel at all guilty about writing in our own books. And thanks for the advice to do a quick review. Wish I had taken this advice years ago. I've read quite a lot over the years but my memory is not helping me much these days and I'd appreciate a reminder of what my first thoughts were.
You have presented such a helpful guide to reading, understanding, and absorbing books into your soul. Thanks for giving us the freedom to brain storm and make connections to ideas in the books without fear of embarrassment. Many of my "notes" are for my eyes only. This should be required watching for all students of literature and philosophy. Excellent.
I am so glad to have found your content. I love hearing how others go about actively reading. I find that I annotate much more for nonfiction books. But definitely also for literary fiction. I have done a similar process of writing questions/comments, underlining/circling/boxing/starring sections. I’ve also found myself relating books that were written years ago to current events like Covid or politics. Great topic and well presented! Thanks for sharing!
Im grateful for this video. I’m a new but avid reader & I’ve just been highlighting the shit out of every other page until now lol.
I knew there was more I could do but didn’t know where to start. Hopefully I enjoy the process of creating a system of my own🤙
I use yellow sticky notes for my reference. I also just scribble in too left or right on top-that way I go back and use that reference! I do speeches and use the notes for illustrations mostly! I was taught unless you read a book five times you don’t know it! This is absolutely and ridiculously almost correct? Sometimes, more than five with lots of marks and more marks. The book, “How to make young’s stick” is a must to know how to get people to remember what you taught!! Secret, storytelling is the most vid I’d and comprehensive way to get individuals to remember what you just taught!! Read the book, it’s a must.😮
This is so great! I have just started marking infinite jest and I feel Like its really enhancing and adding more colour to the book.
i love sharing annotated copies & would even consider letting someone annotate a book they borrow from me. reading each other's thoughts makes for good discussions.
OMG. Thank you so much for your sharing. You really save me from the struggle of how to take notes on books.
Really appreciate this! I was only reading over “The Great Gatsby”and Fitzgerald’s metaphors require some underlining 💯
Excellent discussion.
Sometimes I've enjoyed s/h books which are already annotated by students.
But it's important not to highlight too much on a page!
I've learned many tips here about annotations and references.
Looking forward to using them!
Thanks.
I've tried writing in books but find it most useful for nonfiction work that I'm planning to teach or otherwise share with others. In other situations, I find that what strikes me as important to emphasize on a first read is obvious to me on a second read, and markings that draw my attention back to what I first found interesting become distracting and impede my efforts to dig deeper. I like coming back to a clean page without past-me trying to tell me how to approach it. Just my experience.
I’m on my second read of The Rosy Crucifixion by Henry Miller and have begun using a few of your ideas on how to annotate my reading. I particularly like the idea of a index in the front. It encapsulates what struck me as important/worth further exploration/similar themes of other authors/unique. Also, I appreciate your method of circling, triple lining, boxing as it vastly improved upon merely underlining/highlighting. Thank you for your podcast.
This is the best video on annotating I have ever seen! Exactly what I was looking for. I was trying to start with On the Genealogy of Morals but didn't know what process to use.
I do not deny but admit: I read on line! On line, I notate, use four highlight colors. I click a word and a dictionary comes up complete with etymological analysis. Program recognizes which language I'm in and translates on demand. Click, click, click. Lazy, lazy, lazy. When I mark a book in hand, I've got a number of "codes" as you describe. Well done, BTW. Many thanks.
Are tribes people good? What about Rousseau's "Nobel savage"?
So glad I found this video. It goes against my upbringing but I’m now making notes in the books I’m currently reading. I started with War and Peace that we’re reading in the HLBC and it’s been a great help in getting me to slow down and really focus on the writing. I haven’t made an index but that’s a great suggestion so will start doing that too. I like the idea of using a different colour pen for subsequent readings and I’ll definitely be reading WAP again.
100% on reading Adler 'how to read a book'. Learned more from that book than from 18 yrs of schooling
This is the most engrossing and honest advice. Thanku so much!!
I really enjoyed your talk about annotating books. I have been watching Lots of you tubers talk about it, but I think yours tends to make a lot of sense to my way of thinking. I usually over-analyze the process, like whether I should write in my expensive hard covers, or I totally scribble a book up, with no real unified plan. So your talk makes me want to jump in, possibly using a variety of approaches, but just doing it! Also, what is your thought on using colors?
Thanks so much, Melody! Glad you enjoyed the video. I used to over-analyse the process too. That's when I was right on the cusp of being a full-fledged annotator. Don't overthink! Take the plunge :) It does feel wrong at first, especially if you do it in an expensive hard cover (that's why I recommend keeping those copies clean), but soon you won't be able to read a book without marking it. I love comparing my recent marked books to books I marked a couple of years ago - you can see me becoming more confident by the pages getting inkier. As for colours, I personally favour just a black pen (preferably the muji kind from Japan), but you certainly could systemise using different colours. I used three different colours whilst studying for finals at Oxford - black, blue, and red. The black was for my personal thoughts, the blue was for linking the thoughts of other critics/books, and red was for linguistic analysis. This made it easier for me to pick out what I needed at a glance.
@@hardcoreliterature9696 to be honest I feel more confused by your video, which sucks cuz you are so cool and smart.
Thank you for sharing tips on how to mark inside literature as well as a quick review of the book you used to get you started on an annotation journey. Have you heard of ESV Single Column Journaling Bible or ESV Journaling Bible, Interleaved Edition? The paper texture/thickness is made for writing and drawing on and the margins are wider with the first one and the latter is a full blank page next to every page with text.
I just bought Adler's " _How To Read A Book_ " a couple of days ago and have started to read it. I will follow what you did. In fact I have already marked some parts of the book. I will be follow my reading with Carnagie's " _How To Win Friends And Influence People_ " and Holiday's " _Daily Stoic_ " (I've just got interested in Stoicism).
I’m on my second read of The Rosy Crucifixion by Henry Miller and have begun using a few of your ideas on how to annotate my reading. I particularly like the idea of a index in the front. It encapsulates what struck me as important/worth further exploration/similar themes of other authors/unique. Also, I appreciate your method of circling, triple lining, boxing as it vastly improved upon merely underlining/highlighting. Thank you for your podcast. 39:18
It is marvellous and it should be taught in schools and this would take the students into a total new higher level. I feelit is the missing part of eduaction at schools. Thanks Benjamin. Love from India
I'm out on a limb here, Benjamin, but I think it's sheer vandalism writing anywhere on a book. I do make notes though, when I consider a book important and one that I will comeback to for further readings. I read reams of non-fiction in research for my own writing and just do it on separate A4 sheets with a simple reference system that allows me to locate the text I am referring to. I keep the notes in the book itself. I agree with you about really owning a book, though. You get that feeling when there is a grubby thumb mark from the hundreds of times you have looked up something in the index. Little items accidentally left behind in a book often remind me of an era in my life or an incident. You often find such items in a secondhand book. I own one famous recent biography that turned out to contain a restaurant receipt showing that the previous owner of the book took the author out for a meal, where and when, and how much it cost them. Intriguing item! Courtship? Probably not because whoever it was has sold the book and now I own it. I keep the restaurant receipt in the book as a bookmark. The book is as good as new.
Great points.
I LOVE this video. Where have you been all my reading life? Thank you for all the useful tips. I’ve been annotating my books in similar ways for many years. The new idea I like is an index in the front. Bravo! What are your thoughts on tabbing? I see a lot of young girls in their 20’s or 30’s (I’m 63 years young) making YT videos about annotating and tabbing fiction - mostly fantasy series. Your video is the first I’ve come across that was a serious discussion about annotating for the rest of us. No offense to fantasy readers and that process. But, I notice you don’t use tabs, which actually seem potentially useful to me. Thoughts? I notice there are no newer videos so I hope you are well and thriving and can return to YT soon as you add much to us readers!
Incredible that we get an oxford teacher/student/professor teaching us, thanks for your time, when you get time, if I were reading an English translation of say Balzac, is the prose subject to the translator understanding of the language concerned? Meaning I read extremely good English in the Balzac prose, how do we know Balzac was as poetic as the interpreter? Same for Tolstoy, Tagore, and so on? In short to see if a work of literature is great, must you know the language it was in originally?
Fantastic video! Started annotating War and Peace.
I am going to read Jane Austens complete works this year, for the first time. I ordered the beautiful leatherbound edition and i will be annotating it to bits.
Another great video! I’ve been binging all your videos again (since I’ve been home with Covid 😩) Ugh I’m still like the second type of reader I’m very weird about my books even paperbacks even as far as wrapping them in contact paper.. But lately I have been buying journals for each author I dig into to write my notes on each novel I read.
Great video! Thoroughly enjoyed and got a lot out of. A few months ago I picked up Russel's History of Western Philosophy and began to take myself on my first more deeper dive in philosophy. I ended up stopping to read Adler's book and was glad I did!
Would you agree with him in that just starting wherever your curious is a good place to begin? It makes sense as someone who isn't studying this is in the classroom, but I also consider, particularly with philosophy, the way that thought and ideas have developed over time. They all reference eachother, so with time you sit down with all of them I suppose.
Cheers!
I freely admit I’m the second reader. Having grown up at a time when librarians and teachers forbid marking in books, I just can’t. In college it pained me to mark up my text books…granted I knew I wouldn’t keep many of them. I’m in my 50s and I’m not sure I can transition to marking them. I’ll watch the rest of the video now. Ha!
I am older than you and I strongly share your sentiments about not marking up books. Let me tell you how I've managed to broach this issue. What I do is make a small dot (about the size of a normal period mark) in the margin and in pencil next to the passage I want to make note of. Then I write the page number of this note on one of the back flyleaves of the book (also in pencil). I might include one or two words to explain why I am citing it, but most of the time I don't. If I ever return to this book, even years later, and look up those notes I will remember why I recorded them. If I found a passage important enough to note once I will recognize its importance even years later. Another thing I disagree with is how they now allow people to talk at full volume in libraries (at least where I live in the U.S.A.). I've been in the library where people are holding conversations loud enough to be heard within earshot of people who are trying to concentrate on literary investigations or study.
Am starting out with a few kindle books until I get through my To Be Read stack. Then I will be moving back to physical books. I will likely have a look at Against Nature with this technique first.
Could you expand on what you discuss at around 08:00 in regard to first-pass and second-pass readings? I was never taught this and find myself doing a deep read the first time through with no second pass - at least not until I re-read the text at some indefinite point in the future.
Omg you're the first person I've heard of who has the same problem with annotations that I have as well. I try to only buy used copies to mark it up and if I really like the book I'll buy a nicer new edition. I've always been called OCD for keeping my books as nice as possible but I always figured "I paid for the book, why would I damage my own property?" Post-it notes help a ton as well.
I was type 3# reading finding Alaska I marked it up quotes questions I had for the author it did make the experience better an meaningful an special in its self
I am afraid of marking books only because my family might open one of them and see whatever I love or whatever the heck I am finding interesting. I am shy ;;;
Instead whichever the paragraphs i find interesting I just copy them into my notebook as if I wrote them ... Is this fine ? 😅
I think Oxford editions are ideal for this, cheap and cheerful. Great video.
I owe everything I know about reading to Mortimer J. Adler ❤️
For sure. He gave me so many useful strategies for reading different genres! Loved How to Read a Book! Read it twice actually.
Adler is great! Have you read from his "Syntopicon"?
Post it notes are a saviour when u don't want too mark the book , I write on those and stick them on the page instead
9/2022 Just watched your informative video. I appreciate your work. I am currently marking up the book Josephus The Jewish War. Thank you for providing clarification and assistance in marking and reading books.
17:37 - It really was worth marking
I've had instructors who stress reading the introductions to works.I seldom do unless it's history.
Thank you! This is great.
But my wife and kids also read my books. I use Joplin for keeping notes. I chose Joplin because the notes are stored on my computer, with auto backup to another hard drive. Other note taking software stores the notes in the cloud, so potentially accessible by employees of the company that is storing your data.
I like in Thackeray's Vanity Fair where he talks to the reader and at one point says "the reader must be writing in his margins 'xxxx' at that", like he expected it. Appreciate the story, im a NEVER MARK BOOKS EVER person but I recently read Jane Eyre and had a cheaper copy and thought ok i'll highlight, now im reading 2 editions of Hardy's Madding Crowd because i bought another to highlight!
Story lol, i mean appreciate the video*
i think its important to note that you dont need to do this to every book. i dont annotate to this extent when i read romcoms or similar types of books, sometimes reading is just for like turning your brain off and enjoy the plot!!
I feel very uneasy about marking books, and I certainly would never dog-ear pages. I grew up in a very orthodox Jewish environment where the only books were Holy Books and had to be treated with the greatest of respect. So I guess I am forever influenced by my upbringing. So the only marking I feel comfortable doing is to use a pencil to make a light and minimal line against a paragraph. I also use little sticky flags called Post-it to mage a page that I really want to find easily. As for making notes, I write them in a separate notebook (journal).
Incredible Vid, thank you a lot. Was looking for something like that for ages! ;-) A great pleasure for all 39min!
Should you underline on a first read? Or should you only underline on re-reads? That's a question I had going into this video
Great question. If it's non-fiction, and a book I'm really focused on absorbing, I'll often read a chapter straight through first, then go back and underline. But most of the time I underline and annotate on my first read. I'm basically thinking on the paper. This means a first read will typically take at least three times longer than reading without marking and note-taking.
@@hardcoreliterature9696 Question, when did reading become this hustle? This work intensive activity?
@@hardcoreliterature9696 and how many copies of hardback books you have?
That was really detailed. Thank You.
Actually you could use this method for studying any subject
I do not like writing in books. I figure I need to extract information from a book and put it somewhere I can find it, and make connections to other things I've read. I'd love to do this on index cards but I'm not confident in finding it there any better than in a book. I'm experimenting with the software Obsidian to do this on a computer.
I am one of those people who doesn't like to mark up their books. I have journals full of reading notes. The downside with this, obviously, is locating the journal to match the book when I want to reread. I guess I should put a table of contents/index in each journal. Any advice for people who feel it is sacrilegious to mark up a book?
The only printed publications I write in these days is my sheet music. But then again i read them more than I do other publications. I’m highly interested in preserving my sheet music library for active use for a very long time, even beyond my own lifetime. I use book darts to flag pages rather than folding, #2 graphite pencil or softer, and if ink, archival only. However marking sheet music is very different than any other form of publication, and actually has a pretty rigid set of rules. Ask any music librarian.
I also keep a note book of any words i dont know the definition of especially older novels and write down the meanings youll be suprised how many things you don't know
Seen two books in an auction one that was damaged but un altered and had no markings by the previous owner however the other was very well kept but full of markings from the previous owner. The book with no markings although in rougher condition was more sought after than the book destroyed with markings from the previous owner.
It has been a while since I've read A.K., but I loved it, especially Tolstoy's descriptions of the land through Levin. I kept re-reading those passages.
On Anna's suicide, as someone dealing with depression, perhaps the lack of answers and pointlessness is point? Maybe that is too modern a perspective; but, a lot of the novel is about people losing their path to whims, selfishness, and superficial things. In religion, suicide is considered to be deeply selfish, the sign of being absolutely lost. In a more modern context, we know that people with depression can kill themselves on what is perceived to be a whim, even though it may be after decades of masked pain. Tolstoy could be illustrating two ends of the road: finding purpose and drive in God, and losing it altogether.
I was interested about your seeing SJWs in Zarathustra. At the moment I am reading Beyond Good and Evil, Twilight of the Idols, and The Antichrist in an endless rotation, I see them as a trilogy. What I keep having to remind myself is that the books were written 140-ish years ago! Much of what he says applies to today's politicians, media, woke NPCs, and culture generally.
Great content! Thank you for sharing.
So many great ideas!
Can you pls guide which pens to use while annotating books.. I'm using a 0.5 Artline pen. I need to know which pens won't damage the paper in the longer run.. thank u
One doubt, one question, I love my everyman library editions and I always wash my hands before even picking any of those books. I do not know how to write in those? I can not gather the courage to annotate any of hardcovers at least, even if they are not Everyman library. Can you seduce me to make my books mine(by annotation and writing name plate and all those kind of things?).
You should get a journaling Bible they have thicker paper, and plenty of room for writing. As I have read through the Bible a couple of times now I often highlight and journal in a journaling Bible.
The tradition of marking books has history - people like William Beckford have been noted for it. But, as a book lover, and a bookbinder, can I emphasise that this presentation if about marking “your books” - I couldn’t bring myself to mark most of my books with anything more than a pencil line in the margin, and would be horrified to get a book from any library (or seller) which had been mutilated - I use an index card which I put the page numbers on (and any words to check on the meanings) and I create a Word document with my notes on - or my Kindle highlights. The first thing I do on starting a new book (physical or ebook) is copy the contents page to my Word document - and I add notes to that. I have done this since about 2006 and have a record of my reading and of the parts of books I have found worthy of noting. It works- for library books also!
I'm gonna mark the hell out of Meditations
I'm curious, how did you film the two shots?
They don't seem like they were filmed in the same setting. But wasn't it weird/frustrating/difficult to film separately?
I take separate notes and then I usually digitize them. I... Haven't brought myself to mark up a book yet. That's a hurdle for me.
At 50 years old, my eyes are failing me and reading is difficult without the Kindle's flexible font size. I sorely miss the feel of a book in my hands.
you should talk more about Frankl.
Nevermind, I just found your video and podcast episode on him
So smug, it's difficult to get past to the bit of advice, but I'm powering through!
Thought the same
Seems like the ideal situation is to buy multiple versions of each book, mark one and collect the other, then get an ebook version for portability. We did it, everybody. I just needed an excuse. 😂 PS That doesn't account for the various translations of Russian books. Don't worry about how many editions of War and Peace I own. 😉