A local columnist, usually unsentimental-to-a-fault, surprised us the other day when he expressed the opinion that one shouldn't write in books.
Chicago Sun-Times writer Neil Steinberg says he's not sure he's right揺e acknowledges that people he admires write in books, including another local writer, Studs Terkel傭ut he holds to his point:
"I always assumed that writing in books was a form of vandalism, a crass act committed by callow students underlining passages that might be on the test and speckling the margins with their lame epiphanies of 'How true!'"
This preciousness about books優on't fold over the page corners, Don't write in them and Don't ever, ever, ever throw one away no matter how bad it is擁s the product of a time when books and were scarcer than they are today and when information was infinitely scarcer.
Am I attached to some of my books? Yes. But I've never ruined a book I've loved by writing too much in it or folding over corners. In fact, the more I've loved the book, the more wonderfully worn out it is. And if my margin scribbling reveals a college student thrilled beyond self-consciousness to discover ideas for the first time, it's probably good for me to hear that kid's voice every once in awhile, too.
So I'm going to teach my baby to use a book like her favorite pair of blue jeans.
What about you?
Comments (4)
Absolutely agree with you David. In fact, a number of my friends and I write comments and thoughts for each other, then pass the book along and add more comments. It's almost like a book/journal.
I enjoy reading a book my husband has read and reading his comments or underlines and wondering why that certain phrase struck him. It makes the whole process of reading more personal for me - making a great habit even greater.
Posted by EB | May 23, 2005 5:17 PM
Posted on May 23, 2005 17:17
That's an interesting concept: A lo-tech wiki.
Once in the train station in Venice I saw a couple reading a book together. When he was through with a page, he'd tear it out and hand it to her.
Posted by David Murray | May 23, 2005 10:29 PM
Posted on May 23, 2005 22:29
Depends on the book: some I write in, some I don't. Reference books get written in and highlighted, have the corners of their pages turned down, etc. with abandon. And you're right that it's interesting to look back at your scrawlings of earlier years, and see what phrases struck you and what you made of them.
I find that if I've written in a book, it becomes difficult to see anything on that page besides what I noticed and marked the first time. So if I think I'll want to read the book again (and see it in a new way), I don't make permanent marks. Yet another great use for Post-It notes.
Posted by Jennifer | May 24, 2005 12:50 PM
Posted on May 24, 2005 12:50
Yeah, that's the downside. And I really don't do a ton of scribbling in my books, anymore.
I just object to the book prigs who think it should be against the law.
Posted by David Murray | May 24, 2005 9:58 PM
Posted on May 24, 2005 21:58