21st Century Literature discussion
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Do you make notes as you read?
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No notes for me. Too much work and I read slow enough as it is. I read for enjoyment, not to feel like I am in school again. Besides I have way too much paper around this house already! :-)(I did do alot of highlighting in a giant history book I read recently though)
I do a lot of workshopping, or used to, back when I was a writer. And I'd make notes when reading critically. Things to put into reviews.But when I read just to read, no notes.
If I'm reading something on my Nook I have been finding myself using the highlight function if a phrase catches my eye.For The Sense of an Ending, I jotted a few notes down as I was reading it because I grabbed a copy from the library. As this month's discussion of the book continues however, I'm kicking myself for not taking better notes.
usually don't make notes unless I find a very memorable quote.
I am sometimes moved by a particularly interesting or beautiful set of words. Also sometimes I want to dialogue with the text & need to write my responses to the text.
Ellie, the dialogue thing you mention sounds interesting! I've never thought of doing that.Jason, I've only ever read ebook that have something to do with my studies and I love how easy it is to search the book for a word or a phrase and how easy it is to find interesting things that I've highlighted... I can't see why I've never thought that I could use the same thing for recreational reading!
Sometimes I find I'd like to write down an aptly formed sentence or dialogue or something... I used to do that sometimes but then I realised that when I got back to my notes later on, it was difficult to put the excerpt into context and on its own it somehow wasn't as good as it was when I first read it.
When reading for pleasure I rely on memory. Notes and note taking are purely an occupational hazard and occur only at work when it imperative to keep minutiae’s and timing straight. I am a relative slow reader but in compensation for my lack of speed I remember most of what I read and can retain it for a considerable amount of time. I often read in different languages but that doesn’t seem to affect the longevity of my memory.
If I'm participating in a group discussion of a book then I might make some notes, especially if I've read ahead.
I'm terrible and too read fast, often desperate to get to the end of a book. Therefore I quite often forget bits so I find a combination of some notes and other peoples thoughts helps me understand the books I read a bit more
I'm terrible and too read fast, often desperate to get to the end of a book. Therefore I quite often forget bits so I find a combination of some notes and other peoples thoughts helps me understand the books I read a bit more
The only time I take notes (or highlight in e-reader) is when I'm reading a book for discussion. When reading strictly for pleaasure I don't want to be distracted or taken away by note taking. It has come in handy for discussion though.
I have to keep notes! My memory is not what it should be. In particular, I can never remember characters - who they are, when they appeared (and in what context). This is what comes of reading too quickly and in the middle of the night...
I usually underline passages I would like to remember, provided that the book is mine... ;)@ Sophia: Haha, my memory is exactly the same according to characters. Hence I sometimes try to draw the constellation of the main characters. That helps me remembering their names and how they are related.
yeah, keeping track of characters with notes is a good idea, esp. in novels with lots of characters that have difficult to remember names (like Russian or Spanish). I remember reading Hundred Years of Solitude long ago and getting a little frustrated at the recycling of character names over the generations.
Usually, if I'm not taking notes--underlining lines, writing marginalia, and jotting character notes--it's a sign that I might not be too crazy about what I'm reading. My books tend to become embarrassingly littered with my thoughts! Underlining, starred lines, even boxes around the best pieces of writing. I try to buy used hardcovers to anticipate the notes, banking on extra space, for those I am expecting to enjoy thoroughly.
James E. wrote: "...I remember reading Hundred Years of Solitude long ago and getting a little frustrated at the recycling of character names over the generations."Try the Icelandic Sagas. How many Thorgils, Thorsteins, Egils, Eiriks, Ulfs, Kveldulfs and Thorulfs can one reader take!?
Actually, do read them though, they're awesome.
Julie wrote: "I sometimes try to draw the constellation of the main characters. That helps me remembering their names and how they are related. "Like a sort of mind-map. What a good idea. Thank you.
I don't usually take notes, although if a passage I read inspires something else, such as verse or a musical idea (I'm a composer) then I drop everything to write it down for later.
Smiley faces have become common in recent months in my books. Those started a while back when I was trying to see what authors/phrases captured the beauty and diversity of the clouds in the sky (a sight I particularly love) and I started sketching a little puffy cloud in the margin alongside whenever a description caught my attention. (If one had been born blind, could any author have conveyed the magic of the sky in words?)I have long been one to underline in my own books; some marginalia, often snide when I do. I do also have a WORD template I sometimes use when I really am being diligent -- but most of the time, read fast, for pleasure, without notes. Still, every drawer near where I read had better have colored post-it flags.
(Hi! New to this group!) I've started making brief notes as I read since I've been writing reviews of what I read (I've not added any reviews to GR, yet, but they are on my blog). Depending on the book, sometimes it will just be page references for beautiful or otherwise stand-out quotations, sometimes it will be passing thoughts in reaction to something I have just read it. Often my opinion alters dramatically from start to finish, so earlier notes are sometimes eschewed entirely when it comes to cobbling together my review; but on other occasions I find it a useful aide memoir and the notes which otherwise might have slipped my mind help me to form my eventual opinion.
I remember once going through a Chekov's play and circling every word 'clock' and 'newspaper' with a pencil and then later going through those markings to discern a pattern. ^__^; It was effective but somehow... brutal.
So, I was wondering, do you guys make notes as you read? What kind of notes? Mindmaps? Do you have a notebook for them or do you end up having a collection of receits and candy wrappers filled with messy notes? What kind of things do you write down? Are you trying to find motifs, do you want to follow the development of the theme, are you using the notes as a way to keep track of different characters or are you interested in stylistic devices? All of those? None of those?