
A Weapon for Readers (2014) - Tomte
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2014/12/03/weapon-for-readers/
======
voidhorse
I just recently, _finally_ , began annotating my books and dog-earing pages
after having run the gamut of other annotative methods--taking notes on my
phone, taking notes in a corresponding notebook for the text, using index
markers/sticky flags, etc. etc. Direct annotation is by far the best and most
effective method I've found unless I intend on conducting an _ultra_ close
reading of a text, in which case I will take detailed notes in a notebook, in
addition to annotating the pages directly.

A sort of paranoid fear of distorting my subsequent readings of a book has
always made me hesitate marking them directly--a second reading is often a
chance to catch subtitles you missed the first time around--I've always feared
that having my annotations screaming at me while reading would render finding
these subtitles impossible, those slippery nuggets making their escape under
rivers of pen ink.

Ultimately, I couldn't deny myself the inherent use-value of direct annotation
--so it won out over my fear. Yes, it's true that my annotations will perhaps
make me miss things I otherwise might've noticed on a second read, but they'll
also remind me of ideas I'd previously had which might've otherwise been lost
to time, or are more difficult to parse out and re-associate with a given
piece of text using the other methods.

So I accede to the wisdom of DFW, a great lot of famous scribblers, and Tim
Parks; I read with pen in hand and ink on page.

~~~
gukov
An ebook reader that lets you annotate using a stylus and then subsequently
disable/enable the annotations seems like a good middle ground.

~~~
nekopa
Not an ebook reader per se, but goodreader on iOS is by far the best pdf note
taking app around. Not only does it have a gamut of styles of highlighting,
but then you can export the whole mess and it makes for a wonderful synopsis
of a book, complete with page references.

------
WalterBright
I inherited my dad's book collection. The more interesting ones (to me) are
the ones where he wrote notes in the margins, often amplifying or disagreeing
with the author.

------
andrewflnr
On one hand, I'm in favor of critical thinking. On the other, I kind of want
to say "just leave me alone and let me enjoy the book!"

------
adambmedia
Didn't Warren Buffet say that Benjamin Graham's margin-annotated Intelligent
Investor, or was it, Security Analysis, was his most prized possession.

Otherwise, what funny coincidence in the examples of this article: C.S. Lewis
"Lion ..." which I just finished reading to my daughter yesterday, and DFW,
who we just finished electing Pres. Gentle.

The Great Concavity - it's coming.

------
camgunz
My first thought was, "wow, what a wonderful excuse to buy a really nice
edition and also the paperback to just carry with you and mark up". Yeah
ereaders and so on, but as users of notebooks know there's no substitute for
pen/pencil and paper.

