Do You Write in Your Books?

Last week  my friend Gabrielle dropped off several boxes of books.  She and her husband have to move to England and they can't take everything along. (To be honest, I can't feel sorry for them). In one box I discovered one of my favorite books, and apparently a favorite of at least one other reader - Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.  Gabrielle, or perhaps a reader of two before her, wrote in this book. Nearly every page has underlined passages and margin notes.  "Don't use commas like a stupid person" - how can you beat a rule like that?  This reader got especially excited with the chapters on commas and apostrophes, dotting pages with exclanation marks, highlights, and emotional reactions including "Yikes", "Huh?" and "No way, no way."  Got me thinking, do you write in your books?

There's a name for it, you know, marginalia.  As school children we feared that "defacing" our textbooks would bring the wrath of God upon us. In the case of textbooks and library books that might happen.   Now, if you own the book that's a different story.  Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were notorious marginaliers.  And Studs Terkel, the documentation of the working class, admonished readers for not writing in margins, insisting that reading is active, not passive, and requires reader-writer interaction.  While imprisoned, Nelson Mandela circulated a copy of Julius Caesar among the inmates, many of whom marked favorite passages.

Yup. I write in books.  The habit began when I read William Manchester's Death of a President.  I found the book complex and the vocabulary challenging.  Margins burst with definitions and questions I hoped the author would answer as the pages turned.  For me, this habit has become a kind of art form.  I use arrows, dots, flowers, boxes, circles, and the occasional smiley face.  Books are marked up with whatever color pen or marker I grab.  Maybe someday, another reader will open my colorful  used books and think about my comments.  Perhaps the reader will add to them, or mentally debate with me.  I hope that happens.

Oh, one extra note, used books with margin notes have become quite desirable in the resale market, and the prices for them have risen in accordance.  I like to think this means we are interested in one another - open to opinions, and ideas - Hmmmm, really?  Who knew?  Now that's something to think about.

Thanks for stopping by.