Kaggsy’s post recently (here) reviewed this book and serendipitously it is the first book of a second book club I have joined entitled ‘Books we’ve always meant to read’.
It gave me a good beginning point before picking this book up myself. At the same time I was cruising through some literature sites on You Tube and came across Benjamin McEvoy’s videos. He is a young, Oxford educated man in literature who has a passion for great literature. His enthusiasm is contagious and I watched several of his videos. He has more than 93,000 subscribers. He discusses the ways in which he reads the difficult books of the past in various ways so he remembers it all. He talks about having conversations with the author through the use of marginalia. I quite like that term. I have never been one to write in books. But after digressing to other you tubers who discuss marginalia and seeing the benefits they get from it I decided to try it with the Winter’s Night book. The suggestion is to have a conversation with the author as one reads about 10 pages at a time. Make comments, ask questions, note your observations about what is being observed.
It was stated repeatedly as we studied in school we would highlight lines of text in our books , then keep reading as we studied. Teachers encouraged this, but unless you went back and took additional notes from that text, who ever remembered what they had highlighted. I am not 20 pages into this book and using a pencil (I still can’t come at using ink) , I really got into it. I am finding it really fun. It is as if Calvino is sitting in the room and we are actually discussing his book. I am easily remembering what I read and as this book has a very unusual style I am still right on track. One you tuber stated he did not think writing in books should be a sacrilege. If he were an author he would be flattered the written conversations were occurring. He saw it as a tribute to the author. Now, having said that, there are books of beauty, gemerally hardcover with gorgeous photographs and illustrations and we may not want to mark those up but the humble paperback should be one of our friends who we converse with.
I have to say I am enjoying the process very much. My question to you is- do you imbibe in marginalia? Or are you one of those readers that can read the most difficult of texts and remember and understand immediately everything you read because I certainly can’t. If marking up paperback books gives me this gift I think it will become a new and common practise for me. I’d love to know your opinion on the topic of marginalia. And if you love the old classics give Benjamin McEvoy a listen. Just to be infected with his enthusiasm and love of these old books.
Travellin' Penguin 
I’ve got bright, colorful highlighting and writing on almost every page of Andy Warhol’s Diaries!!!!!
That photo at the top of this post is amazing!
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Ah, thanks for the link Pam, and I’m glad you’re enjoying the book. I went down a McEvoy shaped rabbit hole too – he’s very enthusiastic and really does inspire me to read classics.
As for marginalia, I don’t write in my books. I get the idea, and I suppose with a paperback I might consider it, but I would never write in one of my nicer ones. I used to just shove post-its in them, but now I keep a notebook and write down references to quotes and another responses to the book. For the Calvino I had pages, and it did help me gather my thoughts about it. I find this preferable to writing in them, and I’ve even started separate notebooks for Middlemarsh and Dickens!
But I do accept we’re all different, and whatever floats your boat, as they say! 😀
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Nope. I never write in books. A friend once lent me a book, which he had annotated and underlined heavily throughout, which rendered it unreadable. Apart from anything else, he used vivid green ink which was distracting, to say the least.
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I could see that would be annoying to some but I quite enjoy seeing what others write in a book… but green ink.😄
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I was always a marginalia when studying.
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Firstly, yes, I’ve had a look at quite a few of McEvoy’s videos, and I find his insights interesting. But as with all things audio, I need to be doing something else at the same time, that is, I only listen when I’m doing something boring (e.h. blog housekeeping).
As to marginalia, when Sue from Whispering Gums and I are on different sides of the fence on this one. She does, I never do. The humble paperback idea doesn’t work for me now that paperbacks are not cheap or humble, and either I keep them in which case I want them unmarked for a re-read, or they’re going to an OpShop or Little Library and those readers deserve an unmarked copy too.
However I do hear what you say about having a dialogue with the author, especially with an author like Calvino. I achieve the same thing with a reading journal, in varying formats. Sometimes I just copy a short excerpt (2-3 lines & the page number and I’m careful to use inverted commas in case I ever quote it on the blog) to comment on; and sometimes, I just list page numbers of examples of recurring topics, symbols, whatever. But in terms of having a dialogue, what helps me to make sense of and remember whatever it is, I write a brief summary of what the author has written, so that gets cemented in the brain. It’s the rewriting of his words in my own which forces me to capture my interpretation of what he’s said that is powerful. Then I write my response to it, which often makes its way into the blog.
But hey, whatever works for you is what’s best!
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I like the idea of writing directly on the book as I don’t need to juggle a journal but I know many use journals. If I’m at a table that’s ok.
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