I see this on booktube all the time, people “working” through novels with notes, marks, highlights etc. like it is a textbook. But it’s not. You do not need to find the central hypothesis, arguments and data points in a Darcy Coates novel like it is Immanuel Kant.
Instead, you should read it start to finish, enjoy the prose, the narrative flow and treat it as what it is, entertainment.
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It’s art. And also entertainment. And if it resonates with them, why not?
I like writing “this is trash” and other unhelpful comments in books that are particularly offensive.
They enjoy doing it. Why do you care? Let them have their fun
If that’s how they enjoy a book, then it’s not a waste of time.
Some people like to understand things
And this affects you in what way, exactly?
There really is no wrong way to read books.
It takes me out of the full immersive experience of reading a book but Its fine if others do it
This isn’t even an opinion. It’s just wrong. It’s not a waste of time for people who enjoy books by annotating them.
If they’re creating content they need to do that for references in the future.
Don’t yuck people’s yums. If that’s how they read that’s how they read. YOU don’t have to do that, but THEY can
Ideally, I have the time to read freely first. Then, I comb through it a second time to analyze more deeply.
I don’t watch booktube and I don’t know who Darcy Coates is. But I make notes on novels when I think there’s something to be learned. Sometimes it’s an odd decision made by the author that I want to understand better. Sometimes a novel is absorbing, but I can’t at first see what it’s about. Sometimes I love a novel but don’t understand why. Sometimes I need to lead the discussion at my book club, so I need to find some interesting questions to ask. If I find it worthwhile to work on these things by annotating, I don’t get how that hurts you.
“thinking about things is a waste of time” is basically the most popular opinion there is so you’re in good, stupid company
If no one is forcing you to do it then why care what others do with their novels?
Well this definitely a TIL situation, I had no idea.
It makes a lot more sense when you’re going to be making a video discussing the book after.
I think it’s funny when you post an unpopular opinion and people come on here like OMG WOW OP YOU’RE SO ANGRY LET PEOPLE LIVE AND ENJOY LIFE THE WAY THEY WANT TO YOU SHOULD REALLY SEEK THERAPY.
As if… this isn’t a page about unpopular opinions.
That being said… I can actually side with this, but some people find SO much joy in annotating books. I’m not one of those people either because I won’t come back to my notes and highlights for any reason. 🙂
Some people like to actually attempt to understand the deeper meaning of a work beyond the obvious, and that’s perfectly ok. Just doing a surface reading is also perfectly ok.
i totally disagree, so upvote!!!
No wrong way to read a book. However, as a high school student who loves reading, im not about to make my hobby into english class. But I do take note of central themes or major character development moments
With all these comments against you I’m surprised you don’t have more upvotes. Maybe they’ve forgotten what sub this is…
Probably a lot of people just “do” things and it would be no different than not. But making notes and such can help with retention so there’s that if you really wanna hang on to those plot points.
How are you supposed to practice literature, the? Do research for literary studies? Doing close readings and writing shit down are the two main pillars of the literary practice, IMO.
If they are reading it for a book club that involves discussion, it could be a really good way to do it.
My niece had to annotate a book for high school. She thought it was super stupid, until she did and realized that different parts jumped out to *her* than her classmates and what she inferred in that was completely different because of that.
All writing makes points. There are many times when the authors don’t even *intend* to make points but they do because they live in a society that affects and shapes them.
And it’s ok if entertainment makes you think. Heck, even Mayor Humdinger on Paw Patrol is a reflection on who we see as a villian and why. They had to change Riley’s vegitable of disgust on Inside Out because other countries do not find broccoli a difficult veggie, rather they find peppers one. That, to me, is insanely curiosity provoking.
Some people enjoy doing that, though. Who are you to tell them to stop doing something they enjoy because you don’t like doing that thing?
“Wasting time”
Dude, it’s a hobby. All hobbies are meant to waste time
As someone who wants to get better at writing, I love highlighting words or passages I find new, well written, or clever. It helps me grow my prose and vocabulary.
I do think some people (especially on social media) do it disingenuously, but I don’t think it’s fair to lump in average joes and janes with social media clout chasers.
I don’t think people do this unless they’re in school. That being said, while I personally think it’s a waste of time and doesn’t sound fun, I don’t think there’s any wrong way to read a book.
Annotating books to me shows that someone is actually READING and digesting the information, instead of just passively skimming it.
And another “I don’t understand why people enjoy this therefore they need to stop doing it” “opinion”.
I have a colleague that has “read” 200 books last year. I asked her how she did it and she said she listened to audiobooks at 3x speed. I tried listening to it but it’s just gibberish but she says she understands all
It makes you engage a lot more. I prefer to just let the words wash over me without a lot of thought (I’m definitely a “read for the plot, not the writing” guy), but if I do annotate I think a lot more about the structure and words and about the choices made by the writer in general.
It’s not about needing to do it. It’s about wanting to do it. I don’t personally do it. But then people who do aren’t keeping me up at night.
Congrats on actually posting something in this sub that’s going to get you attacked in almost every comment instead of the boring old “pretending your opinion is the unpopular one”. Well done. 👏
And if you read Kant like it is Darcy Coates, it’s a you problem. But you haven’t read Kant, so it’s fine.
I kinda agree with you. It doesn’t help that the only person I know irl who does this is also just super pretentious. In reality they haven’t finished reading a book in years. Just feels like performative reading.
I do it with warhammer novels so I can find quotes and important lore easily, only after reading it through once for enjoyment
What if they’re writers trying to learn from their favourite books?
OP would not believe that some of us write essays for fun lol
I actually do need to do those things to discuss the books on my podcast but okay.
I disagree. Lots of people do that because it helps them be active listeners. It helps them engage with the story and not just be a passive observer.
I agree with you.
Some people comprehend and enjoy books more by slowing down and annotating. It’s called thinking and yes it’s enjoyable too.
Lots of students have to do this (highlight and annotate) as a class assignment.
I do it so when my daughter grows up and reads my books, it’ll be like she’s having a conversation with me.
i annotate my books and it’s what makes reading fun for me and helps me to process certain aspects of the novel. for example, right now im reading ‘my husband’ by Maud Ventura, and the narrator is super unreliable and it’s been really fun to delve into why she speaks the way she does, why she thinks that way, and what character traits i see of myself. it definitely makes my reading slower, but im significantly more engaged in reading
I don’t particularly care what other people do with their books. I personally only annotate textbooks, but it’s not my business if people decide to annotate novels. One thing I don’t really understand is adding short reactions like “lol” or “wow” without really elaborating on it, but 🤷♀️ maybe it’s fun to look back on?
Ooof this is an interesting one. While I don’t necessarily disagree fully. I do take issue with the notion that reading a book is only “entertainment”. Which I feel even you OP recognize as you highlighted (pun intended) Kant. At the end of the day what reading any particular thing is will be determined by the reader. Yes, most of the time with non fiction we’re reading for entertainment, but not always. Critical analysis is absolutely a reasonable thing to do even with books meant to be “entertainment”.
I do agree that generally people should sit down and read a book fully, without notes, before attempting being critical of it. That said, this applies even to things like Kant. IMO we should read philosophy books the same way as we would Harry Potter. Read it and immerse yourself in it, then go back and begin critical analysis of it as you wish.
That said this notion that there is a right or wrong way to engage in reading a book is absurd. The simple truth is we want people to read more, so if telling people that there is no wrong way to read a book leads to more people reading more books, then I say awesome!
I make notes in a separate notebook as I’m reading, I like writing essays so it’s good to have page references if the book inspired me to write one.
The enemy of my high school English teacher is my friend
But booktubers do need to take notes about the books they’re reading, because they’re probably going to make videos about them.
The worst part is when you buy a used book online and then it shows up with a full-on exegesis in the margins of your new-to-you copy of Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties (novelization).
You clearly haven’t read Sophie’s World
Or any Dan Brown book for that matter.
Unpopular opinion: Sometimes People Have Fun Wrong
When I ready lord of the rings I kept a piece of paper in the book (I had the hardcover with all three volumes together in it). I would jot down names and a couple bullets of who they were because there is a lot to keep track of the first read. I have read them 3 times, each time I find a bunch of new stuff I didn’t remember from the last time.
For things like this where I want to get totally lost in the world it helps my comprehension and thus increases the immersion for me anyway.
I know why people do it but it’s one of those things that will always seem weird to me. It feels too much like studying. And what happens when you want to re-read? Are you constantly interrupted by your own notes? You don’t get to experience the story again and maybe discover new things.
Let people enjoy things
If you’re reading a multiple book series, it can be very helpful for remembering minor facts or theories as you go through. Remembering and finding a minor detail from book 1 when you’re on book 7 is so difficult if you don’t highlight or make notes.
My wife and I are reading the same series through Kindle, and it’s great for discussions. I highlight things and make notes, and then when she gets to that spot, we can share thoughts.
If you’re just reading a medium length standalone novel, I agree it’s probably unnecessary.
Bitching about how other people enjoy books is a waste of time
i mean, this fits the sub, i guess
Some people enjoy finding the central hypothesis, arguments, and data points. I’m definitely not one of them and most people are not but to each their own.
I always hated annotating
I use a Kindle to highlight words I don’t understand. It gives me more context. I understand the story far better knowing how the protagonist feels
Bro has clearly never tried reading Infinite Jest
In my opinion, everything truly fun is a waste of time. If there are too many productive components, or if there is too much of a point in doing it, then it’s just work.
They are doing that because they make videos about it
I tend to agree with you, because I generally read novels to turn the page — to see what happens next. I’ve never been one to spend a lot of time thinking about literary devices, subtext, symbolism, etc. while reading, as it takes me out of the immersion of the story.
That said, the first Hemingway book I read was The Sun Also Rises. It was a bit of a slog for me, because I just couldn’t understand the basic conflict, >!why Barnes and Lady Brett couldn’t be together. !< When I finally finished it, for some reason couldn’t get it out of my head. After a couple weeks, I decided to read some analysis and critique, and realized that >!Barnes’s ‘war wound’ that gets mentioned several times left him impotent.!<It was never explicitly stated in the text, it was all subtext. I immediately reread with that context and was able to enjoy the novel for the piece of greatness that it is. Had I been reading more “actively” the first time around, I might have picked up on it the first time.
I write, and if I’m ever making notes about a book I’m edited sentence structure or replacing words as practice for myself. It’s actually very helpful.
Well, your blatant gatekeeping aside, it’s not how I’d read. Stopping to take notes pulls you out of the fictive dream.
I don’t think I know enough readers for this to be pertinent in my everyday life, sadly
What if people’s memory works better broken up into segments instead of your idealistic monolithic approach?
The flaw in your argument is assuming it’s getting in the way of “naturally” enjoying a piece of entertainment. For someone people, doing that annotating and analyzing is fun.
I read nonfiction and do it to save to a doc later for research papers that support my ideas. So not a waste of time for me. Take my upvote.
There is a point for booktubers, because they’re basically making book report content, it’s simply useful to have that page you want to talk about marked so that you don’t need to look for it afterwards.
For for me… I enjoy when my books have those integrated bookmark strips, that’s all.
Passively reading books for entertainment is totally fine. Actively reading books to develop critical thinking skills and learn how to create/support a logical argument based on the info you have is also really important.
Some people just like doing it for everything they read and it keeps those skills sharp.
Im sorry you cant comprehend the enjoyment of engaging deeply with what you consume. I guarantee the people doing it on tiktok are just being performative but in a vacuum thats an admirable practice.
thing is a lot of people enjoy doing it. if anything, i think it’s a GOOD thing to actively engage with what you’re reading
Some people are really into analyzing I guess. I guess it makes sense for more thoughtful contemporary fiction but I’d be weirded out if they did it for a basic romance novel.
It helps me concentrate. My focus has gotten pretty bad because of how the world is today—I used to concentrate much better as a kid, before social media and short videos took over.
I can only enjoy books when I’m actually able to read them, and the only way I can do that is by taking notes. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
Some people enjoy thinking about things.
There are different types of reading.
I just think its fun and i like being able to draw my eyes to parts I think stood out to me in the past when i reread
First off, I appreciate the discussion. That’s why I wanted to add some points:
· Some people in the comments mentioned good reasons why a person might make notes like for a book club, wanting to become an author or (regarding booktube) as prep for the actual video. That makes sense for me, as in these cases (maybe besides a bookclub) the book is more then just entertainment, it’s part of a career.
· I did not expect I had to clarify this, but please read any book as you see fit. I am not gonna tell you you’re wrong. All I’m sharing here is my opinion, obviously not absolute truth.
· There is a video by Jared Henderson that really made me think about this whole “issue” and why it rubs me the wrong way, maybe it’s interesting for you as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3wJcF0t0bQ
So you’ve never done research. Got it.
A lot of the people on booktube are probably doing it because they talk about the books and can use some of the annotations as notes for things to talk about in the videos?
Bros mad that people who review books for a living make notes about the books they are reading
you’re watching people on YouTube who make videos about the books they read, of course they are going to read more in depth so they can make a video
Depends on the book. I’m not smart enough to follow a book like infinite jest without notes and highlights
That sounds too much like grad school. No thanks! Once was enough.
I’ve only seen people do this when they’ve already read through a book and enjoyed it and wanted to go back to enjoy it in a different way or if they specifically do it in order to give better reviews. It’s common practice for people to annotate, highlight, and mark literature for university, especially English majors.
It’s totally fine if you can’t have fun while simultaneously thinking about and dissecting things, but that’s part of the fun for a lot of people and it’s crazy to say that thinking about a story is a bad way to engage with stories. I myself don’t see much of a point in engaging with a story if I’m just going to let it wash over me and forget it the next day.
> enjoy the prose
Perhaps I enjoy it by digging deep into it, highlighting it to remember my favorite passages, and exploring all the potential meanings of said prose?
Who says they haven’t already read the book and are just rereading it again highlighting stuff to gain a better understanding of the entertainment they’ve already had? Maybe for them, it’s entertaining and a way to exercise the brain to annotate their favorite piece of fiction.
That being said, it becomes frustrating trying to clear out our little library in the basement and seeing that we may have to throw away some of our books because one of us went ham highlighting and annotating a book we liked. If you must do so, at least write it down on something else or use sticky notes. You don’t need to do on the book itself.
My favorite part is where you tell people how they should be enjoying the entertainment they partake in.
It’s a waste of time to tell people how YOU THINK they should enjoy their hobbits
I hate this opinion so much. Well done for respecting the format. Have an upvote.
How many of you use a commonplace book while reading?
I hated this at first in my English lit courses, but I got used to it, and now I have one in my phone that’s like a mile long of quotes and comments and things to remember.
Add taking notes to it too if solely for reading
I highlight and annotate because it helps me remember things better than storming through it. Annotating makes me read it again a couple times, and with my ADHD, it helps a lot. Also looks pretty.
But- I like it. It’s fun
it’s only a waste of time if you don’t like doing it. But if you like it, it’s like the funnest thing ever. I had a GREAT time annotating Blood Meridian, or Macbeth while reading them, finding references, meanings, possible symbolisms, or simply thoughts I had
Well I assume people who do that the goal is to absorb the book in all its entirety. I find the better method to doing that is writing down my thoughts about each chapter after I’m done reading it. More reflecting after the fact than trying to emphasis key moments as I go along
I like annotating. If someone’s enjoys somethings it’s not a waste of time.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding you…. It seems like you think there’s nothing deeper in novels than the surface level story. As though Moby Dick is just a book about whale hunting.
What if you’re highlighting mistakes?
I have ADD and like to remember the things I read so you’re wrong
I like to note down well-written passages, great quotes and such. I’ve done that for the past 15 years with a Kindle. Then I occasionally take a trip down the memory lane on all the kindle books I’ve read by re-reading my notes.
I think the OP’s hypothesis is lacking. There’s likely a ton of reasons for anyone to take notes, so this contrarian opinion seems a bit hastily put together. If taking notes would prevent someone from enjoying a book, I’d buy it, but haven’t heard anyone mention anything like it.
People can read however they want.
Sometimes I like a good quote from a book or want to remember something important much later.
it’s not a waste of time to those who enjoy the hobby tho, i’ve got a little reading journal where i sit and analyse the things i’m reading because otherwise it’s just mindless consumption to me. rereading, going over notes and going back to sentences or passages that stuck with you and uncovering the meaning is part of the fun. there’s certainly a time and place for that mindless consumption and for some people, like you, that’s all a book is meant to be sometimes. and that’s okay!
I used to think that annotating was a waste of time and was just about showing off on social media. Then I read books that I really enjoyed AND challenged me at the same time.
I suffer from TBI and have horrible retention and attention issues, if I don’t annotate while reading I will forget everything.
I mean you don’t need too, but I’d assume if they’re doing it they want to?
I don’t like marking up physical books but if I’m reading on Kindle, I like to highlight quotes that stick out to me so I have an easier time finding them later. Or I’ll write them down in a notebook or some kind of app. Same thing for defining character moments, moments that mirror each other… It’s just a deeper level of engagement with the work. Calling it a waste of time as a blanket statement is pretty short-sighted.
It might be an ADHD-related thing for me, but the tactile part of highlighting and scribbling on physical texts helps me keep engaged and focused. Remember, we’re humans, not computers, there’s ways to make otherwise robotic experiences feel more organic (whether that’s physically annotating them, audiobooks, reading in a park or when the “vibes” are otherwise right, etc.) and I think they’re valid.
That said, successfully unpopular opinion so I’m not mad. Kudos!
It’s not how I like to read, but if it gives them more enjoyment out of the book they’re reading then I’d say it isn’t a waste of time, to them anyway. To each their own *shrug*
It’s not a waste of time– at the very least, they’re practicing annotating text for when it *DOES* matter.
Put you and the annotater in a classroom environment, they’ll probably annotate the textbook faster than you while doing a more thorough job because they have had more experience with the process than you have.
I read it once, if i see important points ill put a sticky tab to mark it off and on my second read i can reevaluate those points and then i can highlight or put a note about connecting points. I find the second read its a lot clearer.
So is scoring the baseball game while you watch it. You arent wrong, but I dont see your point or how you care one iota.
I find analyzing a book through annotation fulfilling and entertaining! Also, books can be approached in multiple ways. The same book can be approached passively for entertainment or annotated and dissected for a literature class, designed to teach your critical thinking and appreciation of nuance.
People do that???
Reading novels at all is just as much of a waste of time.
Gonna go out on a limb here and upset trad reading etiquette – there is nothing wrong with this, nor with dog-earring pages to mark your position.
Who fucking cares if a pages has a crease in the corner?
I have a hard time staying focused on reading and I cannot read quickly since I need to concentrate on everything I read. A pen and underlining something gives me not only a break from intense reading but also helps me to keep focused and concentrated. I simply read better with it.
I also love taking an old book and see what my pretentious 17 year old ass thought were poetic sentences that would be nicely emphasized in a theater setting.
People actually enjoy analysis lol
reading books is waste of time anyway
I’ve only ever done that when I was writing an essay on a book. I can’t imagine doing that when I’m reading a book for fun
For me personally, it’s not a waste of time and it makes the book more valuable to me after I’ve finished it because I can 1. Remember/comprehend it better and 2. Refer back to certain parts of the text more easily. Also as a writer, it helps me to better appreciate the prose and narrative flow and apply it to my own work.
It’s called active reading and it helps some people retain better. It’s not a waste of time if that’s how their brain works and they wanna do it.
Your post was a waste of time, but here we are
Okay enjoyment police