Borsuk in the second chapter discusses the intimacy of the book, of reading it, of having something uniquely made. Printshops designed “printer devices” to make their shops stand out, with a book uniquely theirs, tied to them. My question is do we have that same intimacy and relationship with books as readers to the makers and writers?
I covet it, sometimes I think I might worship them. Even as a kid, I hated writing in books. I still don’t unless I am deliberately instructed to do so with annotations and highlighting. I internally cringe when someone dog tags a book page. On my bookshelf, you will rarely find a book of mine to be fully annotated. While I don’t usually annotate as I’m reading as it brings out of my state of focus on what I’m reading, if I do, I use sticky notes and page markers to make point of things. I can’t will myself to write on pages because I feel I am ruining the art of the delicate paper and letters that the printer compiled. I think have this intimacy for books, but I am really just coveting it and not allowing myself to have an actual relationship with the words and pages?
I had this question when I went to bible study last week and everyone had written and highlighted in their bibles. They had a chorus of words in all the margins or wherever they could fit to describe their thoughts on the passage. They have bibles now that have space for notes on the each page to write down your thoughts. By writing down everything, they have a personal relationship with their bible book which gives them a stronger understanding of the text and of God. And that is the point, to get something out of the book, to create an understanding with the book. By annotating it, it increases their importance to them and everyone that made that book.
Annotating and writing in the book creates a personal connection to the authors and the makers of the book. If we sanctify a text so much where we can’t touch it, do we lose part of the connection we have with it or making it stronger by giving it this mystical and powerful presence?
These are all great personal reflections, but I would like to see you use the blog to do more close reading of the actual text. We need to start practicing explication and analysis.
Hey Janesa,
I really liked your introspective post on how you’ve treated books in your life. I got to say, I’m pretty similar in that most books I’ve handled, it’s almost felt like a disservice to mark it up with my nonsensical jargon. One point you made that stood out is the inclusion of books, specifically Bibles, with room in the margins to write. I think this changes the relationship a bit, as it’s a direct invitation for annotation by the reader, rather than having to write sometimes over text. To your final question, I believe it’s up to the reader to decide, and it usually depends on the book. So long as the book provokes a thought in the reader, I feel that constitutes a relationship, or even the fact that the reader has the book in the first place. And in that same sense, I think a book can still be “mystical” scribbled all over.