>>7328612
small journal that I keep nearby to jot notes in and pg numbers

sometimes larger entries in the journal if i think of something particularly large/difficult to explain and it interrupts my reading which kinda sucks, but its sort of a lose/lose situation

Character names, brief description, and map of how the characters relate to one another.

>>7328633
>>7328637
downs syndrome, illiteracy

just underline key passages and make one word notes in the margins. character maps and other such bullshit are maybe useful for children's lit like lotr and harry potter, but if you need to lean on them to keep up with real literature you're in the wrong ballpark.

>>7328640
i dont take notes to keep up with the novel

i take notes to render permanence to the thoughts I have. Most of my notes are about how the novel or book relates to ME, not about the book as an object

>>7328612
I dog ear the pages containing quotations I'd like to make my fb or Twitter status, descriptions for my profile picture, etc.


Also I highlight in multiple colors.

>>7328668
>how the novel or book relates to ME

who in the great wide world gives a shit about how a published work of fiction relates to you? hell, why do you even give a shit? what can reading a book with 'you' as the critical lens possibly tell you about it? nothing. precisely nothing. the only thing you will glean from this kind of reading is confirmations of your own biases. it's a waste of time. think about the book as an object instead. like a puzzle, even, or a complex machine. the fun part is when you realize that the book is the machine and its own instruction manual at the same time.

i can't blame you for thinking this way. part of your problem is the capitalist discourse of self-improvement and -indulgence which you're immersed in generally, and the /lit/ discourse—thankfully a quieter one as of late, but in some sense this makes it more dangerous—which extols reading widely, rather than deeply. i've probably read fewer pages than a lot of the anons here. but i guarantee i know more about literature than 90% of them could ever even pretend.

>inb4 it's all subjective

>>7328697
yes

you are able to read novels and books without relating to them. you have turned your personal lens so clear that to you it no longer exists.

congratulations,

seriously congrats dude, super impressive!

>>7328713
>>7328713
i'm not saying i don't relate to novels, jesus christ. i'm not even saying that it required effort, or is meant to be impressive. only that reading novels with the goal of finding out how they relate to you is a pointless, redundant exercise because everyone does that automatically. why take notes on something you're doing every second of every day (relating experiences to your own life)?

>>7328612
>reading novels

>>7328787
your own post admits that you use books. i use books too, and as im reading them i will realize something, or think of something and want to remember it for later.

this is not some ME ME ME ME reaction, except in the sense that when I'm trying to decide who to vote for, or what to do for work im inserting myself because the decision is inextricably linked to its context (the maker of the decision,,,)

when i say that i write shit that relates to me, not the book i dont want to be misunderstood: it relates to both. but its a link from my worldview and the book, and because its not simply the book to the book i say my notes must relate to ME (my worldview) in some way.

if you hold ideas, opinions, etc they are going to interact with a text, and i like recording the results of that interaction so i can remember them later. those ideas can be as removed from me as can be possibly fathomed, but only insofar as anything i know ever can.

im not relating the book to my LIFE, thats much too narrow, im relating the book to ME

>>7328808
>im not relating the book to my LIFE, thats much too narrow, im relating the book to ME
hmm, fair enough. sorry i misread you.

>>7328697
wew lad

this is one of the worst posts i've ever seen on this site

>>7328612
pieces of prose like and want to steal

idas which i can relate to other ideas

ideas i have while reading which are more less tangential but which i don't want to forget

my books are all thickly coated in marginalia

>>7328831
likewise faggot

The only thing I do is highlight certain passages or lines that stand out to me. I've never had to take notes to comprehend what's happening in what I'm reading. Maybe my reading material is too simplistic? Can't really say for certain.