gjm comments on Open Thread, Jun. 15 - Jun. 21, 2015 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: Gondolinian 15 June 2015 12:02AM

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Comment author: [deleted] 17 June 2015 02:15:35PM 2 points [-]

Does anyone find any benefit to taking notes while reading fiction? I've been keeping a reading journal since the beginning of this year, and I just find it a chore that makes more difficult to decide to read. All my notes just end up being plot summaries anyway, which I can find online. I don't see myself ever re-reading the notes again. Am I missing something, or is it just a terrible idea?

Comment author: gjm 17 June 2015 03:26:41PM 0 points [-]

I have contemplated doing it but never actually done it. The benefit I idly imagine I might get doesn't have anything to do with re-reading the notes later; I hope it might improve the attention I pay and the amount I retain. (I am horrified at the number of books on my shelves that I know I have read but can remember scarcely anything about.) Both of these surely matter less for fiction than for non-fiction.