While I Read...

I write a lot of notes down, in the margins, at the top of the page, circles and underlines. Sometimes it’s to remind myself of a certain recurrent theme —repetition, names, hands in pockets (I still don’t know what to make of that one but it has been turning up a lot) writing, women, luck, incest, nature, smell/senses, shadows, and most often (as always) time—those go in the margins. So do short quotes (“our shadows moved” p. 35, “the long diminishing parade of time” p. 76), questions (“what is the deal with the barn?” p. 21), and perceived references to other works (“there is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow” p. 79). If I just have the feeling that a passage is important, I underline it and write “KEY” next to it. Of course my book is so filled with underlined passages that say “KEY” next to it I’m not sure how effective this is at really narrowing down what’s important, but I still like doing it. My favorite annotations though go at the top of the page. That’s where I rewrite quotes that I think are particularly important or that I just really like. Sometimes they are lines that I think offer a clue for how to read the novel. I started doing this my senior year of high school and just never stopped. For one thing, it makes it a lot easier to find quotes again in class discussions or when you are writing a paper. It also helps you remember certain quotes and, even in the simple act of rewriting a sentence, become more familiar with a writer’s particular style. You get a feel for how the sentences work that you don’t quite get just by reading. With that said, here are a few of the quotes that are now written in blue pen, all in uppercase, at the top of the page in my copy of the book:

“The ground was hard, churned and knotted.” (4)

“I wasn’t crying, but the ground wasn’t still, and then I was crying.” (20)

“I quit crying, but I couldn’t stop” (21)

“They aint no luck going be on no place where one of they own chillen’s name aint never spoke.” (31)

“Then we got there, and then the shadows were gone.” (54)

“I could hear the clock and the roof and Caddy.” (57)

“It’ll be in the Book, honey, Dilsey said. Writ out.

Can you read it, Caddy said.

Wont have to, Dilsey said. They’ll read it for me. All I got to do is say Ise here.” (58)

“I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it.” (76)

It goes on like this, page after page (though not every page). Especially with a challenging work like The Sound and the Fury, I find the writing it down helps me take in the reading on its own terms. Eventually you write down the same things over and over again, and it occurs to you, ah, so this is what this is about.