"Marginalia is a blow struck against the idea that reading is a one-way process, that readers simply open their minds and the great, unmediated thoughts of the author pour in."
— Miller, Laura
Author
Work Title
Date
December 11, 2014
Metaphor
"Marginalia is a blow struck against the idea that reading is a one-way process, that readers simply open their minds and the great, unmediated thoughts of the author pour in."
Metaphor in Context
Marginalia is a blow struck against the idea that reading is a one-way process, that readers simply open their minds and the great, unmediated thoughts of the author pour in. In reality, reading is always a collaboration between reader and author, and even the basic act of underlining a passage represents a moment in the individual, unrepeatable experience that one person had with one book on one particular day. The underlining itself reminds us of that. You might return to the book later and wonder what you possibly could have seen in the underscored sentence, why you singled out that one instead of a much better one on the next page. Or you might even relive an epiphany from your youth.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Laura Miller, "Marginalia's Moment: Philip Roth, Don DeLillo and the Joys of Writing in Books" Salon (December 11, 2014). <Link to Salon.com>
Date of Entry
12/18/2015
