Destruction or Thoughtfulness? — Daily Controversy #38

Hi there!

It’s Jack with our thirty-eighth Daily Controversy. Today, we’ll be discussing annotation with the question:

Is annotation bad for books?

Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash

If you don’t know what annotation is, Google (Gemini) defines it as:

Annotation is the practice of adding notes to a text as you read it. It's a way to actively engage with the text and its ideas. Annotations can be critical or explanatory, and they can help readers achieve a deeper understanding of the text. 

So basically, the debate is whether writing, underlining, and taking notes in a book while reading it is good for the book or not. (Obviously, this excludes journals and notebooks.)

Bustle elaborates on this controversy, saying:

This is probably one of the biggest debates among readers. There are some who cannot read without a pen or pencil in hand, underlining, marking up and making notes. They just can't imagine keeping their books pristine, and feel like they haven't fully absorbed a narrative without putting some work in. On the other hand there are the neat-freaks who are beyond precious about the way they treat their books. They don't crack the spines, they don't keep the dust jackets without tears or scratches, and don't even think about bringing a pen anywhere near their books. Can being obsessive about the state of your books get a tad annoying? Maybe. But it's a small price to pay for a perfect collection.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of annotation. If you want to take notes, use a piece of paper or something, don’t destroy the book! Also, I’m a frequent library visitor meaning I don’t often have the chance to annotate because most of the books I read are library books. And for the books I own, I adore admiring how clean and perfect they are, so making any kind of mark on them seems sacrilegious.

But what do you think? Is annotation normalized book destruction or simply a way to express thoughts and feelings you have about the book? Comment below your standpoint on this argument and if you annotate yourself. Happy arguing!