Thanks. I just started re-reading "Little Dorrit" and thought "wait, I don't remember*anything* about this hot sunlit opening in Marseille. Oh no! I'm getting senile." But any book worth reading (or any play or piece of music) is worth a second go-round, and a third and a tenth and a hundredth if it's good enough. This proves I am not senile.
I read "War and Peace" last year and had to keep my own fairly long list of characters, their two or three alternate names, and their relationships on the back flyleaf, even though there was a character list already provided in the front of the book. It worked. I managed to keep track. I just finished "Middlemarch" and didn't have much trouble keeping the people sorted. One thing I usually do when I pick up a book to continue after a day or more has gone by--I glance back at the end of the previous chapter or section to remind myself what just happened. Another thing I do is write down the number of the first page a character appears, and the page numbers of events or conversations that seem like they might be significant later, for future reference. If, hundreds of pages later, a character mentions something that happened or was said before, I can go back and refresh my memory of it.
I love a book that circles back to something that happened before and tacks it to the bulletin board of the plot to make it matter again. Example: Carny explores an old house and finds a door locked. It is but one of many interesting facets of this old house, so she wanders off to investigate the sound in the attic. Eight chapters later, someone very important to the plot comes through that door and Carny wonders how it got unlocked, and by whom.
Like a place holder, it reminds the reader to mark this thing and hold on to it. I love that.
Thanks. I just started re-reading "Little Dorrit" and thought "wait, I don't remember*anything* about this hot sunlit opening in Marseille. Oh no! I'm getting senile." But any book worth reading (or any play or piece of music) is worth a second go-round, and a third and a tenth and a hundredth if it's good enough. This proves I am not senile.
Where are my keys?
Ha!
I read "War and Peace" last year and had to keep my own fairly long list of characters, their two or three alternate names, and their relationships on the back flyleaf, even though there was a character list already provided in the front of the book. It worked. I managed to keep track. I just finished "Middlemarch" and didn't have much trouble keeping the people sorted. One thing I usually do when I pick up a book to continue after a day or more has gone by--I glance back at the end of the previous chapter or section to remind myself what just happened. Another thing I do is write down the number of the first page a character appears, and the page numbers of events or conversations that seem like they might be significant later, for future reference. If, hundreds of pages later, a character mentions something that happened or was said before, I can go back and refresh my memory of it.
I love a book that circles back to something that happened before and tacks it to the bulletin board of the plot to make it matter again. Example: Carny explores an old house and finds a door locked. It is but one of many interesting facets of this old house, so she wanders off to investigate the sound in the attic. Eight chapters later, someone very important to the plot comes through that door and Carny wonders how it got unlocked, and by whom.
Like a place holder, it reminds the reader to mark this thing and hold on to it. I love that.
Karen
I don’t think I got that guide to which you refer: 9 classics in 12 mo. Could you please send it to me?
Sure, if you DM me, I will send you the link.
Ok
I know I’m pathetic about all of this…HOW do I DM you??? Would it be possible to send it to me via email?
I know, it’s a ‘wonder’ I managed to survive in the modern/technological age….😩😵💫
I sent it to you via message.
Karen
Again, please excuse my tech issues. What exactly is ‘message’??