My wife who worked many years in a used book store asked me to post the following. "Please, please, please clarify that you should only annotate or highlight in modern reprints of the classics; highlighting or annotating in ink damages the pages of older books and may damage the paper. This will affect the value and readability of the book. However, annotating in pencil does no harm." BTW my wife is a big fan of your content and looks forward to each new video.

You are an epic human. The world needs more people like you, Tristan.

This is actually extremely helpful. It Sounds like common sense, yet I've never even considered doing it. Thank you!

I enjoyed this video immensely. I love to find references to books in other books. That’s one of the reasons I love the classics. It enriches our experience of reading. This is one of the reasons I decided to read The Divine Comedy. Such a source material!!

I'm a new subscriber and I already love your way of talking about the classics. I was already making some of those recommendations, like writing down a few sentences, but I was super excited when I realized what you meant by the fact that when writing notes we have direct contact with the books and it is true. I understand the book much better if I do so and I also understand better if I analyze the motivations of the characters and when I understand them even if I don't agree with them, it is an authentic surprise for the mind and a great understanding not only of the author and the book, but also of myself as a person.

Could you do a general video on Dickens, like a video on an introduction to him.

PG Wodehouse is my favorite author. Some time ago I started a running list of books or authors he has mentioned in his books. It has widened my reading in unexpected ways!

I've started using these tips in my Bible reading and it's gotten SO exciting, so many things I never noticed before. Examples: Characters. Adam is immersed in the collective "mankind," male and female, in Genesis 1:27. He's not mentioned specifically as an individual until Genesis 2:7, when he's just "a man" and "the man." He doesn't get a name, Adam, until Genesis 2:20, AFTER he has named all the animals but before the creation of Eve. Eve is also just among the collective male and female "mankind" of Genesis 1:27 until the specific creation of her as "a woman" and "the woman" in Genesis 2:22. The isn't named Eve until after the fall, in Genesis 2:30. And the Serpent -- the Tempter -- shows up BEFORE the Fall. Now I'm wracking my brains to remember when Lucifer fell. So many questions come into my mind just from looking at the characters in the first three chapters.

I have always loved reading since I was a kid (I'm almost 50 now, in 2024) but your channel, which I discovered very recently, have changed my way of reading, rekindling my love for books. Thanks a lot! Greetings from a Brazilian fan of your work! :)

This morning while i was just starting the 4th part of The Idiot, by Dostoevsky, I came across the line "Tu l'as voulu, George Dandin". I googled it and it turned out being a line from a comedy by Moliere, roughly meaning: you bloody idiot, you brought this to yourself. Dostoyeski citing Moliere, one giant writer recommending one giant dramaturge. The joy of reading deeply.

Tristan, you made an excellent point of listening to other’s in-depth reviews other than the shallow ones. This is actually how I found your channel! This was the best discovery of 2022 🎉 I wish You had time to upload your reviews weekly, just as detailed as recent “lord of the flies” 🙏🏼

This was so rich! I do #1 and #3, but am going to now start chapter summaries as you recommend. I love how one book intersects with another. Recently my reading of C.S. Lewis lead me to MacDonald's Phantastes. And a scholarly article I read about Phantastes lead me to Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. I had so much fun comparing symbolism and making contrasts. So glad I have found your channel! I confess to binge watching.

Another great video, Tristan. I don’t like to highlight because of bleed through, so I use those little arrow sticky things, which come in lots of colors. They point right to the line, and then I use a ballpoint (biro) to underline whatever it is. Readers lose an awful lot if they don’t notate. I have a small journal on the go all the time as a commonplace book. That’s where I put my character notes, summaries, and especially memorable quotes. Thank you, Tristan.

Fantastic! Thank you so much for this video!

These are great suggestions!!! I normally use coloured page markers for the parts I think are important, especially when I am reading for the local bookclub. I think I will try writing notes and ideas about the characters. Thank you so much. Your videos are precious in order to learn how to really read and understand the classics 😃

So helpful, thanks!

Usually, for dense books that I know I'm going to reread, I prefer to read ebooks, because they're easier to navigate. I keep all my highlights and notes in one place and when I notice a pattern, like you have with the word fog, I can look it up and see if I can find it later in the book, and if different episodes are connected in some way. Unfortunately, I read The Red and the Black after Crime and Punishment, so although I was aware of the influence Stendhal had on Dostoevsky, I couldn't enjoy it as much. Now I need to watch your in-depth reviews of the books you mentioned! I'm so glad I discovered your channel!

Mais um excelente vídeo!👏🏼👏🏼

Wonderful video. I confess I hate to mark in my books because I love my leather classic books. However , I use post it notes. You may know this but I find it interesting that in Charles Dickens Barnaby Rudge he has a pet raven. This supposedly inspired his friend Edgar Allen Poe to write the poem The Raven.

Oh my you are hilarious 😆. Why can’t I take over the world? So many good ideas. I’ve totally fallen into the trap of slogging through a classic to “be well read”.

I read "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" last year, so now I will find your review to watch.

I love your way of talking about books, you make me cheery, I wish you were my baby I would be so very proud

My annotations become books within books 😅 Well, happy I use paperbacks: highlighting, notes, and little paper notes. When I try to re-read a book I am completely bemused ....fandalized novels do look sad 😕 No matter, the main point is: book read and either enjoyed it or not, my little grey cells were occupied and my notes were part of the experience.

I want more in depth reviews. Thanks for the video.

There's a story of Eric Idle and Tim Curry encountering one another in Hollywood. One of them mentions that he's going to have a role in an upcoming movie and the other asks him, "Butler or villain?"

I can’t bring myself to write in a book. I think I’m defacing it. However, I will try to get over this phobia and follow your advice. Let’s see what happens. I may have to buy two copies of each book.

I asked a guy once why he had broken up with me and one of his reasons was "You take notes when you read." Seriously. "I can't relax and enjoy my book when you're over there looking like you're studying for a test." And here's a snippet of an actual conversation: Me: I've just finished this fascinating article about the incompatibility of social conservativism and laissez-faire capitalism. Him: I'll pass. I have two Louis L'Amour books I haven't finished yet. Reading styles. An important compatibility criterion.

8:34 this is an interesting point. Writing down whatever you may fancy while reading a book. I did that once and only once in my life, but I did it with a different purpose than to help me immerse with the book

Thanks for your thoughts. I will try that. Have you posted a review of THE GRAPES OF WRATH? Thanks for your posts.

Ah Tristan, I wish I had seen these videos twenty years ago 😃 Nevertheless, I must not resist the temptation and ask if you have published novels? If yes, please share the details 😊

Blowing up Australia 😂😂😂 We'd probably stand around with a beer saying, jeez she's a hot one today and not even notice. You might wing a Goanna or two if you're lucky.

I have written notes, but after finishing the book, I have forgotten the information few weeks later. How can we remember them?

How come noone reads Don Quixote anymore, considered by readers and scholars to be the greatest novel ever written.

Can you review Great Gatsby

are you or were you a teacher? you present well.

Not so close to the camera, thanks.

Never mark or highlight any book, unless you intend to be buried with it. A horrible practice.