Thank you!!! Tristan This was all new to me. I'm a High School drop-out, who only read the classics. You have changed the way I see literature and at the same time the way I see life. There are not enough words to describe. How grateful I am for this lecture. So I will stop here... Otherwise this comment will be 1500 pages long... A million Thanks!!! From me to you

As a retired professor of English literature, I approve of this lecture.

This has quickly become one of my favorite channels. Thank you

If I’d had an English teacher like you, how much richer would my life have been? Thank goodness it’s never too late to learn 📖. Much appreciation to and for you 😊

Since I am disabled I absolutely love the idea of getting off the train and "walking" in a different world. Thank you for this lecture.

Tristan, Wow, how thoroughly helpful and meaningful your videos are in helping me navigate and find pleasure in reading. I’m 71 years old and only now finding an entry point to books. This is life changing for me! Thank you for breaking down how to derive so much.

Isn't this crazy when one watched one hour plus KZfaq episode is feeling too short? and want to watch/read again? For me, Tristan just showed how one can "chew and digest'' few selected good book while we simply ''taste and swallow" the others. What making this video stands out among all the other annotation booktubers is he talks about WHY first, then show you HOW with three different piece for work with "What" to relate and analyse. You can do all the 'fancy' and 'colourful' annotations with very basic level 1 and 2 reading without even being truly 'analytical' which is level 3 and what Tristan showed us here is very advanced level 3 in terms of breadth and depth how one can relate and expand and we can all do this as long as we put our mind into it as we all contains a 'mini universe' in our head sitting in our memory palace and in the world of internet our ability to do additional research is now much easier; however it is more important to access our inner world to have our own dialogues with the authors and characters in the book so one can live in the book for a while .... and without practice of level 3, one can not possibly going next level of synoptical reading (level 4), hopefully Tristan will make a video about this topic!

This is the 4th time I’ve watched this video. Sooo informative, but this time, I’m loving the sound of the rain! Books and rain. A perfect match.

This is probably one of those videos I will keep re-watching over and over again.. Thank You Tristan! This was a lot of work from You, and the only way to do it right is to sit down, listen and take notes! Love the university vibe on your channel. Cheers from Orlando!

didn't realize I was so intuitive to doing something not trained. please lecture more on how to annotate books at a deeper level as yourself.

This is the best video on the reasons why one should annotate and the value one get gains from annotating. The enthusiasm for the literature is great. This is extremely helpful it can be tough to find a good example of proper annotation for literary fiction. Very much appreciated.

I read Great Expectations at school, aged 17, but not very deeply, although I really enjoyed it and it left a lasting impression and a life-long love for Dickens’s work. We had a very enthusiastic English teacher. I’ve been in a book club for many years but never quite seem to ‘get’ the meaning of the books the way other people do. I’ve heard people say that a book can change your life but none have had that effect on me. Perhaps reading more slowly and annotating would help. Having recently discovered your channel I’m really enjoying the videos.

Thank you so much! You are re-opening doors for me that have been closed since high school. I have just read my first book with pen in hand and I still feel its world vibrate within me. Thanks again for sharing your passion!

Love the “getting off the train” idea! I have just spent 4 months in Middlemarch and today went through some of my annotations. I gain so much understanding of the relationships between people through doing it.

I loved your East of Eden example! One of the first (non-school) books I took the time to really annotate and “observe” was East of Eden and I remember absolutely sprawling that first page with annotations because there was so much symbolism in the imagery.

This lecture was eye-opening and exciting. I look forward to putting pen to book, something I’ve never done. Thank you. I truly enjoy each of your videos and I am growing my first Classics Library!

Thank you for inspiring me to get back to reading. You're truly awesome delivering your messages.

Please never stop posting! Your classes are so good!

Such an informative video! Thank you, Tristan. I have never been educated in the world of annotation in my many years of life until seeing that book KZfaqrs annotate their books. I started trying, not really knowing exactly how, when we read The Radetzky March, and it did help me pay attention to detail and retain more readily what I was reading. Also slowed down my reading, thus making me stop and think about the chosen words. But your video has given me a far better idea of how to go about it. I very much appreciate all the time and effort you are putting in to these videos for us readers - world wide!

I do this with short stories and it amazes me how much I learn from the process. The annotation itself has practically become a hobby. Thank you for your excellent and joyful teaching.

This should be a monthly feauture, you annotating the first page/part of a classic. That would be wonderful!

Oh my goodness. Bought Cranford last week at my second hand bookstore. Read the first page just to see how I would like the writing. And now after your annotation I got so much more. This video is so awesome. I have enjoyed my reading so much more since I’ve found your wonderful channel. Enjoying the book club tremendously. Thank you again for sharing your passion with us. Please let me know how I can buy you a coffee as I’m in Texas. 😍💕

Hi Tristan ! I would have loved to have you as a literature teacher when I was at school ! The way it is taught in my country (France) is disastrous, and many youngsters end up hating reading 😬 The way books are literally dissected (almost only as to the form… the content being largely disregarded) could put anybody off reading for a lifetime. Great video as always, Thank you for that 😊 Take care !

Thank you so much. This is one of the most helpful video I’ve ever watched

This was rich, the train analogy was perfect! I enjoyed this so much.

I enjoyed this more than I ever enjoyed reading a book🍓

I am so glad I found this video! I am about to give annotating my first shot with Lolita. ❤️

I am currently reading the first book of Brothers Karamazov first in Arabic. I will start annotation as soon as starting reading the great novel in English. You are a wonderful friend and guide. 💐

Delighted you chose Cranford, one of the first novels I was aware of as a child; my mother had a lovely small leather bound copy I still possess. I'm glad you mentioned savouring slowly in reading especially thick novels. Just what I enjoyed in Chapter in DC where David and Straddles are interviewed by Dora's Aunts Clarissa and Lavinia. I could visualize just such women from the past. Well-meaning, if limited in scope, such as Laura's guardian, the asthenic uncle having his Pictures sorted and coins Just So. Your buoyancy is So pleasing! Wonderful terrific videos, this is what internet is for!

Yes! I’ve only recently heard of ‘ annotating’ and have been searching for videos that explore this more fully. Thank,you this was very helpful. I’d love to see more 😊👍

You gave a very good and detailed reasoning to annotating, but I'm one of those people who could never write in my books. I keep them in perfect condition, and have not found a method that would allow me to easily annotate.

You're a great lecturer! I'm not a very patient person but that was just great. Would love to hear more lectures from you. 😊

This gives me something to think about. I have never annotated, underlined, or rarely even taken notes, even in school. I learned to speed read early on and would swallow paragraphs whole while running my pen under the lines. It isn't a widely revered practice as people look at it like skimming, but it worked for me in much of my reading. If I liked a book, or even a chapter, I would reread it, sometimes over and over. Your channel has helped to up my reading practice.

Thank you Tristan! Your videos are always a delight to watch! I love the passion you have for classical literature - I can practically feel it permeating from the screen. Your word choices, your stories, and the way you describe your reasons for annotating reminds me of why I fell in love with literature in the first place. Thank you for giving us a quality lecture, as always.

I absolutely loved this lecture! Besides the fact that the memory of Winston is still so vivid in my memory, even though I’ve read the 1984 few years ago, I especially enjoyed your analysis of the first page! Can’t wait to hear more from You, and wow! This was absolutely incredible 🎧 listening experience!! Thank You so very much for all Your work!

So enjoyed and I now know the value of annotations

I can not believe how much I have MISSED in my reading! I always wondered how other readers extracted major points like you just demonstrated. Thanks to your unselfish, very professional way you taught me concepts a college class would take an entire semester to just introduce - let alone demonstrate it’s incredible worth to the reader. Marvelous job, very well done! Thank you and blessings on you and your vital work.

Thank you for this. It's exactly the advice I needed to hear as I'm trying to rekindle my love for the classics. I used to enjoy annotating, but forgot the point and lost the habit. I'll be sharing it with my students as well. You've been blessed with a gift for teaching and inspiring others.

This video was indeed sorely needed! I actually gave up looking for videos properly addressing how to analyse a fictional book - how to extract images and symbols from the text - because the algorithm almost exclusively shoves videos in your face where the creator goes on about which stickers or markers they use. Who cares... 🙊And this video also gives me a new boost to look at East of Eden differently, because I'm not agreeing with it so far 😬 but that might be because I'm only looking for what I'm expecting. Let's see moving forward. 😁

Your enthusiasm is incredibly persuasive. I did NOT want to annotate. Now I'm trying to figure out exactly when, how, and why I might have annotated in the past, and I'm wondering just what I've missed and forgotten in my stubborn refusal to recognize the virtue in doing so. Thank you for your videos.

what a great video. I want to go back and re-read every classic I have read before. I will definatley re-watch this video to make sure im following your advise.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I cannot begin to explain how much I enjoyed this video. It's just coming up to 7am and it's absolutely howling with wind outside my living room window; the rain is beating a tattoo on the canopy of trees that line my street and all across the rooftops above...and to all intents and purposes I probably should be feeling rather cold and dreary, on this weird end-of-December morning, which seems to exist in limbo between this year and the next. But I'm not. I'm warming from the inside out and hopped up with excitement as this video has reignited that love of annotation in me, that has lain dormant for too long. I found myself chatting along with you as you went through the introductory passages from 'Cranford' and '1984' before even getting a little more persuaded to pick up 'Great Expectations' in the not too distant future. It was 'The Wife Of Bath' that first introduced me to the joys of annotation, thanks to a very wily, enthusiastic English teacher with eyes that glittered every time she revealed another secret in that cryptic text. But it was 'Lolita' where I first found myself highlighting, annotating and tabbing a book for my own personal enjoyment; so much so that after multiple examinations of the text, I had to purchase another copy because my original one had become almost unreadable thanks to my excitable scribblings. It's a habit I'd let fall somewhat by the wayside over time, allowing myself to become lazy and simply let the train take me along the scenic route through whatever books I've been reading. But today you convinced me to once again disembark and immerse myself in the real scenes, settings and surroundings of the books I'm planning to read in 2023. (Which is actually quite something when you take into consideration just how much I hate having to get out of my car, carriage or comfort zone and actually put myself out there into the often inconvenient discombobulation of reality, lol!) So thank you for this video. It came at just the right time. Just as the 6hr long read-along of 'War & Peace' by Chris on his 'Leaf By Leaf' channel also ignited the fire within me needed to tackle the Russian chonkers! I feel very lucky to have been able to stumble upon 2 inspirational videos with the most fortuitous of timing, one cannot help but begin to believe in fate itself. Thank you again and I look forward to the rest of your content, both in retrospect and in the upcoming months. Happy New Year, Bex x

Thank you your insights and description of how to read classics/general books. Going to check out your reading club. Jeff

I have to get back to slowing down my reading and really absorbing it. I also need to get back into annotation. Thanks for the video and specifically for the examples of annotation 🖤

Tristan - you have opened my eyes. I have often read a book and feel underwhelmed,and then hear other people talk about same book and I often think “I didn’t get the same understanding as they did”. I must have misunderstood or am I that stupid I can’t deduce what the author is saying. I am concerned that I’m a slow reader and my motivation is to finish the book rather than enjoy it. I will adopt a different approach from watching your lecture. Thank you. Peter

Tristan! THANK YOU for sharing this. I must admit that I was skeptical about marking in my books. I was also doubting my ability to annotate properly. BUT... I tried it last night with the first few chapters of The Woman in White; and, it made a huge difference in the reading experience. You're so right about "stepping off the train". I had/have such a better sense of the characters. I still don't know if I'm doing it properly... That said, this has totally changed (improved!) the way I read. Thanks again so much.

This is incredible!! New subscriber here, and I've been devouring your content. It almost doesn't feel right to have so much insight bestowed upon me for free!

Thank you for your enlightening lecture, sir. As you delved into the significance of patience and savoring the reading experience, it immediately brought to mind Flaubert's insightful quote (the quote itself is about Montaigne, but all the same). My ability to recall it is owed to the valuable practice you emphasized-note-taking. I was able to find the quote among my notes compiled during the reading of Flaubert's biography. Here’s the quote: Read Montaigne; read him slowly and deliberately! He will calm you. And don’t listen to people who speak of his egoism. You’ll love him, you’ll see. But don’t read him the way children read, to amuse yourself, or the way strivers read, to instruct yourself. No. Read to live. Provide your soul with an intellectual atmosphere composed of emanations from all the great minds. This fits your points so perfectly, in my opinion, that I had to share it with you. Furthermore, as an admirer of Shakespeare, you might find it pleasing to learn that Flaubert once said: Homer and Shakespeare, they say it all!

Interesting observation with C and A names, annotate a paperback. Plus, I learned the English pronunciation of Idyll. Dickens was so good with names. Thank you.

I'm really glad about this video! Thank so much again!

I just found out I really enjoy watching you annotate, wow I learnt so much just with one page! Could watch you annotate the whole book!

❤Wonderful reason to be in grossed ! I appreciate your enthusiasm,it’s very nice. (making notes is good for strengthening memory. Books can heal,teach,delight the soul. Thank you,I love your presentations. Above all you show why reading is so valuable;especially today.

Just finished happily listening to your two gothic lectures. Really great channel! I appreciate your contagious enthusiasm for literature and writing🙂

Eye opening video! I have started doing this with Elizabeth and her German Garden and, honestly, I thought about all the facets of her character as I went to sleep last night…by annotating she has become so well rounded that she now seems almost real. Had I not annotated I would not have remembered so many turns of phrase that helps her to develop.

Wonderful, wonderful video, Tristan. I got so much, from watching this! 🙏

Your videos are so good Tristan. Thank you so much. You're motivating me to annotate my books and your tips are so helpful ! I have the impression that you could talk about any book and make me want to read it.😊 You talk about books so well, and we really feel the passion when we listen to you. Thank you so much for your videos, and I hope you continue to amaze us for a long time to come. ❤️

Thank you for your great efforts in posting these greats videos. I know how much effort you put in producing them.

Hello from ITALY !! I just wanna thank you fot this amazing lecture. Please continue, I would so much learn to really grasp the meaning of the books i read !! I just finished a book by Murakami and i think i will reread it following your advices. You are great !! 🌹🌹🌹

This one certainly challenges me. I am not good at taking the time to annotate; definitely on the train ride of the story. But two things have helped. The book club where thoughts and ideas are constantly being discussed throughout the month, and pausing after I finish a book to KZfaq an analysis or discussion to deepen by understanding. You challenged us with that several months ago and it has really paid off.

You just made my year happy I saw this in start of the year!

This is my first encounter with your content and I am immediately subscribing!

Very helpful. Thank you!

I certainly did enjoy this video. I am a slow reader and I do get impatient to finish long books. I am exactly the person you were describing. Everything you said in this video made absolute sense to me. I think that this video is really brilliant and I intend to follow your advice.

Awesome video! Tristan, do you have suggestions when reading e-books? I tend to just use a pad and keep running annotations, being sure to note the chapter and page numbers. I find it a bit more cumbersome, but not too bad. It’s definitely slower when I want to quote certain lines. Rather than just highlighting it, I have to end up writing the full sentence or passage. So I lose some time with this, but I feel like I may gain a bit more depth of understanding. I’m curious to see how others address this.

Amazing Tristan! I love annotating my classics and your tips are so helpful! ❤️

Thank you for this, Tristan! I annotate, but you've given me more ideas on how I might improve my annotations.

You motivated me to annotate the books) Great video! Thank you for your work 👍🏽

Well done! Might just restart the book I'm reading and start taking notes.

Tristan, I learned so much. I have been desiring a book club that would really go deep into the novel and I think this is the one. Will be joining your patreon book club.

Thank you so much🙏 I'm also learning English with your videos

I am so glad to have found your videos. So informative, funny, and completely engaging. Keep up the fantastic work.

Patty - I truly enjoyed this. I am going to give it a try on the next book.

Saved!! I watched through Cranford! Wonderful video so far!

Thank you for a very stimulating and enlightening video. I do find it difficult to annotate because I hate to deface my books and I like to share them with others. I also hate reading a book that someone else has scribbled in--its distracting! Perhaps taking notes is the answer, but that's so much more laborious.

This is a brilliant video Tristan, thank you for all your time and effort into these videos! Learnt a lot about the benefits of annotating and how to begin to do it.

I am revisiting this video 4 months after first watching for a refresher. I will be using these tips for my current read, which is a reread of Doctor Zhivago. 🤗

Thank you so much Tristan for this interesting and very helpful video. I started annotate recently and it's true is slow you down but it is also true that you enjoy the book much more and stays with you. I have read 1984 serval years ago and it took me a while to realise what this book was about. Watching you annotate the first page it shows immediately that this book is narrating a sinister and dangerous world. It makes you realise that the author is not just telling a story for entertainment but there is a message behind the story. Just reading "Big Brother is watching you" is quite scary, in fact 1984 is the scariest book I have ever read. While you were annotate and came to the phrase Big Brother is watching you, I thought that the author is implying that the government is acting as a god. Who believes in God knows that God see and knows everything. So maybe the author is compering the big brother to God? I don't know I might be wrong. I haven't read Cranford even though I love Elizabeth Gaskell's writing, but from that first page I am thinking that this novel in someway is a feminist book. Again I might be wrong 😊 Tristan really thank you for your hard work really appreciate what you do on your channel. I always learn something new from your videos 😊

Just watched this as advised by you on your slow readers video. Thank you.

Wonderful insightful video. Thank you!

What a delightful video!! Can't wait to watch more of your lectures 😊. Thank you!!!

Thank you for your teaching. If I were annotating Cranford I’d add Hyacinth Bucket. 😂 I will try this on my next classic read.

I love your videos, and this one is no exception. I had a thought about Cranford (not related to annotation) - my impression is that the narrative voice is a man, maybe the sole man left in this town of terrifying women. I got that from the first line on, "in possession of the Amazons", which doesn't sound like something a woman would say about other women. If you read through this excerpt imagining it's a put-out man speaking, it takes on a bit of a different flavour.

Good content here Tristan! I look forward to your upcoming tips. I hope the audio level will be more consistent in your next one. Thank You!

Information I've been looking for.

Inspiring and informative 👍

(My comment disappeared so adding again) I loved this video on annotating! I'd like to try it with a book I haven't read before to see what I can glean from it, and I'd welcome any more videos on annotating. Sherlock Holmes comes up often in your videos. I'm a fan of the BBC series with Jeremy Brett, but whenever you mention "seeing and observing," I can't help but think of the hilarious "Without a Clue" with Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley. 😂 Hope you've seen it. (I tried to include a link but perhaps that's why my comment went away.)

Thank you for sharing your love of classics with us! Thank you for your videos.

33:00 i didn't read the Cranford book, but i did read the ''1984'',so my eyes lightened up when i saw 1984 first page as the second example, excited by the next minutes in the video, i have to mention i have no literature degree, or something that can suffice being a teacher of literature to anybody.come to point, i agree that you get insights by annotating, and i am rather a slowreader than a fast one but how much patience should you have to annotate like this?...nevermind i watched along...

Awesome😮 although writing in books... Not sure if I can put myself to it😅

I am extremely happy to have found your channel and I thank you for your instructive videos. However, there is nothing I hate more than picking up a book full of graffiti lol

I read somewhere that authors would use a hard sound for the villains and a soft sound for the good guys. Don't know for sure how often that is done but it makes sense with East of Eden.

Great video. Very Helpful!!

2:00 i read books and watched movies made on them as a base ( adaptations) and for some of them, i don't agree that the respective producer got more from the book than me, but in their defense, it is quite hard to surpass a book by making a movie adaptation of it

Hullo Tristan I have just read Pushkin's ugine Onegin it is wonderful. Highly recommend it. Another brilliant book is oblomov. By Ivan gonchrov. PS have you read any mollier I'm going to read him with Shakespeare to make comparisons I haven't read either. Peace.

I've never been this fast since i came out of the womb 3.5 months early! :0

brilliant talk .....great insights ...thank you 💌 sharing this with my students ....just a humble suggestion ...you can add a subtitle: 'How and why to annotate a book?!'

Thank you at the age of 76 I'm going to get my pencil out and actually mark a book. This was just not allowed when I was young. I shall probably feel guilty,but will secretly enjoy being naughty.

As an avid reader I love your videos (both channels) How would you go about annotating, if the book is borrowed, though? Post it stickers inside? Or is it better to have an external notebook handy?

Great video!

I learned so much from this video. Thank you!! Are you a teacher in your "day job?"