Marginalia

Sample of commentary on Rick Springfield's Magnificent Vibration.

Heather:

I'm going to do something that will make my English colleagues shudder--begin with a definition...

Marginalia, according to The Oxford English Dictionary: Online (oed.com), refers to, "notes, commentary, and similar material written or printed in the margin of a book or manuscript."

I met Jesse two years ago in the middle of the parking lot just outside of my office.  An early summer thunderstorm had knocked out the power to campus and the surrounding area.  Well, I guess that wasn't our initial meeting--we had been introduced to one another previously.  It was, however, our first conversation.  I remember this so well because we talked about books.  He recommended I Am Asher Lev by Chaim Potok and I gave him the names of a few books I had recently enjoyed.   "We're going to be friends," I thought to myself, "he's a reader!"

We did, indeed, develop a friendship that included many discussions about books, super hero movies, student-athletes, food, drive-in movies, and core beliefs.  He even came to Gran's for Thanksgiving dinner in 2012, but that is a story for another time.  

It seems like we have talked about Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick for much of the time we have known one another.  We've discussed the movie and he has been trying to steal my marked up copy to read for a while now.  I had planned on giving him a copy for his graduation, so I was purposefully holding out.  We were out one evening, however, when I discovered another book by Matthew Quick, The Good Luck of Right Now, and purchased it.  I hadn't even read the inside flap.  (This is quite the impulse buy for me. I am known for going to the book store to visit books before I later purchase them.  Yeah, I know how that makes me sound and I'm okay with it.)

I spent the next month or so reading the book and marking it up.  That's right.  I bought the book as a gift and not only did I read it, I wrote things in it.  I commented on things that were happening in the book and I copied down some poetry and I asked questions.  We were in my office late one evening before graduation--he was working on finishing a final paper and I was trying to finish up my own graduate work--when I presented him with the book.  (I'm rather terrible at keeping secrets about gifts, so I gave it to him early.)  "You read it?" he asked.  "And marked it in?"  He seemed a little confused, but it was late and I had interrupted his work.  Later, though, he said how much he had enjoyed both the book and my comments along the way. He even replied to some of them!  I'm rather excited to read the book again (yep, I'll read the whole thing) so I can add his comments to the layers of meaning I found in those pages.

We decided to try it again.  I went to my local book store and asked a clerk I have come to know and trust for a recommendation.  I was handed Magnificent Vibration by Rick Springfield.  I didn't read the flap--I bought the book and headed home to wrap it up.  This time Jesse would get to read the book first and then I would read it with his comments.  I finished the book over the weekend and while it wasn't my cup of tea, I still enjoyed the experience of reading it because I looked forward to reading the marginalia.

Jesse's time in my neck of the woods is drawing to a close.  (Don't tell him, but I'm going to miss the big lug.)  He promises we'll keep in touch through phone calls and text messages, but I look forward to our continued conversations via margins and writing utensils.