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/lit/ - Literature

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[ERROR] No.2034492 [Reply] [Original]

Tiny little features in books that you absolutely love.

I'll start. Chapters starting with a large, nicely calligraphed letters that take up a few lines, with the rest of the text written normally.

>> No.2034505
File: 101 KB, 500x500, 5934706864_c8228e7a57.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
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Big, crudely drawn cartoon vaginas.

>> No.2034523

paperback covers made of strong enough material that their corners do not bend or flay. new york review books are the only ones i find consistently satisfying in this regard. penguin deluxe editions and all vintage press are usually good as well.

>> No.2034530

>>2034505
Vonnegut gold, right thur.

>> No.2034529

I like the quotes that start some books chapters.
Watership Down, and the amusing fake ones from Myth Adventures... Memories

>> No.2034532

Red letter Bibles.

>> No.2034542
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Sexy tables of content, with roman numerals and named chapters.

>> No.2034543
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>>2034532
But those aren't the words of god. Fyi

>> No.2034553

>>2034542
I hate the fact that Terry Pratchett thinks that chapters are a childish form of organization.

>> No.2034573

>>2034543
What do you mean by that?

>> No.2034590

Summaries at the beginnings of chapters, or a list of sections within the chapter. Like

Chapter One
In Which The Author Discovers Lepidoptery

or

Chapter Twenty Seven
Nickel-bending ---- Origins of crimpers ---- An enquiry concerning coin malleability ---- Conclusions

>> No.2034757

bump

>> No.2034762

The fact that like every book, on the copyright page, has "The author would like to thank the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation."

All that group does is throw money at people.

>> No.2034766

>>2034492
Footnotes. Endnotes and parenthetical citation do not cut it.

>> No.2034775

>>2034492
-Cloth bookmark that comes attached to the book
-Illuminated cover
-If I'm reading nonfiction, I like footnotes, a large section of book devoted to citations, and a well-read author who knows how to refer to others

>> No.2034773

Beautiful leather bounds.

Ribbon bookmarks.

THE SMELL OF A BOOK'S PAGES.

>> No.2034781

>>2034773
>Ribbon bookmarks.

all my rage. in the way every fucking time. i initiate new everyman library volumes by aborting those fuckers.

>> No.2034782

Large leather-bound books, thick, gold-rimmed pages with margins large enough to fit all my marginalia. Also, white pages at the end of the book or (though I have not encountered it yet) at the end of every chapter.

>> No.2034785

>>2034782
This sounds like something from the renaissance.

>> No.2034794

Companion books to follow along.
I'm rereading Gravity's Rainbow with a companion book handy, it's really enriching the atmosphere and dialog, etc... I'm going to reread it one more time afterwards for what will hopefully be the most incredible reading experience of my lifetime.

>> No.2034797

>>2034782
>own leather-bound, gilt-edged books
>scribble in the margins

>> No.2034804
File: 42 KB, 350x247, marginalia2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
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>>2034797
IS HE BEING TOO OLD SCHOOL FOR YOU?

>> No.2034811

>>2034797
Your credibility is still shot mate.

>> No.2034817 [DELETED] 

>>2034811
Why do I hate tripfags and namefags on /lit/?

>> No.2034845

Endnotes which, at the top of the page, tell you which page of the text they refer to.

...if I think about it I love it, but I actually generally notice this in the negative sense, as in WHY THE FUCK HAVE YOU PUT THE ENDNOTES IN SOME OTHER, OBJECTIVELY LESS CONVENIENT, WAY, PUBLISHER?

...really, though, is it that the idea's patented or something? Because why the hell wouldn't you do that?

>> No.2034871

illustrations

seriously, it's interesting to see others' visual interpretations of the work, and in what respects theirs differs from yours. always such a treat when there are illustrations every 50 pages or so.

>> No.2034882

>>2034766
God, I hate endnotes. I bought an annotated Dhammapada to find that I have to keep going between the sayings and the notes at the end for EVERY SINGLE SAYING. Damn, that is INCREDIBLY ANNOYING.

>> No.2034891

>>2034797


Poor fat detected.


Also: if you don't write marginalia, you don't know shit about literature.

Also: if you don't write marginalia on (at least) four-hundred year old parchment, you don't know shit about shit.

>> No.2034898

>>2034891

Don't start this shit, asshole.

>> No.2034909

>>2034891
>>2034811
>>2034804
Isn't that what post-its and notes are for? With the possible exception of highlighting, I never understood the need to write on the pages themselves.

>> No.2034918
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>>2034909

>highlighting

I seriously & co.

>> No.2034920

>>2034891
>2011
>defiling book with your inane, masturbatory shitscribbles

Seriously, why don't you just wank on the pages shouting "I AM SMART"?

>> No.2034938

>>2034920

Why don't you go back to your pre-owned Dover thrifts, and shut the fuck up, you peasant.

>> No.2034940

>>2034909

Post-it notes: more obtrusive and transitory than marginalia.

I know to think one thought and one thought only and to think it through to the end.

>> No.2034942

What do you write on the pages? What you feel like while reading, what you think while reading?
I remember we had this task in high school where we would write a ? in front of the line if there was something we didn't understand and line down the words that we didn't know and stuff like that.

>> No.2034943

well this thread turned to shit rather quickly

If I in any way could revive I would do so by stating that a little thing I love in books is a secret compartment.

>> No.2034946

Yellow pages and foxing. And I like the smell of age, which I find to be somewhere between dust and custard.

>> No.2034950

>>2034940
Must be nice being completely certain of your current particular interpretation of a novel, and never changing your mind because of how everlastingly infallible your opinions are.

>> No.2034957

>>2034946

>somewhere between dust and custard.

That would be dustard then.

Two things I love - one is buying really old books and finding uncut pages. That's just awesome.

The other is the books I sometimes get from the USA with a kind of unfinished, scallopped look to the edges of the pages, which are often really rough paper I think it's called Deckle or rough-cut or something). They make me feel very international.

>> No.2034990

>Tiny little features in books that you absolutely love

The story. Everything else in this thread is masterbatory bullshit. The words are all that matter, however you get them

>> No.2035097

>>2034990
Footnotes aren't masturbation, they're a superior way to cite.

>> No.2035186

>>2034957
Oh god how I loathe those pages.
"Ahh, time to turn the page using one hand."
And then 10 pages were turned.
"D'oh!"

>> No.2035215

Pocket-sized, but hardcover.

Cover art that is not a photo or photocollage; it makes the publisher look lazy.

Woodcut illustrations at the beginning of the chapter.

Endnotes, appendices and similar on noticably different-coloured pages.

>> No.2035506

Paperbacks that don't get creases on the back and that don't have a glossy cover that get's greasy.

>> No.2035529

When chapters are named, not numered.

>> No.2035746

>>2035215
>Pocket-sized, but hardcover.
i could fap to pictures of books like this.

>> No.2035767

being able to tap on the word and look it up in the dictionary, wikipedia and google at the same time.

OH WAIT THATS MY NOOK

>> No.2035772
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>>2035767
>Has too look up words
Oh right, you don't, you're just trying to justify getting an E-reader.

>> No.2035775
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>Open book up
>set it on table
>book stays flat and open on its own no matter what page you're on

>> No.2035784
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[ERROR]

>>2035775

>> No.2035783

>>2035775
>>2035775
>>2035775
>>2035775
>>2035775
>>2035775
>>2035775

>> No.2035792
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[ERROR]

>>2035772

>has too look up words
>too

>> No.2035793

>>2035775

When has this EVER happened for you?

>> No.2035799
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>>2035775
> on its own no matter what page you're on
Impossible

>> No.2035801

>>2035793
A lot of the really old books with beaten spines and thick pages do this.

>> No.2035803
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[ERROR]

holy shit, complex web of coffee spillage and water damage, i am trying to read, stop looking so goddamn interesting

i really did have trouble with starting this chapter because i was staring at the rorschach stains. i imagine that some poor soul with tourettes or parkinsons or both went so fucking thirsty while reading this entire book, there is not a page he did not douse with at least half a cup of any given liquid. i suspect some of it might even be blood, what the fuck

>> No.2035812

>>2035803
eww and you still read it?

>> No.2035818

Notes and marks made by previous owners of a second-hand book. Especially in philosophy books.

>> No.2035822
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>>2035812
issa good book

>> No.2035831

For people that write notes in their books sometimes it's interesting sometimes I want to kill whoever put the notes in there.

My copy of The Picture of Dorian Grey is filled with spoilers and made up garbage about how deep the book is.

All of my rage

>> No.2035833

Viewpoints from unusual things. I don't see it often. I forget the book, but I believe I read something where there was just a brief (page or two) viewpoint from a dog's perspective, and I just loved it.

>> No.2035838

>>2035831
That's some high level trolling.

>> No.2035938

Some margin notes can be very interesting and educational. Example:
>buy 2nd hand complete poems of Yeats
>"The mountain grass cannot but keep the form (note: Platonic?)
Where the mountain hare has lain."

And that's how I came across the concept of Platonic forms. I feel like Harry Potter when he got Snape's old potions textbook.

>> No.2036333

blank pages to represent when the narrator experiences something traumatic or almost dies/dies etc
it just makes me go like "ooooo"

also little interesting quotes before each chapter or at the end are cool

>> No.2036569

bump

>> No.2036587

>>2035799
>>2035775
Legend speaks of such a tome, wrought by blood magicks and bound in ancient leather. The legend tells us that powerful arcane forces hold the book open, but its eldritch pages have been lost to history.

It is best not to dwell on such foolish dreams, for only disappointment awaits.

>> No.2036617

Every time I find the name of one of the previous owners of the book, with the date at which he began reading the book on the first page. And the date on which he finished it, on the last one.

Finding documents/bills/notes on really old books.

The smell of old books.

I found once a piece of paper with a conversation between two people reading the same book at the public library. I joined in. we talked like this for about three months. We never met each other, but it was interesting nevertheless.

>> No.2037170

>>2035793
>>2035799
>>2036587
I have a leather-bound Bible that does this, the paper is specifically weighted for that to happen. It's necessary because it has a huge number of footnotes, commentary and annotations, not counting all the normal Bible text. I believe it's called the "ESV Study Bible", and even their cheapest hardcover has pages like that. Now this I like.

>> No.2037430

>>2037170
I have a KJV Bible bound in leather, which you can roll up and roll back and it does not get damaged at all. Pretty cool, though useless.

>> No.2037453

Small text, strong paper, good binding.

>> No.2037483 [DELETED] 
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I like finding books in weird and unusual places.

One time I was fucking this whore in a shitty brothel in Amsterdam and there was a copy of Madame Bovary under the bed.

mfw I stole it on the way out while she was washing her cunt in the sink

>> No.2037498

>>2037483
There was a copy of Charles Bukowski's Women on a wall outside a Salvation Army building. It was there for a couple of days. I didn't pick it up in case it had germs on.

>> No.2037507

>>2037498

Germs if you're lucky.

>> No.2037548

Extra wide inside margins. I won't open paperbacks all the way because I don't want to crack the spine, so they're difficult to read when the text goes right up to the seam.

Pages cut evenly on the end. I didn't realise how much I appreciated that until I read some books where the publishers didn't bother. It's trendy to have that uneven look or something. You can't flip through easily if they're uneven, and the larger pages end up getting crumpled.

>> No.2037555
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Awesome cover art.

The Great Gatsby might have the best cover art of any book. Its also fucking awesome. The Unknown Pleasures of the book world.

>> No.2037579

>>2037555
Shouldn't you be back in school by now.

>> No.2039185

bemp

>> No.2039419

Poor little thread. Could use another bump.

>> No.2039456

>>2037555

Your trips do not redeem you of you're admiration of over-hyped, over-appreciated literature.

>> No.2039457

>>2037555
>WOW EVERYBODY I'M TRYING TO SUCK /lit/ COCKS

Fix'd that for you.
Try reading something worthwhile for once.

>> No.2039461

I will never be able to overstate my love for the humble slipcover. It makes otherwise dull-looking books quite visually interesting on the shelf, and the little descriptions on the inside flaps tend to be nice as well. Also, if you happen to dislike how it tends to impede your actual read, it can be removed with minimal fuss and returned to the book once you've finished.

>> No.2039555
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[ERROR]

I found a preserved marijuana leaf in my copy of Dune that I purchased second-hand from an old soulful black man.
He was pretty cool. We sat and listened to his old vinyls while discussing Arrakis' ecosystem.

>> No.2039560

>>2039461
Know of any good sites to purchase slipcovers online?
I can't find any.

>> No.2039579

>>2039456
I wonder why you would make an error on your/you're when you managed to get it right earlier in the sentence. Also, I don't really care, but I obligatorily comment on it because this is /lit/.

>> No.2039596
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[ERROR]

thought of something else. Old books that get touched up in some way; like how this book has got a little article pasted into it, or books that have their title handwritten in white along the spine because the jacket is long gone/never existed.

>> No.2040291

Books ending with "The End" as opposed to ones that just end.

>> No.2042109

bump

>> No.2042315

>>2040291
I prefer

fin

>> No.2043139

ghostbump

>> No.2044724

bump

>> No.2044751

Hardbacks that don't say "NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER" or "NOW A HIT MOVIE/SHOW"

>> No.2045750

A book that stays open by itself.

WE DON'T NEED NO BOOKMARKS HERE.