This was a book that, on the surface, would not hook me. Yet, the published book reviews from people I respect tempted me to give it a shot. It was much more than I expected in 20/20 hindsight. I thoroughly enjoyed the history of the simple notebook, its unique history, and the number of intriguing permutations the notebook and notetaking had manifested throughout human history. The only history not recorded here is whether there was a similar history of Asian notebook tradition that was developed in parallel since Asian language traditions are different from the western ones, that history would certainly be intriguing as well.
The number of diverse stories told in this tome about how
the tradition of people writing notes down for personal usage as well as for
posterity evolved is proof positive that the need to record our activities,
whether it is to remind ourselves or to record for the sake of others that come
after us, is strong. An essential undercurrent that I sensed through reading these
stories of notetaking people is that they were mostly not motivated by a sense
of leaving their legacy; they were, however, more concerned with recording
their activities out of a sense of duty to themselves.
The book starts with the very first notebook, an accounting
ledger which was created to record the profits and debits of the most mundane but
important of human activity: commerce. I must admit that the first few chapters
tracking the evolution of the initial accountant’s notebooks were less than exciting,
but what kept me going forward were the evolution of the use of notebooks in
the home, the history of the zibaldoni, a precursor to the Commonplace
Book. I had started keeping my own sets of Commonplace books a few years ago
and the history of this practice drew my interest.
The book is full of these distinct little stories about how
notetakers, through both necessity and ingenuity, invented the modern version
of the notebook for their own needs.
Indeed, this book roughly follows a chronological path of
discerning scribes noting their own work and practicing the art of observation
assiduously and with discipline in order to directly benefit themselves and
indirectly those that follow them. The stories of naturalists, ocean explorers,
engineers, scientists, travelers, artists, amongst many others, all noting
their observations, summaries, conjectures, and the intricate granularities of
their thought process are awe inspiring. The names associated with the stories
are both obscure and famous: Leonardo, Newton, Darwin, et, al.
But the stories do not just tell historical vignettes as
sideshow entertainment, although they are all very entertaining in their own
way. Many of the chapters draw on the inspirational uses that people have
deployed their notebooks.
One salient story comes from someone who is working to reconstruct
historical global weather patterns through the careful and detailed observations
and numerical data accumulated in climate logs throughout history, from ship’s
logs to land-based observers. This immense and global undertaking has allowed climate scientists to
accurately create climate models of detail and precision, enough so that they
are filling the wide chasms in our understanding of our climactic past.
On a more personal level, there is the practice of patient diaries, diaries that are kept
patiently and carefully by the nurses, doctors, caregivers, families, and many others
who were compelled log everything that they deemed important for those patients
who were in comas or were unconscious for many reasons. The patients, who
awaken from their slumber, treat these books as the history of what they were
not able to experience, as a conduit to a past that they did not experience.
This was a story that moved me to tears, as the selflessness of the people who
put themselves voluntarily to write, in excruciating minute details, of a
someone’s journey through the unknown. Sometimes the patients are strangers,
sometimes they are loved ones. It is a selfless and generous act of loving
one’s fellow human, which is rarely acknowledged, let alone recognized.
Another story that moved me emotionally is about the act of journaling
as a form of self-care; for those who
have had devastatingly traumatic experiences in their lives or for those who
are experiencing the trials and tribulations of life as it ebbs and flows
through time. The story details the psychological studies conducted with those
who have used journaling as a means of healing and those who did not use
journaling. The journal writers had shown remarkable emotional progress as they
have come to understand their experiences and have learned to resolve the
legacies of their trauma through just writing down their observations of their
emotional inner life. The practice of writing in journals has been shown to be
a healing practice, a means for those who choose to write about their traumas in
order to understand those events that have happened to them. It aligns with my
personal motto, which I learned from a Joan Didion quote: I write to find out
what I think; that quote has been my motivation for many years. The practice of
writing, whether it is in a journal or in a blog, has served to realign my
personal priorities and has helped me lay out my philosophies and guided my
instantaneous thoughts constructively as well as healing me of my emotional
wounds.
In the concluding chapter, the author delves into the role
that the notebook can play in our future; that of an extension of our mind.
This was a subject that had fascinated me, as I had come to learn from many contemporary
explorers of our evolving thinking and ways of using external means to bolster
our cognitive abilities. While my our boxes of notebooks are just beginning to
grow, knowing that others have already accumulated an immense and useful
collection of notebooks that they use for their personal, professional, emotional,
and intellectual growth was quite the motivation to continuing my notetaking
habit. I am beginning to benefit from the copious amount of work that I have
already done, and I hope to continue to benefit.
The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper is one
of those books that I will permanently keep close to me in my permanent
collection of books that I will reach into so that I can constantly be inspired
and renewed by its diverse topics, always reminding me the examples of the persistent
notetakers that came before me.
