Sunday, July 18, 2004
Footnote and Fancy Free
One of the things my friends say about me (to my face) is that I'm an invaluable addition to any pub quiz team due to my good level of general knowledge. Well, actually, Sara often says I'm a "mine of useless information". The secret is, of course, that I read a lot. I can't bear the thought of a long train or plane journey without a good book to read. Not only do I read a lot, but I read a lot of non-fiction (pop science and history mainly) which brings me to the subject of this rant.
Non fiction books tend to have a lot of what are called "notes". You are reading through the prose and you come across a tiny superscripted "46". This means that the author has something to say that is not part of the main narrative. Normally you have to go in search of the note referenced by the number at the end of the chapter or the book. These little extras come in two main varieties: references and digressions.
References merely point you to the source of a bit of information that the author has just imparted to you. This allows the serious minded reader to go back and verify that the author is not lying or, if they are, they got it from somebody else. I have no problem with a separate list elsewhere in the book listing all the references.
Digressions are usually expansions to points in the text or perhaps whitty anecdotes or summaries of contrary positions. The problem is I want to read the digressions. They might have important or interesting information in them. I hate having to leaf forward to find the note, read it and then find my way back to where I was before. The problem is compounded by the fact that these books are often very weighty (the one I'm reading now and which set me off on this has over 1,000 pages). It can take ages to find the notes section and then the right number note in it. Even worse, if the references and digressions are all mixed up together, you might spend five minutes looking for a note in anticipation of some gem of wisdom only to find it just says "Hofstadter, 1978".
So, and I'm talking to you Mr Penrose, why can't you use footnotes at the bottom of the page you are currently on? If it's important enough to write it down, it's important enough not to hide away at the back of the book where I can't find it.
Non fiction books tend to have a lot of what are called "notes". You are reading through the prose and you come across a tiny superscripted "46". This means that the author has something to say that is not part of the main narrative. Normally you have to go in search of the note referenced by the number at the end of the chapter or the book. These little extras come in two main varieties: references and digressions.
References merely point you to the source of a bit of information that the author has just imparted to you. This allows the serious minded reader to go back and verify that the author is not lying or, if they are, they got it from somebody else. I have no problem with a separate list elsewhere in the book listing all the references.
Digressions are usually expansions to points in the text or perhaps whitty anecdotes or summaries of contrary positions. The problem is I want to read the digressions. They might have important or interesting information in them. I hate having to leaf forward to find the note, read it and then find my way back to where I was before. The problem is compounded by the fact that these books are often very weighty (the one I'm reading now and which set me off on this has over 1,000 pages). It can take ages to find the notes section and then the right number note in it. Even worse, if the references and digressions are all mixed up together, you might spend five minutes looking for a note in anticipation of some gem of wisdom only to find it just says "Hofstadter, 1978".
So, and I'm talking to you Mr Penrose, why can't you use footnotes at the bottom of the page you are currently on? If it's important enough to write it down, it's important enough not to hide away at the back of the book where I can't find it.
# posted by JeremyP : 2:53 pm
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I agree entirely about the footnotes issue, but I'd rather not have them at all - just put everything you have to say on the same page. It particularly annoys me to find a piece of narrative on the web (be it blog or whatever), liberally sprinkled with links - more often than not, linked to something which any old fool could find without too much bother. Disturbs the flow, and my feeble brain can't cope. :)
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