Posted on 03/18/2024 11:53:06 AM PDT by DallasBiff
That mean old clock on the wall doesn't tend to be particularly kind to leaders and entrepreneurs, so big surprise, companies that offer cliffs notes, abridged or otherwise easy-to-digest versions of books are soaring in popularity. These certainly aren't all bad, since they can help you quickly understand what the main point of a text is or let you jog your memory about it. They have their place.
But if you're going to read a book, please just read the real, whole book already, at least most of the time. There are valuable reasons not to skip even one word.
(Excerpt) Read more at inc.com ...
I did not use Cliff Notes at any time, ever. Yes, that includes the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.
Readers Disgust condensed books were wretched hack-jobs.
They were but they got the point across of the a nual bestsellers which often wre not worth the time
I have a sweet spot for them. In the early 70s I was very ill....like perhaps 8 weeks to live ill... and we were churchmouse poor. We had a whole big carton of RDCB left by previous owners. My beloved every evening after coming home from work would read me to sleep out of those books. They had strong narratives and one could be read aloud each evening... such comfort in an uncertain time.
In the words of Sam Malone, “What? There was a movie?”
As in many things, YMMV.
I had never even heard of Cliff Notes until I was out of college.
Sums up my reaction, as well.
lol You and me both, brother! I am the proud owner of all of the issues — never knew what a teacher was going to throw at me. :D
When I was really young, I liked Readers Digest condensed books because I didn’t know any better. I still remember the first time I read a complete version of a novel I had read as a RDCB (The Last Angry Man, by Gerald Green), and that was it for condensed versions after that.
There are still quite a few books that I’d like to read in their entirety after reading the RDCB editions long ago. Many are out of print now and cost a lot, if you can even find them.
I don’t think I was aware of Cliff’s Notes when I was a student. But later, when I was teaching at a public university (probably above average selectivity), I had a colleague named Dave who thought that Cliff’s Notes were too hard for the students and said he was thinking of coming out with a simplified version, Dave’s Notes.
I never used Cliffs Notes either, because I read everything I could get my hands on anyway. Half the time in school I had already read the assigned books because they had also been assigned to my older siblings.
Kamala is how you know the CliffsNotes are not the answer
In nearly 70 years and two college degrees I’ve never touched Cliff’s. I have used Schaum’s many times. It got me through Differential Equations and I wish I had found it sooner for Calculus. I spent hours at a blackboard working problems and comparing solutions. I used a blackboard because I had to stand up and didn’t so easily fall asleep. Abstract rule based stuff just doesn’t jibe for me. Orgasmic Chemistry was the same way. Biology, Physics, Physiology, Soils, Mechanics, Strength of Materials even Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics good to go Electrical Circuits not so much.
Baby Boomers: “Cliff Notes got me through college.”
Dust jackets on books were also helpful at times. :)
True story, I literally never read a book legitimately until after high school.
Yup. I had teachers write the exams around these. If you relied on the cliff notes you failed.
I confess. I have a horrible reading comprehension problem. Always have. I have to read things that are short and to the point. So yes I’m a Cliffer. If I had to read a whole book couldn’t do it. And I was bad at Math. Always getting tutored summer school etc. fast forward 36 years from high school I became a CPA. Give me a tax or GAAP law I’m for it. Might have to read it twice but hey. 🤷♂️🤷♂️
Side note. I’ve been a CPA since 1997. Served me well.
A decade or so ago I saw Cliff Notes for a book I’d just read for about the fifth time (The Killer Angels), and impulse-bought it. Waste of money; I’d have given it a D as a book report.
Oh great. Now what? We have to read the whole topic or underlying article before posting? No thanks. /jk
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