The Note Taker
standing on the backs of giants...
“I’ve forgotten who it was that said ‘creation is memory.’”
This quote opens the Zen Pencils comic The Note Taker (click!). The strip and accompanying article details Akira Kurosawa’s reading and how it impacted his filmmaking. It’s a gold mine to a reading enthusiast and reading intervention teacher, as it showcases many common reading strategies, whether one is a struggling student or a casual devotee.
All the quotes are taken from Kurosawa’s aptly named Something Like an Autobiography, and one quote not featured in the comic strikes particularly hard:
“From this point on, my approach to literature changed. I made a deliberate effort to change it. I began to read carefully, asking myself what the author was trying to say and how he was trying to express it (author’s purpose). I thought while I read, and at the same time I kept notes on the passages that struck some emotional chord in me. (active reading)”
All of these will enhance and enrich one’s reading, no doubt. It is what Kurosawa (and others we shall see) did with this deeper way of reading that interests me, and maybe you as well.
Kurosawa created some of his most beloved works this way. Macbeth becomes Throne of Blood. Red Harvest changes to Yojimbo. King Lear is transformed into Ran.
If we go further back, each of those works probably consisted of ideas and stories taken from others as well. Each new work built from those that came before. They say similar things, but they also say something different.
A number of small changes in how Kurosawa approached his reading life made a world of difference. All of these are what I and countless other teachers guide students to do in the classroom.
What was the author trying to say?
How was the author saying it?
Thinking while reading.
Keeping notes.
Finding connections.
Doing any one of these while reading can make it more fun or engaging or just help it to stick better. Highlight a quote from a novel that intrigued you. Ask yourself whether you liked the last chapter or agreed with a research article you read. Take notes in the margins, or a notebook like Kurosawa did. Find the connections to other books you’ve read before, or news stories in the world. And if you’re reading something truly great and asking yourself, “How did the author come up with this?” Remember, they likely have taken an active role in what they consumed. They weren’t born giants, they just climbed on top.