Sep
26
You've got to be kidding me…
2008 at 9am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
People find The Book Lady’s Blog via some really interesting channels, if their search terms are any indication. But this one takes the cake: “Cliff Notes Breaking Dawn.”
Really? Cliff Notes? For a Stephenie Meyer book? Yes, it’s long and all, but do you actually think it is important and/or academic enough to have Cliff Notes?
My super-spoilerific review is about the closest this poor googler is going to get, and I didn’t even like the book.
But really…I’m afraid for the future of our nation if today’s teenagers think they need Cliff Notes for a pedestrian teenage melodrama disguised as a vampire book, written by a woman who clearly has not discovered punctuation marks outside of the comma and period.
If you get here looking for my analysis of The Handmaid’s Tale, that’s one thing. It’s a difficult book that deserves analysis and exploration. But Breaking Dawn? Come on, people.
Even if you love Meyer’s books, you have to admit that they hardly require Cliff Notes.



















We live in a “want it now” society. It doesn’t surprise me that someone, somewhere needs Cliff Notes for Breaking Dawn. How lazy can one be??
That’s hilarious!
Yesterday, a girl left a comment on my review of How To Read Lit Like a Professor asking if I could please tell her the titles of chapters 1-3 and how they tied into what the chapters were about, because she had a project.
Right. Because in all of my spare time, I’m going to do some random person’s homework.
Eva: Wow.
Eva, that is so funny! People are amazing. I guess the veil of the Internet sometimes makes crazy people feel even more brazen than they would in person?
A customer at my bookstore once asked if I’d read a certain book, and when I said yes, he asked me if I would write down what I thought the most important points were — followed by any “examples” of them in the work. I rose my eyebrows and, if he wasn’t around thirteen, probably would have laughed in his face. As it was, I told him that I would get in “trouble” at work if I did. Yeah, he bought it.
And Rebecca, I agree — Cliff Notes for Breaking Dawn is a pretty ridiculous concept. Skimming through the series’ Wikipedia page would probably suffice for the truly uninitiated!
i am envious of your cliff notes link in..
anyone reading my blog often enough reads a rant about the disturbing trends of keywords leading to my domain…
i would reprint them but they are terrible..
i am saddened and yet… strangely proud.
Oh, it gets worse. I’ve had customers come up to me, random Spark Notes book in hand, asking, “Do you have anything like this but smaller?”
Yes. They wanted a Spark Notes for the Spark Notes.
There was a website that summed up classics in one sentence. Mark needs to point them there.
Why would anyone need Cliff Notes for Breaking Dawn?! The mind boggles!
This is pretty ridiculous.
And I’m definitely going to be there to see Rushdie tomorrow! I don’t know what I’ll be wearing, but I’ll be the relatively short (5’4”) Indian girl with a white husband who is a foot taller than me! There can’t be too many of us!
Yep! I remember for awhile last year, I had a lot of hits for people looking for themes/symbols/characterisations in The Secret Life of Bees. I assume that was a school project too…
*sigh* In the time they spend searching the internet, they could at least skim the book.
I completely agree. However, I think this is a testament to the attitude of today’s society that there is not enough time to read or read in depth for that matter. We are all too busy to read! Or so they say. I think its ridiculous. I find time to read, maybe not as much as others, but I at least find it important enough for my sanity to do so. Productivity is one thing, losing your ability to think critically on your own is another.
Cliff notes for Breaking Dawn? You have got to be kidding me. I thought they were already Cliff notes
Don’t get me wrong, I really loved the series, but they are so easy to read and so straightforward… Dear God, what if this person has to read one of your Banned Books? He or she would have an aneurysm! Lol!
I searched for cliff notes for Breaking Dawn! Just because someone wants a short summary doesn’t mean they won’t go through with actually reading it. I searched it because I had heard some sketchy things and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get into it if it wasn’t worth it. I do that with a lot of the books I read (and yes, I’m a big reader, despite my search for a summary on Breaking Dawn.) I’m 22 and about to graduate with an El Ed degree…shocking isn’t it?
I’m one of the people you mention who is searching for a Cliff’s notes version of the books.
The reason searched for it is twofold: I’ve heard some ridiculous claims about the books and my girlfriend is gaga over this tripe while I obviously have a different opinion about the series. I want to see if the more ridiculous of the claims are true without wasting my time reading it and I don’t want to be completely out of the loop with my girlfriend.
Perhaps the problem with the younger people isn’t that they want everything now but that they experience information overload and thus have to weed out the good from the bad at a moment’s notice without having the skills to do it.
Lastly, remember what they say about assumptions? I’ll remind you: to assume is to make an ass out of “u” and “me.”