Sparknotes=Bad

I went on sparknotes.com and read the extremely short and pathetic summary of my second quarter book From Baghdad, With Love. This novel is an incredible and inspiring book and this "summary" of the book is nowhere near the deserving amount of credit to the whole novel. This novel is deeply emotionally moving, and in this summary I wanted to fall asleep. Sure, it spoils the entire book for you and points out obvious symbols. But, how is this enriching your attitude towards Marines, or war, or how people's lives can change in one day, or how good things come out of bad situations, or the pure goodness of reading a book! I've never used Sparknotes for any school assignment. I always really try to read a book whether or not I like it. Like the catchy phrase of the Disney movie, Holes: "It builds character". That is repeated to the campers when asking why they must dig holes all day. I'm pretty sympathetic towards anyone who uses Sparknotes or doesn't read outside school let alone an assigned text. They are cheating themselves. What's it gonna hurt? Going to gain knowledge you wouldn't have originally gained? Going to expand your reading skills and therefore, believe it or not, your writing skills? Reading an entire novel is nothing but a benefit and an enriching experience. When taking the easy way out like reading Sparksnotes, you get practically no benefits but maybe an A on a quiz or test. I consistently see that the people who do take this shortcut, take other shortcuts in life as well, if you get my drift. Reading is one of the simple joys in life and when you completely disregard this fact, no good is done. Even if someone has to sit down and force themselves to read a novel, in the very least they can say that they did it, and they conquered something they didn't want to do. In my case, whenever I've had to sit and force a novel down my throat, I always was thankful I did so, because the best part of the book is always the end when everything makes sense- you just have to get there. Specifically in reference to my second quarter novel, you completely miss the attachment to Lava and adoration for Kopelman, the emotional connections to Kopelman when he doesn't know Lava's fate, and especially you don't get the build-up and climax of when Kopelman and Lava are reunited again and for the rest of their lives. The summary that stated pretty much that the novel was about a Marine who found a dog and went through a lot of trials to get him to America is a terrible representation of the treasure that this novel truly is...the treasure that any and most novels are.