Ode to Book Margins

Books beg to be written in.  Why do you think they have margins? The spaces around the text are for trail markers along the journey. The more markings, the more impact the surrounding words have had on the journeywoman. At any point in time, she can open the book and find who she was when she read it, a diary of sorts with scattered fragments of her soul whispering or screaming in the margins but important enough to be left behind, to leave a footprint - I was here at this point in time and not only is this book important but what I thought about it is more important.  I grieve when I hear someone say, "I don't mark in books." The books themselves must surely be hurt or offended by those who leave their pages crisp and clean, untouched by the beauty of its message or the cruelty of its truth. I am the kind of reader that Steinbeck refers to in East of Eden:  "...but Tom got into a book, crawled and groveled between the covers, tunneled like a mole among the thoughts, and came up with the book all over his face and hands."  If I loan you a book, I truly trust you, for I'm allowing the margins and underlines to reveal myself as I am, along with the story. If you love your books, mark them up and let them know it.  Is there a worse crime to be committed than one too reverent for expression or one who remains unmoved by the blistering heart laid bare by celestial fingers?