Philip Rosedale response to Mark Bauerlein

You don't want to use only condensation, if possible: The full text (if you have the time) will construct the most accurate/similar set of patterns in your brain to others who have read the novel. In other words, you'll have more in common with someone who also read the full text, and therefore be able to communicate more clearly and deeply. Any specific 'condensation' (set of summary experiences) will not capture as similar or as close an image as the full text. The neat trick is that you can get surprisingly close in 5 minutes with the cliff notes.

As to irony, moral ambiguity, and the like... the really amazing thing about the brain (at least many/most researchers would agree at this point) is that it reduces everything to an associative memory. Information, nothing more (or less). The word 'irony' evokes a cascade of memories, some of which are feelings, etc. The meaning of irony is the sum of those memories. It's different for everyone, too! But there is a collective average in all our minds, which is the best raw definition of what the word/pointer actually means.

BTW, MP3 audio files also don't sound quite as good/true as the original vinyl/CD/live performance. But the human condition is greatly greatly improved by the incredibly expanded fast and cheap access we now all have to music. The benefits enormously outweighed the costs.