May 2013
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English majors are funny
If I owned a black poodle, I’d name it “Mephistopheles.”
Get it….?
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April 2013
12 posts
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“[Domestic collective reading would] necessarily check the dangerous delights of...”
– Kate Flint, author of The Woman Reader 1837-1914. I enjoy how reading to oneself was deemed dangerous.
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Trombone Week
I was alerted that this was a thing (it happened April 7-14 this year), and I’M SO EXCITED IT EXISTS. According to the official website, www.trombone.net,
ITW [International Trombone Week—so official!] events have been held in more than a dozen countries and have included Trombone Days, liveweb streams of performances and masterclasses, premieres of new compositions, recitals,...
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“[I]t’s only now that I feel such love. It’s not the same as before....”
– Natasha Rostov from Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Book 8, Chapter 15. What sort of “love” is this?!?
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The Power of Words
I looked up a word in the OED thesaurus to find the exact right word to fit the context. Gosh, does it impress. It sorts every word into three categories: the external world, society, and the mind; and then breaks down within the chosen category the meaning you want.
For example, I typed in “neutral”—In “society”, it would list words relating to, such as, a neutral...
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Reading Connections
I was innocently reading along, enjoying the “peace” section of Tolstoy’s War and Peace when I experienced deja vu. The passage went like this:
Prince Andrew held her hands, looked into her eyes, and did not find in his heart his former love for her. Something in him had suddenly changed … there was pity for her feminine and childish weakness, fear at her devotion and...
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Translating texts
I found it very ironic that, while reading an English translation of the German text Faust, I have come across a part in the original text discussing errors in translation (which the English translator would have tried to translate as nearly as possible). Translations—just like synonyms, as the OED synonyms webpage can prove—seriously can hinder identical meaning because no word means...
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His proposal 2
This is from Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Book 3, Chapter 1 (translated by Maude):
‘All this had to be and could not be otherwise,’ thought Pierre, ‘so it is useless to ask whether it is good or bad. It is good because it’s definite and one is rid of the old tormenting doubt.’ Pierre held the hand of his betrothed in silence, looking at her beautiful bosom as...
March 2013
24 posts
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“A good Booke is the pretious life-blood of a mafter fpirit, imbalm’d and...”
– Plaque in the New York Public Library
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Book Review
Here’s a critical passage about Middlemarch in my seminar reading I really liked. This brief paragraph would have been the perfect book review for me as a potential reader, because it explains why the book is significant without giving a plot summary. Instead, it uses the author’s writing stylistic choices and theme.
Middlemarch is concerned with nearly every important activity in...
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The downside to America
When the exact job you’re looking for is hiring in the UK branch.
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La Fheile Padraig sona daoibh!
March 17—Since I’m taking Irish (Gaeilge) lessons, I figured this day especially deserved some Irish appreciation. This is Irish for “Happy St. Patrick’s Day, ya’ll!” Pronounce it like “La Ella Pawrig sona deev!”
Here are some interesting facts about the language: http://theweek.com/article/index/241476/8-fun-facts-about-the-irish-language
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“[George Eliot] read[s] the diverse hearts of men [and creeps] into their skin,...”
– Lord Acton, a fan of George Eliot, author of Middlemarch. The best part is that his words ring completely true. In Middlemarch, Eliot transfers fluidly between different character perceptions and captures all of their emotions. Even on characters who are less likeable, like Casaubon, the narrator...
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“From this foul drain, the greatest stream of human industry flows out to...”
– Tocqueville, 19th century french political reformer, positively observing the effects of industrialisation in Manchester, England.
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Book Marketing Ideology
From Cervantes's Don Quixote, Part 2, Chapter 3. The characters are discussing the truthfulness and enjoyableness of the book written about Don Quixote's doings. I love when characters refer to themselves being in books.
Don Quixote: [I]n order to write histories and books of any kind, one must have great judgment and mature understanding. . . . History is like a sacred thing; it must be truthful, and wherever truth is, there God is; but despite this, there are some who write and toss off books as if they were fritters.
Senor Bachelor Sanson Carrasco: There is no book so bad that it does not have something good in it.
...
Senor Bachelor Sanson Carrasco: [I]t well may be that what seem defects to [some] are birthmarks that often increase the beauty of the face where they appear; and so I say that whoever prints a book exposes himself to great danger, since it is utterly impossible to write in a way that will satisfy and please everyone who reads it.
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“I can accept the gram all right,” said Sancho, “but the mar I...”
– Cervantes, in Don Quixote, Part 2, Chapter 3. Sancho Panza, Don Quixote’s squire, is the opposite of Don Quixote. Whereas Don Quixote speaks with the high romance language of chivalry, Sancho speaks commonly, with proverbs and incorrect vocabulary (or as he says, “vocablery”).
February 2013
22 posts
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“19th-century novels always seem to have characters who can’t quite...”
– my professor. In our discussion of Middlemarch, all of the courtships would have gone a lot more smoothly if they said what they thought rather than holding back. This is a big deal also in Jane Austen books, like in Pride and Prejudice—Mr. Darcy persuades Mr. Bingley to stop courting Jane...
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Potato Leek Soup
I encountered leeks for the first time today since being back from the UK. A cold grimace probably appeared on my face and my appetite decreased dramatically. I was shocked to see it. This soup would have been totally common to find in England: what a striking difference!
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“‘[Regarding endnotes,] all you have to do is find a book that cites [an...”
– Cervantes’s prologue of Don Quixote, ed. Grossman, pg 7. More of Cervantes’s friend’s hilarious advice clearly meant ironically. The kicker for me goes, “‘Furthermore, no one will try to determine if you followed them or did not follow them, having nothing to gain from...
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“‘[Regarding citing quotations,] you must make a certain effort and write...”
– Cervantes’s prologue of Don Quixote, ed. Grossman, pg 6. The whole prologue is hilarious—the author Cervantes claims Don Quixote actually existed (this is a common claim of early authors) and says worriedly that without adding quotations from authoritative sources regarding opinions of...
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Swing Dancing
This evening a friend and I taught some of the women in my house how to swing dance!! It was so fantastic to see how happy “our students” became when they danced, and I felt really special being able to share something I love so much. Furthermore, because I spent the evening teaching and dancing the lead steps—neither of which I’d done much before—I was able to learn,...
