Swinging in the rain
No, I haven't changed my policy on staying indoors when it's raining. I very rarely go out at all in the rain if I don't have to, so it's always a novelty, and often not as bad as I thought it would be. Anyway, I'm watching these two young boys, who are out there, in the pouring rain, swinging and talking. I suddenly remembered that I've seen them out in the rain before. Everyone else is at home, but these two defy the weather, maybe to have the swings to themselves, or maybe just to annoy their parents.
I'm not writing that book review this week, I think, I have too much left to read. I very occasionally write a review without reading the book all the way through (I mean with books I've read before, of course), but I don't want to do that with this one, so you'll just have to wait over the weekend.
Someone (utopiandream) asked me about whether I think rereading books is different
than reading them for the first time, and what makes it different. I do think rereading books is different, because just as you can't step into the same river twice, you can't read the same book twice. The book hasn't changed, but you have. Reading a book when you're 10 is different to when you're 15 or 20 or 30, because you have gained new experiences in the meantime. You have read other books, met new people, made new friends, fallen in love, lost someone, travelled, and all of that affects how you see the experiences of the characters in the book. You may even have studied literature, and are now able to put the novel you're rereading in a context of history, genre, the published works of this particular writer, and so on. Sometimes the book stands the test of time and a new, critical reading, and sometimes it doesn't.
I may have told you this already, but I didn't plan on studying literature at university. I was afraid to become more critical, and to start hating my old favourite books, and despising myself for ever liking them. I thought I would start analyzing all stories to bits, and not be able to lose myself in them the way I used to. To my relief, it didn't happen like that. I find that I nowadays enjoy some books more than I used to, because I can look past the unlikeable characters, or uninteresting plot, and see the beauty of the language, the homework the writer had to do, and the genre this particular book is a part of. It makes me detest bad writing, sure, but I don't think anyone enjoys bad writing more good writing. Sometimes, you can excuse the bad writing, if the plot and characters are good enough, but what a joy it is, when you don't have to excuse anything...
I got another letter from a friend today, and I wrote an answer to it already, so now there's just one more letter to write, and then I'll be done with my correspondence for now. I also got a new LJ friend, welcome and enjoy! I practised the keyboard again, and it went quite well, considering how lazy I've been lately. I'm getting back to my old routines, and it's great. Seeing that this may be another long autumn, with no regular job as far as I know, it's just as well to get back into everyday mode after the long holidays. I even got an offer of a translation job today! I had to decline, because I'm getting another, longer job soon, and also I wouldn't have had much time, considering it was a text outside my areas of expertise, and I would only have had till Monday to translate. I really don't want to take on a translation job when I know it's not going to turn out well. I learned that at university, by the way: it's better to decline than make a bad translation, and get a bad reputation. It's like with any creative work, I guess: you're only ever as good as your last job. Beggars can't be choosers, but there are worse things than losing some extra bucks. I'm going to go back to my knitting now. See you tomorrow!
I'm not writing that book review this week, I think, I have too much left to read. I very occasionally write a review without reading the book all the way through (I mean with books I've read before, of course), but I don't want to do that with this one, so you'll just have to wait over the weekend.
Someone (utopiandream) asked me about whether I think rereading books is different
than reading them for the first time, and what makes it different. I do think rereading books is different, because just as you can't step into the same river twice, you can't read the same book twice. The book hasn't changed, but you have. Reading a book when you're 10 is different to when you're 15 or 20 or 30, because you have gained new experiences in the meantime. You have read other books, met new people, made new friends, fallen in love, lost someone, travelled, and all of that affects how you see the experiences of the characters in the book. You may even have studied literature, and are now able to put the novel you're rereading in a context of history, genre, the published works of this particular writer, and so on. Sometimes the book stands the test of time and a new, critical reading, and sometimes it doesn't.
I may have told you this already, but I didn't plan on studying literature at university. I was afraid to become more critical, and to start hating my old favourite books, and despising myself for ever liking them. I thought I would start analyzing all stories to bits, and not be able to lose myself in them the way I used to. To my relief, it didn't happen like that. I find that I nowadays enjoy some books more than I used to, because I can look past the unlikeable characters, or uninteresting plot, and see the beauty of the language, the homework the writer had to do, and the genre this particular book is a part of. It makes me detest bad writing, sure, but I don't think anyone enjoys bad writing more good writing. Sometimes, you can excuse the bad writing, if the plot and characters are good enough, but what a joy it is, when you don't have to excuse anything...
I got another letter from a friend today, and I wrote an answer to it already, so now there's just one more letter to write, and then I'll be done with my correspondence for now. I also got a new LJ friend, welcome and enjoy! I practised the keyboard again, and it went quite well, considering how lazy I've been lately. I'm getting back to my old routines, and it's great. Seeing that this may be another long autumn, with no regular job as far as I know, it's just as well to get back into everyday mode after the long holidays. I even got an offer of a translation job today! I had to decline, because I'm getting another, longer job soon, and also I wouldn't have had much time, considering it was a text outside my areas of expertise, and I would only have had till Monday to translate. I really don't want to take on a translation job when I know it's not going to turn out well. I learned that at university, by the way: it's better to decline than make a bad translation, and get a bad reputation. It's like with any creative work, I guess: you're only ever as good as your last job. Beggars can't be choosers, but there are worse things than losing some extra bucks. I'm going to go back to my knitting now. See you tomorrow!