Advanced Russian Reading

 Ho. Lee. Sh!t. 

Started a one-week advanced Russian reading class today. Ay caramba. It all started out with the instructor telling us she'd be speaking in Russian since this class is "at level 4." Uh...the requirement to take the class was 3 on the Reading DLPT (link pdf). I didn't hear говно about level 4. 

Yes, seriously advanced reading. Lots of reading between the lines. Lots of idioms. Crazy. 

Class is three hours online, then during hour four if you have anything you want to talk to the instructor about one-on-one you can meet with her. Then two hours of independent study, analyzing the articles for the next morning. That part took me three hours today. And not sure I've even analyzed, or understood, these articles correctly. 

My goal from this course is to get a 3 again in the Reading DLPT, and then take the upper level Reading DLPT. The lowest you can score on that test is a 3 (which is why a 3 is required to take it), so no reason to not take it. But first I gotta get the 3 (again). To prove to myself that last year wasn't a fluke, I want that 3 this year. Some of what I've had to read today: 

Нет, русская вольница – это, безусловно, одна из версий общечеловеческой свободы. Я не отрицаю русскую вольницу. Наоборот, я считаю, что по части вольницы мы люди с рекордным сознанием. Ведь мы совершенно полярный народ. С одной стороны, ненавидим начальство, а с другой – лижем ему сапоги. Многие другие народы ищут золотую середину, ограничивая в том числе и свою свободу. Мы же в этом смысле просто чудо для писателей. Ну что говорить – «Братья Карамазовы»... Мне нравятся эти наши вольнолюбивые зачатки. Но пойди русскому человеку скажи: «свобода – это ответственное понятие». Он не поймёт. 

Что мы за последнее время получили, так это определённую свободу частной жизни. И мне кажется, что если искать возможности, откуда пойдут улучшаться какие-то наши условия, так именно от того, что при Франко называлось «соседской демократией». Те люди, которые воюют против налогов, против запрета правого руля и так далее, и так далее — они, мне кажется, перспективны. Вот здесь выращивается личность русского человека. Она укрепляется таким образом. И в этом, мне кажется, есть какая-то важная составляющая нашей сегодняшней псевдополитической жизни. И вообще то, слава Богу, в квартирах каждый может заниматься чем хочет, – для русской истории редкий, почти уникальный случай. То, что идёт накопление каких-то личностных моментов, мне кажется, важно. Народ действительно постепенно выходит из советского прошлого – по щиколотку, по колено, но выходит.

CC Spin #28 complete

 The Classics Club spin #28 was number 12, which on my list was The Penguin Book of Modern British Short Stories. "Modern" as in after WWII. Lots of great authors here. Really good writing. One thing I've learned about "modern British writers" is that most British husbands commit adultery. Often. Martin Amis, you dirty, dirty author. #ccspin #ccwhatimreading

Doris Lessing's "To Room Nineteen" was awesome. Now that I'm looking at the book again, most of the adultery began in the late 1960s. In fact, interestingly, most of the stories after the late 1960s (published date) were in first-person. (Amis's naughty "Let me Count the Times" the one standout third-person in the last third of the book.) Nowadays, one cannot find a contemporary author not writing in first-person. Ugh. Is it easier? 

Fun stories involved Brits coming to America and their reactions. Malcolm Bradbury's "Composition" and Ian MacEwan's "Psychopolis" great examples. And of course sons hating their fathers: Beryl Bainbridge's "Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie." "My Wife is a White Russian" is a great play on the meaning of white Russian, and also reminds me of many movies where an older (possibly rich) man marries a hottie. (Hell, we saw that so much in Russia: ugly and fat man in white t-shirt and jeans with a knock-out model on his arm.) Quite often a Russian (or Slavic) woman was attached to the older man in the story. (See M. Night Shyamalan's Old, although in that case she's not Slavic.) Happens enough to be stereotypical. 

Memories of the Space Age, by JG Ballard

 I'm reading The Penguin Book of Modern Short Stories for the Classic Club's CC Spin #28. Last night I read the best short story in the book (so far). By JG Ballard, the story is called Memories of the Space Age. So creative, so Ballardesque (so much psychological stuff). The creepiest story, so far, is Dylan Thomas's The Burning Baby. 

Possibilities for next book include Ten Years in the Tub by Nick Hornby, Short Stories by JF Powers, Red Dust by Yost (sister-in-law's pick for family book club), Leviathan Falls by James SA Corey (if my son finishes it first). And OMG what is the "Expanse #2.6" I just saw when I was searching for books. How have I not ever read that one!?

#ccspin #ccwhatimreading

BUtterfield 8

 BUtterfield 8, by John O'Hara. What a great novel. I wish I could remember which great book blog I heard about it from, but I simply cannot. So whoever you are out there, thank you. And yes, the first two letters should be capitalized; it has to do with the days when telephone numbers began with letters.

Spoilers follow: 

Is it still an ingenue story if she kills herself? or appears to? Gloria Gloria Gloria. Finally ready (possibly) to settle. A simple trip over the bar, or purposeful. O'Hara goes a great job letting the reader decide.

And for those out there who think the current generation or two invented sex: hahaha. Having sex in front of two other couples? In the '30s? Yes, it happened. O'Hara could write: the incident with the Major and 11-year old Gloria. In any other novel written in the last 10 years (20?) that would have been way more explicit, and would have ruined it for me (I'm looking at you, Ms. Shafak, and your 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World). Liggett, of course, is a shit. Cheating bastard. And oh goodness, the fur coat, and Gloria's tease about revealing what she was not wearing underneath. Naughty girl.

Spoilers complete.

Now, my next assignment is to find and stream the movie. I understand it has Elizabeth Taylor in it. She has to play Gloria Wandrous (isn't that a wonderful last name? Glorious, even. Almost like a merging of wonderful and glorious...with that first name. Genius, Mr. O'Hara.). I wonder who is playing Weston Liggett? We'll see, if I can find the movie. (I don't ever look up movies of books before I read the book for fear the movie's description will give anything away.)

November 2021

 Good reading month for me. Read five books. If I had no life I could have added a sixth today, but you know, daddy needs money, so he's gotta work... 

• A Legacy of Spies, by John le Carre. Another great addition to the Smiley universe, with the benefit of having an interesting character in my eyes (a Breton!). 
• Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. Knocking book #1 off my list of 50 classics to read before December 2026. It was ugh, but now I've read it, so no one can make fun of me for reading the Cliff Notes instead of the novel in 12th grade. 
• Empire of the Sun, by JG Ballard. And there is book #2 from the classics list! Great book. War book. Loved this. 
• Kromosomoj, by Lorjak. My read for the Esperanto Sumoo this month. Fun book. Don't know that this would work in English, or be as exciting. 
• Phantoms, by Dean Koontz. Scary. Can't wait till the wife finishes so we can rent the movie. 

Books bought this month (uh-oh):

• Leviathan Falls, by James SA Corey. Best space opera in a long time (book #5 notwithstanding). Can't wait to read this. Sad it'll be over.
• Stars and Bars, by William Boyd. I loved the first two of his that I read. I'm sure this will be good. Another author for whom I may decide to read the entire oeuvre. I very possibly might pick this for our family's book club when it is my turn again.
• Flights, by Olga Torkarczuk. Bought based solely on her placement in awards (hello, Booker), and for the fact that it was just $1.99 in Kindle.
• Starship Troopers, by Heinlein. Wife and I love his earlier (smaller) books over horrors such as Stranger in a Strange Land. Yeah, I said it. Re-read it. You'll realize you were wrong. Same with Ringworld. (Bleck!)
• I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I've Ever Had, by Tony Danza. Yes, that Tony Danza. Had no idea he did this. Want to read about it.
• Phantoms, as discussed.
• American Moonshot, by Douglas Brinkley. Can't wait to read this. Read a "space" book last year (Leaving Earth) that was a bit dated. This looks so good.
• The Good Soldier, by Ford Maddox Ford. On my "50" list and it came up for three clams, so I grabbed it. 
• The Lost Shtetl, by Max Gross. Sounded good in the description, and again Kindle deal for $1.99, so why not try?
• The Exorcist, by William Blatty. Another cheap deal and it is, after all, The-capital-T Exorcist!
• The Arrest, by Jonathan Lethem. I loved his Motherless Brooklyn and this one sounds good. 
• Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. My wife says this is his best. We'll see.

Sad but those are my purchases. And only the Kindle ones. I also bought the following in dead tree versions:

• Pearls, Girls, and Monty Bodkin, by PG Wodehouse. This is the December read for the FB group I'm in (PG Wodehouse Book Club). 
• Listen, by Joseph Kerman. Last year, or maybe 2019, I was on an Art kick, and read a bunch of books on art. This book always comes up for those who want to learn about classical music. I'll read this sometime in the new year. 
• The Swarm, by Frank Schatzing. As discussed, this was my #GermanLitMonth pick. And I quit it. See my blog entry on why. 
• BUtterfield 8, by John O'Hara. GREAT book. (So far.) I love this book. I love ingenue books. Gloria (again, so far) is an ingenue. This reminds me of other books. Full review to follow. (Yes, the U should be capitalized.)

I am probably missing some used books I might have bought, but now that I've started these monthly posts, I'll start keeping track. 

Oh, and to be fair (to my wallet?), most of my Kindle purchases are deals, in the $0.99 to $2.99 range. Also, I'm too tired now to add Amazon links to these books. But if you're planning on buying one of these books and wanna help me out, leave me a comment and I'll send you an Amazon link that'll give me a credit. Thanks! Smooches!

Edit: Oh, and I should mention I got the idea of doing monthly posts from Nick Hornby in his Ten Years in the Tub. I almost didn't read the book (got it from the library, so not in the above list) due to the stupid intro by Jess Walter, whoever the hell he is. (Member of the Polysyllabic Spree? Probably. Jackass.) He makes fun of a lady on a plane because she likes the second amendment. Why the hell would you even mention this? You're pissing off 50% of your potential readership! 

Anyway, I decided to try one 'chapter' of Hornby's and I was so happy I did. I love his writing and will finish that book. Thank you Nick!

Phantoms

 Just finished Phantoms, my wife's pick for the family club. This is my first Dean Koontz. Not sure I'll read another. Nothing wrong with the author. I'm just not that in to horror. 

Spoilers may follow: There's a movie for this book. As I recall it had Peter O'Toole in it? I didn't want to look it up for fear that I'd remember about it and ruin the book. I don't remember it as the book has it, devil or demon, viscous liquid, what have you. And the characters. The whole other story line with the baby killer and motorcycle gang. They probably edited that out for the movie. Once my wife is done with the book she'll want to watch the movie. I predict she will be less than satisfied. Spoilers done.

But Phantoms was a much better pick than mine, Maynard's House. Phantoms was pure horror whereas my choice was more of a haunting. (And not haunting enough for my taste.) I'd read another haunting. Horror, though? Swan Song and The Stand were both great and I think are considered horror. But I'm good reading one every few years. 

Now what to read? I've still got the short stories I need to read from #ccspin #28. I've also been looking at BUtterfield 8 on my bookshelf. It's kinda been calling me. Language-wise, I found my three linguistics books in Russian and will pick one of them to read. My linguistics subject vocab is pretty good in Russian, so I feel whichever one I choose, I'll read it quickly. Still in my slow lead-up to Russian study for my language tests in early February. 

 

Swarm no more

 I dumped The Swarm. Just got too preachy. Yes, I agree science and industry should get together, should work together. Yes, military and science should work together. Stop telling me.

It got to be too much. In the book two scientists (of the three I'd met by then) were talking to each other, repeating over and over again how science needs to work together with the oil industry. Yes, we get it. I withstood it for a few pages, but it finally became obvious I was hearing the author speaking instead of the two scientists. I don't need that. Even though the premise of this book intrigued me. 

So, sadly, my #GermanLitMonth is over. I'm off to my family book club's current choice, Phantoms, by Dean Koontz. 

Translating

 I'm still translating Medalionoj for my writing group. I translated the first chapter, "Professor Spanner," last month and my colleagues enjoyed it. Well, enjoy is probably not the best verb when talking about Nazis making soap from human bodies. Now I'm translating a chapter called "The Hole." Imagine concentration camps and mothers waiting for their sons to return after WWII. Not the happiest of stories.

For those new-to-the-blog dear reader(s), Medalionoj is the Esperanto translation of the Polish-original novel by Nalkowska, fictionalizing actual Nazi atrocities. I don't know Polish, so I have only the Esperanto to translate. But I chose this book purposefully because I read the Esperanto version a few months ago, but also I found the actual English translation so I can "check my work" once done. My first chapter was quite close to the English version. I was happy with my translation!

I've been searching for and following (the few) blogs from translators. One such translator (Corinne, merci!) hosts the site Training for Translators. Experienced translators hold trainings for those of us out there who want to find out more about this career. I'm particularly interested in the upcoming Translating Official Documents. There was also one earlier this month that, if available to view after the class, I will pay for: Editing and Proofreading for into-English Translators. I've reached out to the site owner to ask if one can buy a course after the fact. 

Kromosomoj

 Kromosomoj (Chromosomes) by Lorjak. In Esperanto. Spoilers follow. English after the Esperanto.

Interesa koncepto: se via patro estis seria murdisto, ĉu vi havas la genojn por murdo? La patro de Bernard Dubosk brutale mortigis multojn da virinoj, bruligante iliajn korpojn en forno. Nu, laŭdire. Li estis gilotinita ankoraŭ asertante sian senkulpecon. Ĉiuokaze, la edzino de lia filo malkovras ke ŝia nova edzo estas la filo de terura krimulo kaj maltrankviliĝas ke ilia infano heredos la "murdan instinkton."

Interese, la leganto kredas ke homoj ne povas heredi murdemajn intencojn tra siaj gepatroj, tamen la ĉefpersono kiu malkovras ke li havas la genojn kiuj estas konataj kiel la mistika geno. (Li ja estas sufiĉe agrablulo dum la tuta libro.) Sekva ĉapitro? Li malkovras ke lia reala patro estas katolika episkopo. Do ne, vi ne povas esti murdisto nur ĉar via patro estas, sed Oj vej! vi povas esti sanktulo se via patro estas.

La vort-ludoj estis bonegaj. Multaj adjektivoj-iĝi-verboj, kiuj estas unuj el la kialoj, ke mi amas Esperanton. Ekzemple: trudflegma: truda: adjektivo el trudi, difinas to force, to impose. Do, imposing? forceful? Plus flegma de flegmo: indifference, phlegm. Do, adjektivo (-a difinas adjektivo) difinas forcefully indifferent? Jen kial Esperanto estas interesa. Ho, kaj la sceno kun la kokido estas amuza.

Interesting concept: if your father was a serial murderer, do you carry the genes for murder? Bernard Dubosk's father brutally murdered a bunch of women, burning their bodies in an oven. Well, alleged. He was guillotined still claiming his innocence. Anyway, his son's wife discovers that her new husband is the son of a horrible criminal and worries that their child will inherit the "murder instinct." 

Interestingly, the reader is led to believe that people can't inherit murderous intentions through their parents, yet the main character discovers he has the gene which is known as the mystical gene. (He is, after all, a pretty nice guy throughout the book.) Next chapter? He finds out his real father is a Catholic bishop. So no, you can't be a murderer just because your father is, but boy oh boy you can be a saint if your father is. 

The words were great. Lots of adjectives-turned-into-verbs, which is one of the reasons I love Esperanto. For example: trudflegma: truda: adjective from trudi, meaning to force, impose. So, imposing? forceful? Plus flegma from flegmo: indifference, phlegm. So, an adjective (-a gives that away) meaning forcefully indifferent? This is why Esperanto is fun. Oh, and the scene with the chicken is funny.

Friday Book Beginnings

 Rose City Reader hosts Friday Book Beginnings, and I'm taking part today! Technically I'm not starting the book today, but I should be done with my current read (Kromosomoj) tomorrow. 

The Swarm is the book I posted about yesterday. A big book, I'm so looking forward to reading a good scifi book as it's been a while. 

Juan Narciso Ucañan went to his fate that Wednesday, and no one even noticed.

--The Swarm, by Frank Schatzing. 

November being #GermanLitMonth, this fits. 

Kromosomoj, and an update

 Kromosomoj is going well. I'm a bit over half done. Very good Esperanto, very creative use of word building. 

Speaking of Esperanto, I'm still translating the book Medalionoj, on chapter 2. It's fun trying to find the right words. I've read a few books on translation in the past year or so, and looking to read some more. If I can find The Translation Studies Reader or The Craft of Translation, I'll read those soon. 

Language-wise, besides Esperanto, I'm working still on Middle Egyptian. Just submitted exercises 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6. We have to use a particular transliteration schema called Manuel de Codage. And we're doing adjectives now; they follow the noun btw.

nDr iqr: (an, the) excellent person

sxr iqr: (an, the) excellent plan

Those are just two examples.

I'm only reading two books currently, which is unusual when one of them is a foreign language. I can read two fiction books as long as one is not in English. And a non-fiction book, too. Now I'm reading Kromosomoj, already mentioned, and The Kaiser's Holocaust, about Germany horrible history in South West Africa (Namibia). 

But after?!?! This month is #GermanLitMonth (hosted by Lizzy and Caroline), where one reads a book or three from a German author. My German is only a 1+ (DLPT5, earlier this year), so there won't be any lesen auf Deutsch. But I did pick a book: The Swarm. So I could have gotten the book in Kindle form for 12 bucks. But then I looked for used, and found a copy for 4 bucks. Well, no debate!

And the book is huge. And hardback! 896 pages. EIGHT HUNDRED. No. Four more pages and it would be NINE HUNDRED PAGES. Ho. Lee. You-know-what. 

So looking forward to reading it next.