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it is currently 32 degrees outside. the weather for the next two days includes a mix of snow and rain showers.
WHAT THE HELL, NEW ENGLAND, WE'RE ONLY HALF-WAY THROUGH OCTOBER. *OCTOBER!*
i cannot deal with this cold THIS EARLY. :( :( :(
anyway! today i opened an account at the local credit union. apparently they were doing some sort of promotion, and now i have a brand new...crock pot.
i have no idea what i am going to do with it.
***
reading The Dark Side of Love by Rafik Schami, a novel that is originally written in German, and set (mostly) in early 20th century Syria, so there are a great deal of references to Arabic poetry and legends, AND since France occupied Syria for um, a while, there's a lot of French literature and history alluded to as well.
i imagine it was a total bitch to translate.
about half-way through. it is QUITE EXCELLENT though often difficult. not language-wise, surprisingly, it's simple without beingHemingway on a bad day juvenile. but subject-wise, this is the sort of book where unbearably awful things happen routinely and instead of rising to the occasion and overcoming adversity in an inspiring but clicheed fashion, people are ruthlessly crushed by the cruelty of the world around them. CRUSHED!
i wish i could be more specific and intelligent in discussing it because it's one of those books that makes you go, 'man, i think i'm reading a serious contender for the Nobel prize here,' but i'm toocold tired to make sense at this hour. besides, every review i've found is about a billion times more literate that i could be. i mean - critics are comparing this novel to Tolstoy. i haven't even read Tolstoy.
also all of this talk in the novel about the great Arabic poets and the great French novels and the reviews comparing the novel itself to the great Russian novelists makes me realize how little famous world literature i've actually read. :(
so uh
i don't know how to wrap this up so imma slink off to bed and hope i don't freeze to death. :D!
WHAT THE HELL, NEW ENGLAND, WE'RE ONLY HALF-WAY THROUGH OCTOBER. *OCTOBER!*
i cannot deal with this cold THIS EARLY. :( :( :(
anyway! today i opened an account at the local credit union. apparently they were doing some sort of promotion, and now i have a brand new...crock pot.
i have no idea what i am going to do with it.
reading The Dark Side of Love by Rafik Schami, a novel that is originally written in German, and set (mostly) in early 20th century Syria, so there are a great deal of references to Arabic poetry and legends, AND since France occupied Syria for um, a while, there's a lot of French literature and history alluded to as well.
i imagine it was a total bitch to translate.
about half-way through. it is QUITE EXCELLENT though often difficult. not language-wise, surprisingly, it's simple without being
i wish i could be more specific and intelligent in discussing it because it's one of those books that makes you go, 'man, i think i'm reading a serious contender for the Nobel prize here,' but i'm too
also all of this talk in the novel about the great Arabic poets and the great French novels and the reviews comparing the novel itself to the great Russian novelists makes me realize how little famous world literature i've actually read. :(
so uh
i don't know how to wrap this up so imma slink off to bed and hope i don't freeze to death. :D!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 07:03 am (UTC)From:i tried to read Dostoyevsky once. i made it through one novella and had to stop because it was the most difficult, depressing thing i've ever read.
i was pleasantly surprised to find The Dark Side of Love had a lot of moments of pure, untainted joy in it! it's certainly a dark book but there is a lot of warmth to it as well - which is good because the dark moments are very dark.