I'm reading in game text in Fallout :) Gaming has eaten away at my book time, I'll be back to it by next week though.
I'm currently reading through the Rust Programming Language book. It's my first go at a lower level language and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.
I have a different translation, but I'm curious, how are you finding the russian nickname dilemma? Is it very clear to you which character is which, or is it a puzzle? Are you very familiar with russian writing?
My old paperback is the classic Garnett translation. The first time through I did confuse the characters, especially the women. There aren't so very many main characters, but each one does have two or more names, and wasn't obvious to me that Grushenka is a nickname for Agrafena Alexandrovna. The next time, the characters were more familiar, and I didn't worry about keeping track of the many minor characters, like the schoolboys. Still, a character guide might help. This time I am reading on Kindle, and decided to try a different translation. The P&V version was recommended, and I am enjoying it. At first I didn't notice much difference, but soon I found the explanatory footnotes very helpful and interesting. The language also seems to be more faithful to the original, though no less readable. Here's an example. Garnett: P&V: The footnote explains that Grigory uses a biblical expression, as is his habit; here "matrix" is a term for the womb (used in Exodus 13:12). Google Translate suggests that P&V is more faithful. Original: Google: The footnotes indicate that the characters are constantly quoting, misquoting, and alluding to Schiller, Pushkin and other classic texts. It is a little distracting to interrupt the narrative with these, but very interesting.I could have done better than that. I could have known more than that, if it had not been for my destiny from my childhood up. I would have shot a man in a duel if he called me names because I am descended from a filthy beggar and have no father. And they used to throw it in my teeth in Moscow. It had reached them from here, thanks to Grigory Vassilyevitch. Grigory Vassilyevitch blames me for rebelling against my birth, but I would have sanctioned their killing me before I was born that I might not have come into the world at all.
I could have done even better, miss, and I’d know a lot more, if it wasn’t for my destiny ever since childhood. I’d have killed a man in a duel with a pistol for calling me low-born, because I came from Stinking Lizaveta without a father, and they were shoving that in my face in Moscow, it spread there thanks to Grigory Vasilievich. Grigory Vasilievich reproaches me for rebelling against my nativity: ‘You opened her matrix,’ he says.* I don’t know about her matrix, but I'd have let them kill me in the womb, so as not to come out into the world at all, miss.
Я бы не то еще мог-с, я бы и не то еще знал-с, если бы не жребий мой с самого моего сыздетства. Я бы на дуэли из пистолета того убил, который бы мне произнес, что я подлец, потому что без отца от Смердящей произошел, а они и в Москве это мне в глаза тыкали, отсюда благодаря Григорию Васильевичу переползло-с. Григорий Васильевич попрекает, что я против рождества бунтую: «Ты, дескать, ей ложесна разверз». Оно пусть ложесна, но я бы дозволил убить себя еще во чреве с тем, чтобы лишь на свет не происходить вовсе-с.
I would not even could, sir, I would not even know, sir, if it was not my lot since I syzdetstva. I would duel pistol that killed him, where I said that I was a scoundrel, because without my father came from the filthy, and they in Moscow it poked me in the eye, hence crawled through Grigory sir. Grigory reproaches that I rebel against Christmas: "You say, rend her womb." It let the womb, but I would have to kill himself has permitted even in the womb, so that only the light did not occur at all, sir.
This wAs interesting to consider, thank you. I liked aspects of both translations, but obviously I have no idea which is more true to intention. "Throwing in my teeth," instead of "shoving it in my face," seems a more literal vs. more culturally accurate translation. -I think I prefer the teeth.
The Saga of Seven Suns by Kevin Anderson. Pretty formulaic space opera so far, but his universe is rich and there are some fun new twists on potential forms of alien and robotic life that I find refreshin. Example: The Big Bad Guy aliens live in diamond sphere cities INSIDE of gas giants.
I just finished all three parts of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Before this book, I had only read his short stories (which were great, I am a sucker for magical realism and his writing style is very easy to process but not boring). I now have a phobia of NHK fee collectors. Good thing I don't live in Japan (well I've heard BBC inspectors can be pretty frightening as well). I really want to read Air Chrysalis now. I'm currently reading Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. Yes, Rashōmon as in the Kurosawa film, although the majority of that film is based on In A Grove, another story also contained in this collection. Horse Legs is hilarious and dark. I'm also reading a collection of stories by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore. He wrote the Indian, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan national anthems (although the lyrics of Sri Lanka Matha have since been rewritten in Tamil) and was an important figure in the Indian independence movement.
Introduction to Poetry by Mark Van Doren. The book provides a selection of 30 poems, each followed by a few pages of commentary. It's pretty dated but I've enjoyed reading a poem, picking out some confusing parts, then reading the commentary and seeing the confusing parts explained clearly.
Completely wasted my Audible credit on Jack Schafer's The Like Switch. I started reading hoping to get some cool FBI social hacks but all I got was asinine advice in a knockoff Dale Carnegie-esque manner for the five hours I dredged through this book. Advice like 'smile at people when you meet them' and 'make them feel good about themselves'. No shit, Sherlock. It's like it's written for someone who has 'make a friend' on their bucket list.
Lots of 'Social Dynamics' books end up sounding like this. It's true of Dale Carnegie, it's true of Mark Manson and the PUA guys, by and large. The really important stuff, the really juicy bits that you wanted? They are either illegal or impossible to describe with text. Possibly impossible to describe with video. Video doesn't capture the 'vibe' of a room, for example.
One the one hand, I've yet to find one that is actually good. On the other hand, I don't really know what I'm looking for in books like those. Maybe something like Sherry Turkle's books but with a bigger scope? I mean, social interactions are so vital to everyday living you'd think there would be better books about it.
I just rediscovered the local library :) This time I picked up The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley, and Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy based off some recommendations from some friends. Can't wait to see how they turn out!
I've been calling it "long term traveling". I'm in Kuala Lumpur for about 2.5 months, then I'm heading to Chiang Mai for ~2 months, then to Phuket and Penang for a couple months, and then home (US). If you're going to SE Asia or you're interested in the area at all, I would absolutely recommend putting KL on your list! It's beautiful, and extremely culturally diverse, not unlike some cities in the US. And it can't be overstated how good (and cheap!) the food is. What's on your radar right now for destinations?
My plan is to transition to full remote work and to slowly travel the world. My plans are pretty vague right now since this is nearly a year down the road. I was thinking I'd start off in western Europe and make my way east. How is SE Asia for an english speaker?
Certain districts of major cities and tourist attractions will be fine for English speakers who don't speak the local languages, but don't expect much outside of that. I love traveling, but if you have the opportunity it might be worth your while to stay in one locale for longer than a month.
humanodon, you have spent time in SE Asia, right? Any advice? Good luck byonic, that's an awesome goal to have.
That's exciting! Out of curiosity, are you a programmer? If not, what sorta work do you do? SE Asia is mostly great for English speakers. Especially if you stay in the city, you certainly won't have any trouble. I travelled through much of Cambodia about 6 years ago, and was fortunate to be with a small group that had people that could translate. But I found out that it mostly wasn't needed. I'm on my own in Malaysia, and I've had the same experience here so far. I know there's someone else on hubski who's living in Phnom Penh right now doing remote work, but I can't recall who it is. I'll have to look around and see if I can remember.
I'll have to check those out, thanks for the suggestions! Brave New World and The Road were assigned to me in High School, but I think I'd appreciate them more now that I'm reading them by choice. Come to think of it, we were assigned some pretty cool books in school. I should go back and reread some of them.
The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Amazing book on racial issues and growing up in Baltimore.
Video game books count? In that case, I've been rereading the 36 lessons of Vivec over the last week or so.