Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

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Carmody
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby Carmody » Sat Dec 10, 2022 9:05 pm

Many thanks for your update of your reading.
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MorkTheFiddle
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Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sun Dec 11, 2022 6:43 pm

A note on Rayuela and Le temps retrouvé.
My two or three attempts years ago to read Rayuela faltered on what seemed the out-of-date focus on Paris and the expatriots who lived there and the jazz and art. This time around such references seem just a part of the landscape. Maybe their cultural significance has faded for me.
What I do encounter this time is a difficulty understanding just what Cortázar is trying to say. More William Burroughs or maybe even more Borges or more Faulkner than Blasco Ibañez or Perez Galdós. I'm still trying to figure it out.

Reading the précis/summary of Le temps retrouvé (on which see my last log entry) helped focus my attention on the force of the novel. Early on there is a reference to Albertine that made me think of occasionally seeming to catch out of the corner of my eye a pet that passed away. I shake my head and go on. No spoilers, but the reference to Albertine is a very poignant moment in the narrative, a poignancy I never noticed before. Proust's sensitivity is well known, and I think I need to keep it more in mind and to be more open to the different feelings he might express, or be aware that such feelings can come up. At any rate, my opinion of Proust and of A la recherche has gone up quite a bit.
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Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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MorkTheFiddle
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Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Dec 17, 2022 6:01 pm

French
Read and listened to:
Le temps trouvé
Chapitre 2, 13:53 minutes
Chapitre 3, 22:05 minutes
Chapitre 4, 7:35
Chapitre 5, 16:50
Chapitre 6, 17:14
Chapitre 7, 16:49
Chapitre 8, 19:52
Chapitre 9, 23:48
Chapitre 10, 22:08
Chapitre 11, 17:09
Chapitre 12, 16:57

Spanish
Read and listened to:
Cortázar, Rayuela (first chapter number from pdf, second from Audible)
Chapter 2, 13:20 minutes
Chapter 3 (5), 12:38 minutes
Chapter 4 (6), 13:41 minutes
Chapter 5 (7), 8:47 minutes
Chapter 6 (8), 4:03 minutes
Chapter 7 (9), 1:59 minutes
Chapter 8 (10), 3:47 minutes
Chapter 9 (11), 9:16 minutes
Chapter 10 (12, 3:17 minutes
Chapter 11 (13, 6:08 minutes
Chapter 12 (14, 14:41 minutes
Chapter 13 (15), 4:56 minutes
Chapter 14 (16), 6:42 minutes
Chapter 15 (17), 13:18 minutes

Ancient Greek
Melian vocabulary study: snail's progress
Greek Anthology 1.5.6 “ὤμοσε Καλλίγνωτος Ἰωνίδι, μήποτε κείνης“
8 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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MorkTheFiddle
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Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Dec 24, 2022 8:12 pm

12-18-22 to 12-23-2022
Spanish
Read and listen
Julio Cortázar
“Continuidad de los parques,” 7:59 minutes, Alba Learning
“Cambio de luces,” 40:18 minutes, Alba Learning
“Casa tomada,” 21:06 minutes, Alba Learning
“Comportamiento en los velorios,” 16:00 minutes, Alba Learning
“Historia veridica,” 3:33 minutes, Alba Learning
“Instrucciones para llorar,” 3:46 minutes, Alba Learning
“Instrucciones para subir una escalera,” 5:24 minutes, Alba Learning
“La autopista del sur,” Sección 1, 31:11, Alba Learning

Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, “La mujer alta,” 42 min, El Libro Total

French
Read and Listen
Marcel Proust, Le temps retrouvé
Chapitre 13, 446 La guerre se prolongeait indéfiniment 19:31
(New Audible Narrator)
Chapitre 14, 447 C’est comme au théâtre quand on dit 10:57
Chapitre 15, 448 Que cette parenthèse sur Mme de Forcheville 13:00
Chapitre 16, 449 Je pensai aussitôt à Combray 17:50
Chapitres 17-19, 450-452, 49:02

Ancient Greek
Thucydides: working on chapters 111-116 of Book 5, which is the last of the report on the Melian debate. And when I say “working,” I do mean working, not reading. The commentaries of Graves and Fowler helped a lot, and the translation by Hobbes was indispensable for a couple of sentences in Chapter 11. I’ll give just one of them, the first in the chapter, here:

τούτων μὲν καὶ πεπειραμένοις ἄν τι γένοιτο καὶ ὑμῖν καὶ οὐκ ἀνεπιστήμοσιν ὅτι οὐδ᾽ ἀπὸ μιᾶς πώποτε πολιορκίας Ἀθηναῖοι δι᾽ ἄλλων φόβον ἀπεχώρησαν.

“Of these things, indeed, one may some time or other happen to you, as you also may find by experience, and not be ignorant that the Athenians never yet retired from a single siege for fear of others.” 392*

From the first word, τούτων, I was in trouble. Seeing it in the genitive, my mind tricked me into expecting a genitive absolute, but nothing follows to fill out a genitive absolute. I knew the word referred to the various expedients the Medians had warned the Athenians about—chiefly naval attacks from allies and assistance from the Spartans, rather wishful thinking as the Athenians soon point out—but it took Hobbes’ translation for me to focus on τι, which I now take to mean simply ‘some’: ‘some of these things.’ Following that the phrase ‘πεπειραμένοις ἄν τι γένοιτο’ can be seen to mean ‘it might happen’ or, awkwardly, ‘it was happened.’ The Athenians go on to argue using a double negative, ‘οὐκ ἀνεπιστήμοσιν’ , a wording slightly confusing (to me) in and of itself. From there the rest of Hobbes’ translation and the passage becomes clear enough.

*Thucydides, Chiefly from the Translation of Hobbes of Malmsbury; with the Various Readings of Arnold, Goeller, Haack, etc. A New Edition, with Notes and a Marginal Analysis. Oxford 1841

English
Here I throw in this because a novel in English I read this week led me to try an experiment, as yet not consummated, with works in other languages.
A few years ago the novelist Ann Patchett published Bel Canto. Bel Canto is not about opera, as you might expect, but rather about a terrorist event in Lima, Peru, in the 1990s. I devoured the book, I thought it was so good. Haven’t thought about Patchett much since then, but wandering the stacks of the local library a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled on three more novels Patchett has published since Bel Canto. Once home in my reading chair I picked two of them up in the order they appeared. Read one or two pages, and put them down in disappointment. Okay. So then there was the third, Commonwealth. I read the first chapter. I wasn’t awful. I put it down and went to bed. Picked it up the next day. Couldn’t put it down until I finished two days later. Ann Patchett was still alive and well.

Then I returned to Run, the first in appearance that I had checked out. Not quite as good as Bel Canto or Commonwealth, but worth the read, and I’m still working on it.

I got to thinking, maybe this could be the case with other novels I’ve tried and gave up on. Once I read that the Russian writer Anton Chekhov, when he had finished and polished a story, cut out the first and last paragraphs. Whether that was the case, I don’t know, but why can’t I apply a similar principle to reading a novel. If the first chapter sucks, skip it and go on to the next. And I have a special candidate in mind. I’ve tried to read Madame Bovary four or five times, getting nowhere. So, now, I’m going to give it a second shot, this time skipping the rest of the first chapter that I’ve never finished and going directly to the second chapter. The Anton Chekhov school of reading novels.

We'll see what happens.
7 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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Carmody
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby Carmody » Sat Dec 24, 2022 8:22 pm

You are Always So Very Productive; well done and have a wonderful Christmas!
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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Tue Dec 27, 2022 6:17 pm

12-24-22 to 12-26-2022

Spanish
Read and listen
Julio Cortázar
“La autopista del sur,” Sección 2, 35:12

Holiday Fare:
Mejor Pelicula de NAVIDAD 2021 2:12:16


Read
“La niña de los fosforos,” translation into Spanish of a story by Hans Christian Andersen

French
Holiday Fare
- Un conte de Noel (watched on Youtube: the owner disabled content playback), an adaptation of Dickens's "Christmas Carol"
- Le Ballon Rouge, not really for the holidays especially, but captivating short film; the dialogue is in French,but there are only about three short lines in it. Recommended.


Read and Listen
Marcel Proust, Le temps retrouvé
Chapitres 20, 453,

Ancient Greek
New Testament story of the birth of Christ--
Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
Luke 2:8-21
Matthew 2:1-18
10 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

User avatar
MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Wed Dec 28, 2022 6:04 pm

12-27 and 12-28-22

More Holiday Fare:

French
Read “Conte de Noël” by Maupassant. A rather bizarre pointless tale, but at least free of Maupassant’s usual unbearable cynicism. A magic "egg" is involved.

Spanish
Read “Un reno maread” (A Dizzy Reindeer) by Liana Castello. One of Santa's reindeer is "altered."

El Cuarto Rey Mago (dubbed)

The dubbing did not become apparent to me until about half way through. The acting was adequate enough, but the pacing was rather slow. Mostly for kids, I guess, though some of the plot might puzzle little ones or go over their heads (the character played by Billy Dee Williams thinks a night in a brothel might perk up the trip to the Holy Land). I didn´t follow a lot of the Spanish.

Ancient Greek
Studied common ‘irregular’ verb forms from Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-21, Matthew 1:18-25 and 2:1-18. These clear and straightforward stories provide an easy scaffold for remembering meanings. Iguanamon has made this point about Bible stories on several occasions.
8 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

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MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Thu Dec 29, 2022 6:03 pm

12-28-22
French

Read and listen:
Madame Bovary, Part 1, Chapter 2, 19:13 minutes

More Holiday Fare:

Le Père Noël est une ordure
I watched all of this, understood almost nothing of the dialogue. The Christmas presents given during the show are an (intentional) joke: inedible chocolates, an ill-fitting knitted vest, a painting of a naked woman dancing with a pig in briefs (the lady who receives the painting says to the guy who gives it to her in a line to remember, “Le porc est très vous.” The physical comedy is amusing. Spirited cast. There’s a gun at the beginning, so remember what Chekhov says. To understand the dialogue, your French listening skills need to be very good.
6 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

User avatar
MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Fri Dec 30, 2022 6:49 pm

12-29-22
More Holiday Fare:

Spanish
A genuinely Spanish protuction: Santa Claus—Película mexicana. A film for kids. Santa Claus stars, with significant humorous contributions from the Devil and the Wizard Merlin. Made in 1959, and there is a reference to Sputnik. Playing the devil for laughs goes back at least as far as medieval mystery plays. I understood most of the Spanish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnsb--3znf8
6 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson

User avatar
MorkTheFiddle
Black Belt - 2nd Dan
Posts: 2114
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 8:59 pm
Location: North Texas USA
Languages: English (N). Read (only) French and Spanish. Studying Ancient Greek. Studying a bit of Latin. Once studied Old Norse. Dabbled in Catalan, Provençal and Italian.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 11#p133911
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Re: Mork the Fiddle's 2019 Log

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sat Jan 14, 2023 5:28 pm

12-29-22 to 01-14-23
French
Read and listen:
Le temps retrouvé
Audible chapitre 20 18:27 minutes, Text 453
Audible chapitre 21 20:09 minutes, Text 454
Audible chapitre 22 21:47 minutes, Text 455

Spanish
Read and listen using the app El Libro Total:
Roberto Arlt “Las Fieras,” 37 minutes. Cortázar I believe said Arlt pioneered writing about characters not found in the society pages of the newspaper (my words, not his). This story illustrates this characteristic well.
Roberto Arlt, “Noche terrible,” 65 minutes. A kind of Hegelian tale about middle class marriage. All things considered, not a likely source for a movie, but there is a vimeo version https://vimeo.com/175438761
and a film version which you cannot watch from the Forum, but there is an option to watch on Youtube
,
but I have not yet watched either one.

Ancient Greek
Vocabulary study and close reading of Book 2 of The Republic, trying to make sense of every word and construction. Slow going.
8 x
Many things which are false are transmitted from book to book, and gain credit in the world. -- attributed to Samuel Johnson


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