Weeks 9 & 10:Tried to ignore international politics and dived deep into books, mostly shallow ones (if that is possible
).
French:Read
Kim Thúy - em. I read it parallel in French and Swedish. I usually appreciate her books, but this one I didn't like it as much, partly due to its main theme, the Vietnam war. I did some additional reading about the war, but had to stop due to additional atrocities I didn't know about.
Read
Hergé - Les 7 boules de cristal (The Seven Cristal Ballls) and
L'ile noire (The Black Island).
Now reading
Selma Lagerlöf - Le violon du fou (The Tale of a Manor). Also this one I read parallel in French and Swedish. I can follow the plot just reading the French translation, but the story is much richer than just the plot. I remember this stage from learning Swedish. I thought I understood "everything" and only realised years later, when re-reading books, that there was much more to them.
Afrikaans:Read
Hergé - De stukkende oor (The Broken Ear).
Now reading
André Brink - Bidsprinkaan (Praying Mantis). Quite many years ago, I read the English book (Brink wrote his books in both Afrikaans and English, so one can't say that one is the translation of the other, I believe), and liked it. Now I'm reading the books parallel for better understanding.
English:Read
P. G. Wodehouse - Service with a Smile. I love the "Uncle Fred" books, and this one didn't disappoint me
. Encountered some new words and phrases ("messuage" for example), but nothing I couldn't guess through the context.
Read
Edward Parker - Ash. An interesting book about ashes (the trees, not the remains of burnt matter).
Now reading
Arthur Ransome - Swallowdale. I knew about Ransome being one of the "classic" English children's books writers, but had never read his books. Unfortunately the first book in the series wasn't available at the library, so I borrowed the second.
Swedish:Read
Viktor Rydberg - Vapensmeden (The Armorer), a classic historic novel written in 1891 but taking place in the 1520's. Some unknown (but not unguessable) words, mostly related to middle-age warfare, most of which probably even most born-and-bred Swedes don't know. At least I didn't find the words in any of my paper dictionaries but had to refer to Svenska Akademins Ordbok.
Read
Lars-Olof Franzén - Agaton Sax och Det gamla pipskägget (Agaton Sax and the Scotland Yard Mystery). Funny children's book.
Read
Jean-Yves Ferri/Didier Conrad - Asterix och gripen (Asterix and the Griffin). Okay, but no must-read.
German:Read
Amos Oz - Geschichten aus Tel Ilan (Scenes from Village Life). I love his books; this was one of his best.