kanewai's book shelf (current: italian)

[kanewai]

March 1 - I'm going to slightly back off from the challenges, and just focus for a bit on enjoying languages. I have a shelf-full of books that I'm eager to dive into, and I'll never get to them if I'm spending all my energy on trying to learn additional languages.

The irony is: by LLF standards I'm going to be taking it easy for awhile. By regular Joe-blow American standards this is still pretty intense. All the books below are either on my shelf or on my kindle, patiently waiting in the queue ...

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Spanish

I finished Volume 3 of FSI Basic. At some point this year I'll try to finish the series. But first I've got lots and lots of novels and books that are calling my name. I went on a shopping spree in a Guadalajara book store, and these should keep me busy for awhile:

• Mario Vargas Llosa. El sueño del Celta. 2013. I'm currently reading this novelization of the life of Roger Casement, a British diplomat who was one of the first Westerners who exposed the crimes of colonialism in the Congo and the Amazon, and who later joined the Easter Uprising.
• Octavio Paz. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz o las trampas de la fe. 1990. A study on the life of the 17th Century Mexican poet, scientist, and nun.
• Santiago Posteguillo. Yo, Julia. 2018. A historical novel on the life of a woman who tried to start a Roman dynasty in the years of chaos.
• Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de la Mancha. Puesto en castellano actual íntegra y fielmente por Andrés Trapiello. I read part of the original; I'm excited to see how it reads in modern Spanish. Maybe this time I'll finish it.

French

• Michele Houellebecq. Sérotonine. 2019. About half way through. This is the first time that I've actually found one of Houellebecq's narrators to be sympathetic.
• Yasmina Khadra. Les hirondelles de Kaboul. 2002. On deck for March's Book Club.
• Alexandre Dumas. Vingt ans après. 1845. The further adventures of D'Artagnan. I've heard it's even better than The Three Musketeers.

Italian

Italian is challenging - I've read most of the modern authors who interest me. There's a lot of non-fiction that looks great, but they're all horribly expensive. There are still a lot of classic authors I'd like to explore more, and some Italian translations of Latin works. I'm thinking now I'll focus on those, although it would knock me out of the Super Challenge. It takes me about a week to read five pages of Dante - which is far below the pace needed for the Challenge.

• Umberto Eco. Storia delle terre e dei luoghi leggendari. 2014. This week I joined the Knights of the Round Table on their search for the grail, visited the mountain hide-out of the Assassins, and explored the island of Utopia. This is a fascinating and beautiful book. I wish the other books in the series (Storia della bellezza and Storia della bruttezza) weren't so expensive.
• Dante. Paradiso. 1320. I've made it through hell and purgatory; I might as well see how this story ends.
• Francesco Petrarca. Canzoniere. I found this collection at a used bookstore, and worked through a few of the poems. They're really beautiful. I'd like to read more.

Arabic

I didn't like Living Languages Arabic, and Rocket Arabic had a good format but the app keeps crashing. I have a book on order that teaches you the ruq'ah script (Arabic handwriting). I can print the letters well enough; I think I might spend my free time practicing handwriting with basic phrases and not worry about going to deep in the grammar. This is actually somewhat relaxing.


German

Poor German. One day, maybe, I'll get back to you.


English

I wanted something light to read over lunch, so started in on Abaddon's Gate, the third part in James S.A. Comey's Expanse series. It's a great series.
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[kanewai]

part 2 - audio & challenge updates
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Spanish

I've been rotating through three podcasts, Documentos, Nómadas, and Así Como Suena. There's a couple fiction podcasts on Podium that I might download - I've enjoyed a lot of their series.

365 Day Challenge: on track, haven't missed a day.
Super Challenge: mostly on track with 48 books (129 page deficit) and 66 'movies' (way ahead)


French

Just finished the audiobook for Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, and loved it. Next up, I'll catch up on the Au coeur de l'histoire podcast.

Super Challenge: mostly on track, with 47 books (154 page deficit) and 65 'movies' (way ahead)


Italian

Finished the Gengis Khan podcast series on Alle otto della sera. I'm not sure what's next. I feel like I'm running out of material.

Super Challenge: falling behind, with 35 books (769 page deficit) and 50 'movies' (just on target)

[kanewai]

Brief updates

(it was supposed to be brief ... I don't know what happened ... )

Spanish

Mario Vargas Llosa. El sueño del Celta.

From Goodreads: La aventura que narra esta novela empieza en el Congo en 1903 y termina en una cárcel de Londres, una mañana de 1916. Aquí se cuenta la peripecia vital de un hombre de leyenda: el irlandés Roger Casement. Héroe y villano, traidor y libertario, moral e inmoral, su figura múltiple se apaga y renace tras su muerte.

This should have been exciting, but it read more like a long wikipedia article than a novel. It's the first Mario Vargas Llosa book that has disappointed me.

Octavio Paz. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz o las trampas de la fe

juana-ines-de-la-cruz.jpg

From Goodreads: Estudio de la vida y la obra de Sor Juana Inés en el mundo de la sociedad de la Nueva España del siglo XVII. En un apéndice se presenta una carta de Sor Juana que es un verdadero alegato, una apología única en favor de la mujer y su reivindicación frente al poder.

One chapter in, and I'm hooked. So far Paz is exploring Mexico's relationship to both New Spain (a past it tries to forget) and pre-Columbian civilizations (a past it romanticizes). I'm looking forward to diving in deep with this book.


podcast: La asamblea de los muertos

From the website: La historia del atraco perfecto. Un robo desde las cloacas de la ciudad. El plan parece sencillo. Pero no será nada fácil. Con coproducción con la editorial Salamandra, adaptamos a ficción sonora la novela ‘La asamblea de los muertos’ de Tomás Bárbulo.

I've liked other fiction podcasts from Podium, but this one is hard to follow. There are too many characters, and I have to re-listen to most episodes to follow the plot.


French

Michele Houellebecq. Sérotonine.

From Goodreads: Le narrateur de Sérotonine approuverait sans réserve. Son récit traverse une France qui piétine ses traditions, banalise ses villes, détruit ses campagnes au bord de la révolte. Il raconte sa vie d’ingénieur agronome, son amitié pour un aristocrate agriculteur (un inoubliable personnage de roman – son double inversé), l’échec des idéaux de leur jeunesse, l’espoir peut-être insensé de retrouver une femme perdue.

I'm close to finishing, and agricultural riots are breaking out in France. It really is amazing that this novel was finished before the gilets jaunes movement started.


Italian

Umberto Eco. Storia delle terre e dei luoghi leggendari.

This week I'll be following Eco to Agartha, a mysterious lost kingdom at the center of the earth, and Rennes-le-Château, the favorite village of conspiracy theorists.

podcast: Mostri, eroi e principesse

From the website: Attraverso i racconti dei libri, delle leggende, dei miti e dei film Ernesto Franco ricostruisce in un percorso di 10 puntate, la vita degli eroi popolari trattandoli come persone vere, con la loro infanzia, la giovinezza, la maturità, i travagli, gli amori, le umane debolezze. Le imprese e le avventure fanno da sfondo a un racconto che si preannuncia avvincente in cui s narrerà di Don Giovanni e di Robin Hood, di Corto Maltese e di Sherazade, di Marlowe e di Faust, di Morgana e di Tex Willer, di Nero Wolfe e di Moby Dick.

This is fun and relatively easy. The episodes are short enough that I don't mind listening to each one a couple times to help with my comprehension.


Arabic

I enjoy Arabic calligraphy, so this month I'm just focusing on writing and spelling basic phrases from memory. I'm patiently waiting for my Mastering Arabic Script to arrive - it's time for me to finally learn Arabic handwriting rather than printing.


English

I'm tearing through Abaddon's Gate (The Expanse). I want to finish & get ahead of the curve before Season 4 ocomes out.

NUP_179022_0915.jpg

[David27]

Completely agree on Sueño del Celta. Keep us informed how you like you future books. The Octavio Paz and Umberto Ecco descriptions sound promising!

[Robierre]

Michele Houellebecq. Sérotonine.

From Goodreads: Le narrateur de Sérotonine approuverait sans réserve. Son récit traverse une France qui piétine ses traditions, banalise ses villes, détruit ses campagnes au bord de la révolte. Il raconte sa vie d’ingénieur agronome, son amitié pour un aristocrate agriculteur (un inoubliable personnage de roman – son double inversé), l’échec des idéaux de leur jeunesse, l’espoir peut-être insensé de retrouver une femme perdue.

I'm close to finishing, and agricultural riots are breaking out in France. It really is amazing that this novel was finished before the [i]gilets

I'm also reading it. It took me a day to read 200 pages. But it made me kind of depressed so far...or maybe it's just because it was my birthday.

[kanewai]

Brief updates

for real this time

Spanish

Octavio Paz. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz o las trampas de la fe

After 100 pages of Baroque history I'm looking forward to diving into Sor Juana's story. It's hard to imagine that there was an actual thriving classical European royal court in New Spain during the same time that Puritans were fighting with Indians and burning witches in New England. Octavio Paz makes so many references to other poets and writers and philosophers - most of whom I've never heard of - that I can get lost in the text.

podcast: La asamblea de los muertos

I gave up. I just wasn't interested enough in another heist caper to really focus, and so never knew what was going on.


French

Michele Houellebecq. Sérotonine

Finished. I was wondering how Houellebecq would pull in all his threads at the end, but he managed to. He also spoiled the ending of In Search of Lost Time ... so maybe I don't have to finish Proust now? Like his other novels, I found this one to be both brilliant and frustrating. I can appreciate and relate to a lot of his cynicism, but I also feel like there's something missing in his philosophy. It's as if he's so protective of his bitterness that he refuses to see any beauty in the world.

I'm also reading it. It took me a day to read 200 pages. But it made me kind of depressed so far...or maybe it's just because it was my birthday.

The whole theme was on depression - it only gets worse! Probably not the best birthday read.

Yasmina Khadra. Les hirondelles de Kaboul. 2002

Started this last night as part of the Book Club. So far it's a horrifying look at the effects of a long war on the souls of the people who live through it. It's nightmare material with beautiful prose.


Italian

Umberto Eco. Storia delle terre e dei luoghi leggendari

Still haven't made it to the center of the earth.


Arabic

I was jumping around in the calligraphy book, only looking up the letters that I needed practice with. That didn't work, as Arabic handwriting is different enough from Arabic printing that you really do need to work through it step by step. I had a brief pout worthy of a high school student (this is stupid! everything looks the same! there's no way anyone can read this!) and then got on with it.

[kanewai]

Brief updates

I feel like I've stalled a bit. Even though this looks like a lot, I've only read a little bit in a lot of books, and mostly in short bursts. The total this week is less than 100 pages, and I haven't had any long luxurious evenings where I just relax with a book.


Spanish

Octavio Paz. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz o las trampas de la fe

I stalled out on page 130. I would love to read a traditional biography of Sor Inés, but this turned out to be more of a Freudian analysis of who she might have been. It was mostly conjecture and deep-reading. Maybe if I knew more about her, or had read her works, this would have been more interesting. As it was, I just grew increasingly frustrated with the book.

When I read stuff from "intellectuals" I never know if 1) I'm not smart enough to grasp their arguments, or 2) I'm smart enough, but just too lazy to bother, or 3) they're not as smart as they think they are and are just trying to dazzle the masses with big words and complicated sentences.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de la Mancha. Puesto en castellano actual íntegra y fielmente por Andrés Trapiello

I started to read the original a couple years ago, and I think I left Don Quijote naked and in the mountains. I can't remember why he stripped off his clothes. I'm not sure if I want to just re-start from the beginning, or try and locate where I left off. I started in on the first chapters, and it is definitely much easier reading this in modern Castellano than 17th century Spanish.


French

Yasmina Khadra. Les hirondelles de Kaboul. 2002

Kaboul under the Taliban sounds like a true nightmare world. Every character was been intensely damaged by the Soviet invasion and the Taliban regime. Beggars and amputees crowd the streets, no one has enough to eat, women are kept prisoners in their home, and publicly executed if they stray - this seems to be a world without empathy.

audiobook (maybe): Based on MorktheFiddle's recommendation, I'm tempted to try listening to Proust's La prisonnière (À la recherche du temps perdu lu par de grands acteurs 5). I don't think I can do this while commuting; my guess is that it will take my complete attention. I'll wait until I have a lot of free time before diving in.


Italian

Umberto Eco. Storia delle terre e dei luoghi leggendari

Just finished the chapter on 'the hollow earth' theory. Basically: there's a huge hole at the north pole that leads to another world inside this one. It's amazing that some of these legends persisted until the 20th century.


Arabic calligraphy

I've reached the letter 'm.'


English

James S. A. Comey. Abaddon's Gate. 2013

I'm not enjoying this as much as the first two books, in part because I find the "Melba" subplot too contrived and the other new character, Reverend Anna, is nowhere near as interesting as Bobbie Draper (the Martian marine) and Chrisjen Avasarala (the foul-mouthed UN Secretary General). I'm ready for them all to get through the Ring and on with the series.


audiobook: Frans G. Benglsson. Röde Orm (The Long Ships). Narrator: Michael Meyer.

A viking-age adventure story, this time out of Sweden. It's great fun, and so far much more enjoyable than The Saxon Stories or any of the tv shows (The Vikings, The Last Kingdom) set in the same era.

[DaveAgain]

audiobook: Frans G. Benglsson. Röde Orm (The Long Ships). Narrator: Michael Meyer.

A viking-age adventure story, this time out of Sweden. It's great fun, and so far much more enjoyable than The Saxon Stories or and of the tv shows (The Vikings, The Last Kingdom) set in the same era.

You might also like Robert Low's Oathsworn books.

[kanewai]

In theory, I would keep a nice balance of materials in a variety of languages. I'd work on a coursebook in one, read a novel in another, and listen to an audio-book in a third. It would be a rational and low-stress approach to language learning.

In reality, I always end up doing one of everything in each language.

New this week: I downloaded the Great Courses courses for Spanish and French. I don't intend to rush through them; right now I'm thinking that one lesson a week will be enough. I'm hoping that a review like this will help me improve my basic fluency, and strengthen my core knowledge.


Spanish

• book: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de la Mancha. I finished re-reading book one part one, then read the English summaries of parts two and three, and have now picked up where I left off years ago. I'm not totally convinced that this version en castellano actual is really that different from the original - it's still harder for me to read than a modern novel.
• audio: I also listened to book one part one of Don Quijote, narrated by Alejandro Magnone. It's ok, but the narration is a bit dry and monotonous. A good narrator will bring a novel to life. This, for me, is just language practice. I'm not committed to finishing this one.
• course: The first lesson of Learning Spanish I was excruciating. The majority was a sales-pitch for why we should learn Spanish. All I could think was: I already bought the dang course. I don't need to be sold on it after-the-fact.

French

• book: Yasmina Khadra. Les hirondelles de Kaboul. I should finish by tonight. It's somewhat predictable - a female prisoner is stoned to death by a mob in the opening chapter, and it's pretty obvious that this is foreshadowing, and that one of the main characters will meet a similar fate. It's still a powerful story.
• audio. Marcel Proust, La prisonnière. Narrated by André Dussolier. I was skeptical about this, and wasn't sure if I would be able to follow Proust via audio book. To my surprise, it's wonderful. I do need to be in a quiet place, though. It's excellent for a hike or a long walk. It's not a book to listen to at the gym.
• course: I did the first chapter of A Rendez-vous with French-Speaking Cultures. Though this was only the introduction, the review of the difference between /u/ and /ou/ has already been useful. I know that I've gotten lazy, and pronounce the vowels in tu and vous the same.

Italian

• book: Umberto Eco. Storia delle terre e dei luoghi leggendari. Finished! This was excellent, and at some point I'd like to review more of Eco's storia books. For now, though, I'll take a short break from Italian reading.
• audio:Elena Ferrante, Storia del nuovo cognome. Narrated by Anna Bonauito. I read the book a couple years ago, and wanted an audio book that I could listen to without much effort. I was originally thinking that I would put Italian aside for a few months, but I can't.

Arabic

• course: Jane Wightwick, Mahmoud Gaafar. Mastering Arabic Script. I'm nearing the end of the alphabet, and will now move on to the special combinations. The calligraphy is challenging - there are a lot more ways to combine the letters than with standard printing - but I'm making good progress.

[kanewai]

I only read 100 pages total this week ... but it always looks like so much when I write it all up Monday morning.

Spanish

• book: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de la Mancha I. I'm mostly enjoying this, though some of the passages are tedious.
• audio: general podcasts. I didn't like the narrator of the Don Quijote audio book, and stopped listening.
• course: Learning Spanish I. Lesson 2. I'm committed to working though this step-by-step. So far it's nothing exciting.

French

• book: Yasmina Khadra. Les hirondelles de Kaboul. Finished. Thoughts over at the Book Club thread.
• audio. Marcel Proust, La prisonnière. Narrated by André Dussolier.
• course: A Rendez-vous with French-Speaking Cultures. Lesson 2. This continues to help correct some of my sloppy pronunciation

Italian

• book: Dante. Paradiso. Canto I. I didn't do a good job of quitting Italian. More thoughts below.
• audio:Elena Ferrante, Storia del nuovo cognome.

Arabic

• course: Jane Wightwick, Mahmoud Gaafar. Mastering Arabic Script. I've started in on special combinations. This has been a great little guide to deciphering the ruq'ah script. I've always been frustrated that I could read words in print, but was 100% lost with Arabic handwriting.

On to Paradise!

Par_16_cacciaguida.jpg

I never got the idea of 'heaven' growing up. I had this image of sitting in church while the priest said mass forever and without end ... and this was the reward for being good. I was sure that someone had made a mistake along the way. And I'd been putting off reading Paradiso for similar reasons, because I though that there was no way it could be as interesting or exciting as the Inferno or Purgatorio. I wasn't ready to face 33 cantos of reading about the blessed saints.

I decided to give it a try this weekend. I had a rough start of it. I can't read the original Tuscan without a translation nearby, and I have to go line by line, reading Dante, reading the English, re-reading the Dante, looking at the English again ... it's a slow process. If I rush it I get bored. If I take my time then I find the beauty in the poem.

I have dual-language version, but the English is painful and deliberately difficult to understand. Check out these lines:

O buono Appollo, a l'ultimo lavoro
fammi del tuo valor sì fatto vaso,
come dimandi a dar l'amato alloro.

Infino a qui l'un giogo di Parnaso
assai mi fu; ma or con amendue
m'è uopo intrar ne l'aringo rimaso.

Entra nel petto mio, e spira tue
sì come quando Marsïa traesti
de la vagina de le membra sue.

I can't even make sense of the translation in my book. Some of this is purposely obtuse.

O good Apollo, for this thy last emprise,
Make of me such a vessel of thy power
As giving the beloved laurel asks!

One summit of Parmassus hitherto
Has been enough for me, but now with both
I needs must enter the arena left

Enter into my bosom, thou, and breathe
As at the time when Marsyas thou didst draw
Out of the scabbard of those limbs of his

Luckily, the Princeton Dante Project has an online version that is clean and easy to follow

O good Apollo, for this last labor
make me a vessel worthy
of the gift of your belovèd laurel.

Up to this point, one peak of Mount Parnassus
has been enough, but now I need them both
in order to confront the struggle that awaits.

Enter my breast and breathe in me
as when you drew out Marsyas,
out from the sheathing of his limbs.

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It takes me most of an afternoon to work through one canto, so I won't be finishing anytime soon. But I am happy to report that the poetry in Paradiso is just as beautiful as in the other stages. Here's a brief excerpt from Beatrice's explanation to Dante of the forces he is seeing:

Ne l'ordine ch'io dico sono accline
tutte nature, per diverse sorti,
più al principio loro e men vicine;

onde si muovono a diversi porti
per lo gran mar de l'essere, e ciascuna
con istinto a lei dato che la porti.

Questi ne porta il foco inver' la luna;
questi ne' cor mortali è permotore;
questi la terra in sé stringe e aduna

In that order, all natures have their bent
according to their different destinies,
whether nearer to their source or farther from it.

They move, therefore, toward different harbors
upon the vastness of the sea of being,
each imbued with instinct that impels it on its course.

This instinct carries fire toward the moon,
this is the moving force in mortal hearts,
this binds the earth to earth and makes it one.