What I've got to do now:
Now, in preparation for my (our--the entire level at my school's) Chinese O' Levels, I've got to do this incredibly intensive Chinese practice. The exam's in two weeks and for that entire length of time, I've got to climb such a mountain of assessment; it's nearly heartbreaking. For some strange reason, endurance was never really a virtue I could profess to own.
I'd much rather be reading my books. Over the past months (stretching into the previous year), I've amassed this great list of books I have to read--well, not so big, it's got just over fifty titles, but for serious reading I consider it alot--and, god, it's an exciting list. When i've the time, I'll try typing up the entire list.
And also, the translation of Dante's Inferno that I got yesterday is the one by Elio Zapulla. It's not exactly one that will appeal to purists as it's done away with the terza rima of the original and set the lines into the traditional English blank verse instead. But it's readable, like a story and not so much a towering epic that distances itself from it's readers--at least that's the way I see it as I'm just reading it now, the analysis comes later after I'm good and ready for it. I guess that's the way I've been reading all these "good" books. (I started this just a year and a bit ago, a long story which i might consider putting up at a later date--it's rather amusing.) But I'm really not much of a judge of this, the only other translation of Dante I've read is of Purgatorio and that (being a library book) was all old and wrinkled and off-putting before I even opened it, and the insides were about just as musty and antiquated (a very personal opinion) as it came in one of those dead-serious, drab little Penguin Classics editions (for the purists, I suppose).
What I may look forward to is a long weekend, down here, Friday's Vesak Day, a Buddhist holiday.
Leave comments and come back once in awhile!
I'd much rather be reading my books. Over the past months (stretching into the previous year), I've amassed this great list of books I have to read--well, not so big, it's got just over fifty titles, but for serious reading I consider it alot--and, god, it's an exciting list. When i've the time, I'll try typing up the entire list.
And also, the translation of Dante's Inferno that I got yesterday is the one by Elio Zapulla. It's not exactly one that will appeal to purists as it's done away with the terza rima of the original and set the lines into the traditional English blank verse instead. But it's readable, like a story and not so much a towering epic that distances itself from it's readers--at least that's the way I see it as I'm just reading it now, the analysis comes later after I'm good and ready for it. I guess that's the way I've been reading all these "good" books. (I started this just a year and a bit ago, a long story which i might consider putting up at a later date--it's rather amusing.) But I'm really not much of a judge of this, the only other translation of Dante I've read is of Purgatorio and that (being a library book) was all old and wrinkled and off-putting before I even opened it, and the insides were about just as musty and antiquated (a very personal opinion) as it came in one of those dead-serious, drab little Penguin Classics editions (for the purists, I suppose).
What I may look forward to is a long weekend, down here, Friday's Vesak Day, a Buddhist holiday.
Leave comments and come back once in awhile!
posted by fairypenguin at 1:27 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home