NaNoReMo and Other Links
This month, I'm participating in Matt Baldwin's answer to NaNoWriMo, National Novel Reading Month. Feel free to join in. We are reading "Lolita".
I am, actually, re-reading it, as I read Lolita for the first time about 20 years ago, and in Russian. Things I noticed so far:
1) The English version is far better written than the Russian. I remember that in the Russian one, some words and phrases were really awkward and unnatural-sounding. It appears that they are carbon-copy translations of equivalent English phrases.
2) I was in my early 20s last time I read it, so I've been used to imagining Humbert Humbert as an older, wrinklish guy. I realized when I opened Lolita this week, that HH had to be in his mid-to-late thirties when the story took place - younger than I am now. That gave me a pause.
3) Before I had a family and life experience, I used to think of HH as a refined European gemtleman, very well-mannered, but most importantly, really polished inside and out. Reading the first few chapters, I saw with a start that HH is, instead, a pompous asshole, full of himself, with no regard for others. Then again, aren't we all? Aren't we all.
In other news, I discovered a lot of good blogs during my recent Internet travels. I finally have a spare minute now, so I'm going to update my links. Enjoy.
PS. Updated. You know lolcats, right? This girl has LOLHOUSE!! As in lolcats+House, MD. Awesome. Go check it out.
I am, actually, re-reading it, as I read Lolita for the first time about 20 years ago, and in Russian. Things I noticed so far:
1) The English version is far better written than the Russian. I remember that in the Russian one, some words and phrases were really awkward and unnatural-sounding. It appears that they are carbon-copy translations of equivalent English phrases.
2) I was in my early 20s last time I read it, so I've been used to imagining Humbert Humbert as an older, wrinklish guy. I realized when I opened Lolita this week, that HH had to be in his mid-to-late thirties when the story took place - younger than I am now. That gave me a pause.
3) Before I had a family and life experience, I used to think of HH as a refined European gemtleman, very well-mannered, but most importantly, really polished inside and out. Reading the first few chapters, I saw with a start that HH is, instead, a pompous asshole, full of himself, with no regard for others. Then again, aren't we all? Aren't we all.
In other news, I discovered a lot of good blogs during my recent Internet travels. I finally have a spare minute now, so I'm going to update my links. Enjoy.
PS. Updated. You know lolcats, right? This girl has LOLHOUSE!! As in lolcats+House, MD. Awesome. Go check it out.
