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olgavogel · 3 years
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6.09.2021 | On classic Russian literature, plus some unusual book recommendations
I'm now silently observing bookstagram's obsession over classical Russian literature. "War and peace", “Dead souls”, “Anna Karenina”, various Dostoevsky…And honestly, I’m kinda puzzled.
You see, Russian literature is (probably in a good way) very dark and depressing. Its main character, no matter what age, or gender, or profession, is often a person who seemingly has no place in life, feels unaccepted, unacknowledged, lost or simply placed in the wrong century. Love affairs rarely end well. People either discuss suffering or suffer or do both at the same time. There are always lots of deep talks, great ideas, even religious insights, but you rarely find a character who doesn’t interpret all this in his own favor. Humor mostly comes in the form of gallows humor, see “Dead souls” mentioned above.
Role models? Not many of them. Perverse behaviours? Plenty of them.
There’s always a question of being fairly objective and straightforward on what one likes to read about, but for me, reading all of Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle (with a healthy portion of doom and gloom) was much easier than struggling with Dostoevsky’s views on life.
Also, a reader should be quite ready for the fact that there is not much diversity going on, in terms of either race or sexual orientation. You seldom find a truly strong female character who is leading the way. Marriage - in literature and in real life - was often quite dreadful, excessive childbirth often led to wife’s untimely death. There were, I should add, krepostnye (that means peasants who could not legally own property, inherit lands, marry, give birth, sell things, move to other places, testify in court and do lots of other things without their owner’s approval). This practice only became illegal in 1861.
That in mind, I sit, perplexed, and think lots about this sudden russkiy boom. And while I do that, some book recommendations come to mind.
Peter the First by Alexey Tolstoy. A great book, often missing even in Russian school reading lists. In short, it’s a massive historical novel on the times of probably the most progressive Russian ruler in history. Very moving, very rich in historical detail, very inspiring if you’re into young leaders and their growth as a person and as a king.
Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol. Now here’s where Gogol’s love for grotesque works in the best way. It’s a collection of short stories inspired by Ukrainian folklore, it’s all right creepy and has this dark cottagecore atmosphere, much like short stories about Geralt’s adventures in “The Witcher”.
Lidia Charskaya’s books about a women-only boarding school. This is simply what I can call a Russian Frances Burnett. There’s an even better book on the same topic, written by another boarding school student Nadezhda Lukhmanova, but I’m quite sure it was never translated into English. In any case, I think it could be considered as an intermediate level read (despite some specific boarding school lingo).
The Cavalry Maiden: Journals of a Russian Officer in the Napoleonic Wars by Nadezhda Durova. A most inspiring story of a girl who participated in the war while pretending to be a man (and actually lived almost all her life under a male alias).
The post header is a fragment of a painting called Unequal Marriage by Vasiliy Pukirev.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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6.09.2021 | Morning notes
It's September, and everything good is yet to come.
True autumn colours are not yet here: the auburn and the crimson of the leaves, the ferruginous of the earth, the diaphanous, pale golden of calm crispy mornings.
The spooky season of old fairytales, pumpkin patches and opening doors to somewhere that's not here - it will come in its own time, we're not ready to be properly frightened yet.
The Advent with its candles and hymns and preparations (sometimes solemnly quiet and alone, sometimes cheerfully, hand in hand with loved ones) is yet to come. And then, Christmas and the first week after Christmas, are yet to come.
After that, it will be harder to wait for another spring, which in our climate rarely comes before late April. It will be dark, and it will be gloomy, and I'll need lots of hot chocolate and books and moral support to get myself through it and be reborn when the spring finally arrives.
But right now - it's only September - everything good is yet to come.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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1.09.2021 | 7th day of productivity
No French today. So much unexpected meetings, so much time lost...
But still I was able to cover my WK reviews and discover there's more to N5 than just Genki track in Bunpro. So, added it all! For now it looks like this:
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Need to get rid of them ghosts and move everything into at least SRS 9-11 lvl before taking on Genki II track and N4.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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30-31.08.2021 | 5-6th day of productivity
French
A quick note about these 2 books I'm currently studying: they are awesome in many senses and I would definitely recommend them to any student who wishes to prepare for an upper-intermediate/advanced test.
But...I'm really tired of popular French topics that come in practically every example.
These would be: 1. politics, mainly corrupted officials or elections. 2. sports, mainly football. 3. children, mainly those who tend to be unsuccessful in their studies or choose wrong specialisations. 4. Marguerite Yourcenar and the fact that she was accepted to the Académie française in 1980 (despite general male domination in literature and in this institution).
I have never read her books (malheureusement!) and I'm already sick and tired of this popular fact and the writer herself. It's like music school for me: after 12 years I've developed a huge hate towards Rakhmaninov and never played a piece.
Probably should read at least one book to not let this happen one more time...
Finished chapter 8 Les trois formes du verbe: actif, passif, pronominal in Les 500 exercices de grammaire Niveau B2
Finished chapter 8 Le sport in Vocabulaire progressif du français - Niveau avancé
Japanese
all WK and Bunpro reviews, I'm moving forward!
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olgavogel · 3 years
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27.08.2021 | A small note on reading Chaucer
My Harold Bloom's Western Canon reading list project is so much fun! Some "reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English" advice:
Read aloud. No, seriously, if you feel that you understand nothing while reading with your eyes, read aloud instead. That does the trick.
If you encounter a confusing word that doesn't look like anything in English, try looking it up in a French or Latin dictionary, it's probably there (joking intellectually).
Get an edition that explains at least part of the text. I'm reading this one. Not only it explains some parts of the text, there's a synopsis before each chapter and a list of further reading resources.
Study the context. This is so far the most important piece of advice. I've read a part of Piter Ackroyd's The History of England and watched some lectures on Chaucer's times before I even started the book itself. You risk to miss some inner jokes and fine details if you're not familiar with the historical context.
And guys, Chaucer's storytelling is so good. I think I've learned more about proper character design from just the prologue of this book than from hundreds of web materials & art courses that I took last year.
The funniest thing that he, as an author and, in some sense, a privileged man, could pursue the nastiest cynical approach to all this pilgrimage story. He could easily be sarcastic, arrogant, snooty, boring and full of self-righteousness.
But he's not like that. And his alter ego in the text is not. I can feel - through his text - that he loves people in general, he's attentive to people, their good side, their bad side, their individuality. He's not a bully or a moral teacher or a tabloid journalist ready for something abominable to happen, he's a delicate observer, with lots of Christian love and almost Buddhist acceptance of human nature.
And that's what I - for now - treasure the most in this whole book.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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27.08.2021 | 4th day of productivity
French
Finished all the chapter about 7 Les différents types de verbes in Les 500 exercices de grammaire Niveau B2
Finished all the chapter 6 Mouvements, gestes et postures in Vocabulaire progressif du français - Niveau avancé
Japanese
Continued with WK and BunPro reviews. Seems I'm getting better. Some grammar points are still in the grey zone, but I'm getting accustomed to them and to my goal of starting reading after I finish WK 10 & Bunpro Genki 1.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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26.08.2021 | 3d day of productivity
Starting from next week, I'll be working on a very tight schedule. Judging by the amount of tasks and routines in my calendar (and, mind you, a decent amount of sleep & workout is added for each day), I'll have no free time at all. That practically means no video games, movie nights or unplanned going out from Mon to Fri.
꒰⁎′̥̥̥ ⌑ ‵̥̥̥ ꒱
Not that it was completely unpredictable, but I can't keep myself from remembering good ol' days when one wasn't supposed to work from 10 to 19 (and sometimes be available before or after that). And was, of course, foolishly wasting time on things like: a) imaginary suffering b) pointless love affairs c) trying to be like someone else.
French
The verbs started. Finally. Finished 7 (1) Les différents types de verbes in Les 500 exercices de grammaire Niveau B2
Finished 6 (1) Mouvements, gestes et postures in Vocabulaire progressif du français - Niveau avancé
Japanese
Finished all WK reviews for today
Finished all Bunpro reviews and made notes. Now I'll just be drilling Genki 1 grammar till it has a golden badge (that's getting things right for 12 times). Then, I'll start slowly adding Genki II.
All this meddling with basic grammar means one thing: you can pass JLPT knowing, like, 60% of it. I think I would be able to pass N4 right about now. So if you're scared and passing formal exams means something to you, just go for it, you have my blessing.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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25.08.2021 | 2nd day of productivity
French
Finished 6 Les pronoms personnels in Les 500 exercices de grammaire Niveau B2
Now this was a big chapter, and tackling it all in one go was a mistake (had no time for vocab afterwards). But, you know, there are times when you just can't stop looking at something nasty even if it's as nasty as subtle differences between en and y...
Japanese
finished all WK reviews and went through all new lessons (48 if I'm not mistaken)
covered about a half of Bunpro reviews. Stopped each time I got things wrong and made short grammar notes. It seems that going through MNN in class hasn't done any good for me, when it comes to some topics...and I just need to re-learn them.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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24.08.2021 | 1st day of productivity
Finally back into my productivity zone, I guess.
French
finished 5 Les indéfinis in Les 500 exercices de grammaire Niveau B2
finished 5 La gastronomie in Vocabulaire progressif du français - Niveau avancé
For now, I try to keep up with the routine where I do 1 chapter per day (if the grammar chapter is more than 6 pages, I would do it in 2 days half by half).
Japanese
covered all my morning WaniKani reviews (~80) and would have more at 11pm
covered Bunpro grammar reviews (23) and marked a portion of grammar points for further review (chapters 7-12 of Genki 1)
After I reach WK lvl 10 (one more time) and get at least 5-6 correct reviews for each Genki 1 topic point, I'll start reading & finishing Try N5 to be sure I have no holes in N5 knowledge.
It surely seems I forgot everything despite passing N5 successfully and having lots of N4/N3 knowledge...
Art studies
I haven't mentioned that before, but my old trusty laptop died a couple of weeks before. So I'm setting up new drawing place on a limited budget:
installed my CSP copy and XP-Pen drivers on (as much as) old trusty Macbook that I only used for work
ordered thunderbolt/hdmi adapter & usb hub
Hopefully, in some 3-4 days all this setup will be good to go! And a certain someone would have no excuses...
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olgavogel · 3 years
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Notes from 18.08.2021 | When I'm tired of life as it is, I like to take long walks in the forest. No matter what the weather is, no matter how tired my body really is. I like to touch small fallen branches and eat berries right where I found them. I like to squeeze juniper berries in my fingers and keep that smell on them for hours. I like to search for medicine herbs and collect them, if the time is right. I like to suddenly notice an animal footprint: a boar, a stag, a large bird.
And, most of all, I love to hear the sound of the forest and the sea nearby, when not even a tiniest of human sounds disrupts them. This way, the cacophony of my own mind calms and gives place to an orchestra.
Dance, dance like butterflies, shadows appear right before my eyes Sound echo the obsurd, hard to explain something that I heard
Now, hear the forest talking insects and birds Does the scent of soil and beast bring the life in to the animal you hide It's a great illusion one never knows When you think you're really alone, feel the eyes of someone looking in on you
🎶 Cradle Of Forest, Akira Yamaoka
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olgavogel · 3 years
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Notes from 17.08.2021 | These god rays I catched before the rain poured down? They have a strange kind of vicious beauty, as if the sky cracked and let out a glimpse of a void filled with light.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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Notes from 16.08.2021 | I'm browsing some favourite vintage stores and thinking about how old houses are much like retro goods: no matter how loved before, they are now for sale. No matter who couldn't sleep without a favorite doll, on a familiar bed, all warm and cozy — this person is likely no more here, and a huge part of this otherwise unknown life is now (almost obscenely) displayed in the store, could be sold for a reasonable price, or be there forever if no one buys.
I'm quite a modest buyer who only has some pocket money to buy, say, a teacup from 50s, a trinket, an earring, its sister long lost.
I always have this weird little feeling that I'm salvaging a small piece of someone's memory, but what would become of it when it would be my turn to not be here anymore?
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olgavogel · 3 years
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Notes from 15.08.2021 | These nights, I'm observing the night sky. The Ursa Major, the Vega, a part of the Draco. I use this map of the stars made long before me. A man, who was not passionate about the stars at all, a sailor and a merchant, left the map in a stack of old books, to be discovered by his son, equally uninterested in the stars as such, and the son of his son, who became an astrophysicist. Years later, he shared it with me — a romantic, who once thought she might just live to the era of space travel. A girl, who dreamt about boarding a spaceship, blazing the trail to the stars, meeting different alien races and knowing exactly how to communicate with them.
A girl, who is only left with an old map of stars and an equally old book of Japanese crime stories. Which are not exactly crime stories as we know them. They're merely stories about some sequences of ridiculous unhappy events that sometimes lead to people dying. Very emotional. Very tragic. Very much not about someone going on a heist, or mercilessly shooting everyone on that bus stop, or inventing such a scheme that even Sherlock gives in to this cruel riddle.
No, not that. Just life, and her clever ways to destroy everything that we love. Which can be much more cruel.
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P.S. This book contains three stories:
— Edogawa Ranpo, Beast in the Shadows (陰獣, Injū, 1928)
— Seichō Matsumoto, The Globular Wilderness (球形の荒野, Kyūkei no arano, 1962)
— Seiichi Morimura, The Teddy Bear (人間の証明, Ningen no shōmei, 1979)
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olgavogel · 3 years
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Notes from 14.08.2021 | Observing the sea at different times of the day is the most pleasant thing that you could do. It's already August, the Baltic becomes colder day by day. There is often a storm, and, as usual, the water is warmer these times. In October, when I return, it will be too cold to swim, but not so cold as not to go to the beach with a good book and some hot tea with whiskey.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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Harold Bloom's Western Canon reading list
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So...I dropped re-reading The Goldfinch to start a sort of a challenge. I always planned this to happen when I hit my thirties. But still kinda overwhelmed by my own plan.
Now, there's a thing called Western Canon. It exists not only for literature, but also covers Western culture in general (see wiki for detailed explanations). In short, it's a body of classical works that are known to influence how people think in such a profound way that we're basically created by these works.
There's also a man called Harold Bloom, who is wonderful in his grumpiness about which books should enter the Western Canon. Hence, his book The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages. Bloom explores the work of 26 authors in total, whom he believes to be the central part of the canon.
I plan to read or re-read all mentioned works alongside with Bloom's text. It means I should also cope with Bloom's constant displeasure about current state of things and reading/writing styles (as far as it goes, I partly agree with his reasoning, which is quite close to Umberto Eco's views on books).
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I'm doing this for my own education, inspiration and intellectual pleasure, but I also feel better when I keep track of things, so let it be a place for a simple list of my notes / reviews.
1. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
Starting with this one (as the first book from the Canon explicitly mentioned even before Shakespeare). I'm going for a hardcore original spelling version.
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olgavogel · 3 years
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⚜⚜⚜ Study masterlists ⚜⚜⚜
Harold Bloom's Western Canon reading list (only started; currently on Chaucer)
she/her • dark academy aesthetics • reading • a tiny bit more Slytherin than Ravenclaw • INTJ-A • on the way to a 3d degree in arts
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olgavogel · 3 years
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Notes from 14.08.2021 |
Time knows no beginning or end Old Buildings wave and wend, And the words live on in the wind... Old Houses Speak With words that time forgot They groan and creak, And settle and weep For long-lost children That played in their yards.
— Marianne Reninger
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