The elm trees have started flowering here.
That explains the sudden fatigue, the sneezing, the waking up in the middle of the night coughing. Ugh.
I hate spring allergy season.
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I knit more on the hood last night. Why is this taking so long? I feel like I should be done by now.
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Karin, thanks for the encouragement and advice. I was reading over my notes last night and came across "das Schloss" and almost went to the computer and changed it. And on the Bier, I had only heard what she said...so I was going phonetically (and probably on my memories of French: in French, biere is feminine. I wonder how things got decided on what gender they were).
Of the place-names I learned, only one is masculine (der Bahnhof), a number are neuter, and a few (like die Kirche) are feminine. I'm going to have to come up with some kind of a system. (The teacher did tell us that in the portmanteau words, the gender comes from the last word in the group - so anything ending with "-haus" would be neuter. So at least I have that).
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I finally started reading "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell." So far, it seems exactly like the kind of book I like - just enough description, interesting characters, "different" from the everyday world we inhabit.
I cannot help, though, feeling like there's some symbology behind the idea that "magic" used to exist in Britain but now gentlemen only STUDY and do not PRACTICE "magic." I almost feel like there's some kind of religious analogy in there, sort of like some of the more extremist Jesus Seminar folk. (Or maybe "it's just a [book], {I} should really just relax" [and ten bonus points to the first to get the origin of that quotation]).
5 comments:
Oh, criminy--I mean, my website url is a joke from that show you reference, so I think I should take myself out of the race.
It's funny, I hadn't thought of Strange and Norrell in that way. There are some interesting ways in which that does and doesn't line up in the rest of the book. I suspect that the analogy to our world was intentional, but only insofar as it gets the reader in the right headspace. Don't worry, it doesn't turn into A Big Morality Tale.
MST3K
i beg to differ with tchem. it's kind of "be careful what you wish for." i won't elaborate further than that, lol.
as i was reading (listening, actually), i almost felt like it was a precursor to harry potter in a way. if i remember correctly this was set in early victorian times? or maybe a little earlier?
i like your take on it though.
I had trouble getting into that book, but will love to hear what you thought of it.
I am not sure the gender in german is logical as it is das Maedchen (girl).
Karin
Oh, yeah, I forgot about that part that I think you're referring to, dragon knitter. It's been a year since I read it, and the book is long.
I've actually been thinking about rereading it, for exactly that reason. I've forgotten so many good parts.
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