First, some gloating. The Ars* lost again tonight, this time to Fulham, which puts them a full 16 points off the top of the table after wins by everybody’s favorite teams from Manchester and west London. I was sure their title ambitions ended at the weekend; this puts the fork in them for even the most ardent Ars*nal supporter. Couldn’t happen to a nicer team, the bastards.

Spurs, who have had a less than stellar season so far by anyone’s reckoning, are just three points short of their norf London rivals. Spurs were hoping to push for a Champions League spot this year; the Ars* thought they were title contenders. You tell me: who has fallen further?
Hint: The answer is Ars*nal

Do you ever feel like books somehow find you? Farewell to Arms is fantastic so far. But I’m glad I didn’t read it any sooner. I don’t think it would have the same impact if I wasn’t studying Spanish. The book reads like it was written in Spanish and translated into English. The sentence structure during dialogue is Spanish, and the language has a totally different feel to it.

For instance, they use the word “rare” in a way an English speaker wouldn’t. They find a machine gun and it’s described as “rare,” then later, Robert Jordan is told to finish off his “rare” absinthe so he can have some wine. English speakers wouldn use something like “special” or maybe even “lucky” depending on the context. But these aren’t English speakers, and while “rare” indeed means “difficult to find” (like a rare book) it has a slightly different connotation in Spanish. So even though I’m listening to English, it feels Spanish. Which is cool.

I mentioned the book Four Front a few posts ago, and the short stories in the book were written in Gaelic and translated into English. Beckett’s Mercier and Camier was written in French by Beckett (whose first language was English) and then, years later, translated into English. It also has a translated texture to it. How or why this happens, I don’t know. But it’s cool. Maybe one day I’ll master Spanish enough to try and write some fiction. I did win an honorable mention for a short story I wrote in German as an undergrad, so it can be done.

Current Mood: Discontent |