Alice in Wonderland at The Royal Opera House next week! I'm so excited, when I can remember to be excited!
Woo!
Ballet!
Alice!
Angie and Forceps!
Okay, I really think I'm done this time!
Little Newman
xxx
Thursday 21 March 2013
I can feel it coming in the air tonight...
What? What can I feel coming?
Another Lit Corner...
So, I finished reading To the Lighthouse. Which, yeah, made me feel pretty great.
But how did I actually feel about the book? Well - I don't know. Before I started reading To the Lighthouse, I started reading Mrs Dalloway. I didn't get very far because - well, it's hard. Uninterrupted stream of conscious is not easy on the brain.
Well, what does this have to do with To the Lighthouse? Apart from the fact that they're written by the same author? The point I'm going to make here is one of readability. While I never got very far into Mrs Dalloway, and while I found it difficult, it felt natural. It was beautiful - the expression of feelings and emotions was exactly what it needed to be. The sentences were long, and difficult to get your teeth into, but I could empathise with them. To the Lighthouse? Not so much.
There were times when I just felt like shouting: 'You're doing it on purpose!'
There were times when I actually shouted: 'You're doing it on purpose!'
That is not, of course, to say, that it was bad. On the contrary, it was very good and clever, and my appreciation of it raised as I continued onwards with the book - reaching a peak when what Woolf had written helped me get through my own, sticky authorial situation. And yes, there were times when the turn of phrase that is so particular to her style had my heart expanding in my chest because really she can distil beauty into words. But I still can't quite look past that horrible feeling I had at the start, or when the narrative would drag - purposefully, but confusing nonetheless. And so for that, To the Lighthouse loses points. But I guess I shouldn't make any final judgements until I at least finish Mrs Dalloway.
I also mentioned in the last post that I was reading Ulysses. I still am. In fact, that little peek I took at Ulysses helped me get through To the Lighthouse. Because if ever an author was doing it on purpose, than James Joyce was. Ulysses is not as impenetrable as it first seems - although I'm only nine or so pages in, so there's plenty of space for it to get worse. However it is a finely knit cloth of classical references - as the title would suggest. It's a good thing I managed to by both The Odyssey and The Iliad in the same trip as I bought this, then! So far the text is mostly English, with a little bit of Latin and the tiniest amount of Greek thrown in to shake off the paupers. Of course, these days Google is there to solve any problems we might have. Sorry, Joyce, looks like there will be comprehensibility for anyone who is brave enough to take you on!
There are also obvious Wildean under- and over-tones, which I am enjoying greatly. I'm getting the feeling that, all in all, Ulysses will be quite a rewarding read, if not always an enjoyable one.
Of course, I could go into the theory behind these two books. I can tell you why Woolf and Joyce have 'done it on purpose'*, and what they have achieved. I can probably throw up a few of the more overt references, as well as some of the more covert ones. But that's not really what Lit Corner is about, is it? Lit Corner is my own response to the books: informed, but not constrained, by my understanding of literature and my life as a Lit student.
So, what else am I reading?
Well, I'm rereading L'étranger, by Allbert Camus, for my lit and philosophy class; L'Immoraliste, by Andre Gide and Monsieur Vénus, by Rachilde for my class on 20th century French sex and sexuality, and The Iliad to supplement my reading of Ulysses.
In Web Lit, I'm currently reading and enjoying Kudzu, by Bernie Mojzes with illustrations by Linda Saboe. This, I think, is pretty amazing. I'm thoroughly enjoying it, and the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous.
Well, I think that's about all worth mentioning for now.
This has been a Lit Corner with Little Newman.
Thank You for reading!
Happy reading and
Happier Blogging,
Lots of Love,
Little Newman
xxx
*for those who want to know, to explain and demonstrate philosophical beliefs (Woolf) and because of the Modernist aesthetic and understanding of art (Joyce). In a nutshell. There are probably a few other nutshells, to, but the end result is the same.
Another Lit Corner...
But how did I actually feel about the book? Well - I don't know. Before I started reading To the Lighthouse, I started reading Mrs Dalloway. I didn't get very far because - well, it's hard. Uninterrupted stream of conscious is not easy on the brain.
Well, what does this have to do with To the Lighthouse? Apart from the fact that they're written by the same author? The point I'm going to make here is one of readability. While I never got very far into Mrs Dalloway, and while I found it difficult, it felt natural. It was beautiful - the expression of feelings and emotions was exactly what it needed to be. The sentences were long, and difficult to get your teeth into, but I could empathise with them. To the Lighthouse? Not so much.
There were times when I just felt like shouting: 'You're doing it on purpose!'
There were times when I actually shouted: 'You're doing it on purpose!'
That is not, of course, to say, that it was bad. On the contrary, it was very good and clever, and my appreciation of it raised as I continued onwards with the book - reaching a peak when what Woolf had written helped me get through my own, sticky authorial situation. And yes, there were times when the turn of phrase that is so particular to her style had my heart expanding in my chest because really she can distil beauty into words. But I still can't quite look past that horrible feeling I had at the start, or when the narrative would drag - purposefully, but confusing nonetheless. And so for that, To the Lighthouse loses points. But I guess I shouldn't make any final judgements until I at least finish Mrs Dalloway.
There are also obvious Wildean under- and over-tones, which I am enjoying greatly. I'm getting the feeling that, all in all, Ulysses will be quite a rewarding read, if not always an enjoyable one.
Of course, I could go into the theory behind these two books. I can tell you why Woolf and Joyce have 'done it on purpose'*, and what they have achieved. I can probably throw up a few of the more overt references, as well as some of the more covert ones. But that's not really what Lit Corner is about, is it? Lit Corner is my own response to the books: informed, but not constrained, by my understanding of literature and my life as a Lit student.
So, what else am I reading?
Well, I'm rereading L'étranger, by Allbert Camus, for my lit and philosophy class; L'Immoraliste, by Andre Gide and Monsieur Vénus, by Rachilde for my class on 20th century French sex and sexuality, and The Iliad to supplement my reading of Ulysses.
In Web Lit, I'm currently reading and enjoying Kudzu, by Bernie Mojzes with illustrations by Linda Saboe. This, I think, is pretty amazing. I'm thoroughly enjoying it, and the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous.
Well, I think that's about all worth mentioning for now.
This has been a Lit Corner with Little Newman.
Thank You for reading!
Happy reading and
Happier Blogging,
Lots of Love,
Little Newman
xxx
*for those who want to know, to explain and demonstrate philosophical beliefs (Woolf) and because of the Modernist aesthetic and understanding of art (Joyce). In a nutshell. There are probably a few other nutshells, to, but the end result is the same.
Wednesday 6 March 2013
Ooh, hellooooo!
Just a quick 'hi'.
I saw Forceps on the weekend, which was nice. We ate food, read books and went to the Barbican Centre where we knitted neurons. (An aside about that: last year, I saw the Complicit production of Master and Margarita at the Barbican. I said I might blog about it, but never did. It wasn't my favourite thing. I could go into detail about why, but that would be redundant now.)
I missed her so much. We had a cuddle and a long, hysteric, tired-girl chat.
I'm reading To the Lighthouse, and am feeling all empowered by my progress, so might start reading something else soon. I bought a copy of Ulysses for £1.99 from a bookshop on Charing Cross Road on Sunday while out with a friend. We retired to a nearby Starbucks* and looked over it. We realised that probably the only way we will be able to make it through is with support sessions where we meet up, drink tea, and are confused together. This sounds good to me.
'Hi, I'm [insert name here] and I've been reading Ulysses for [insert length of time here]. That sort of thing, you know?
Well maybe there'll be a Lit Corner soon. That's kind of all I wanted to say.
I don't know how writing is going. Which generally is an indicator that it's not going well. It's not going to badly, either though.
I'm tired all the time. Sometimes at night when I lie down, I find it a bit difficult to breathe. I'm getting a cold. I just want a break.
I like it here. (In this quiet corner of the internet.) It's nice. No pressure. Hey. I can say to you whatever I like.
The easiest people to talk to are sometimes the people who don't care at all.
Anyway, this is enough for me.
Goodnight
Happy Blogging,
Lots of love,
Little Newman
xxx
* Although, given the number of Starbucks scattered around the place this one was probably relatively distant
I saw Forceps on the weekend, which was nice. We ate food, read books and went to the Barbican Centre where we knitted neurons. (An aside about that: last year, I saw the Complicit production of Master and Margarita at the Barbican. I said I might blog about it, but never did. It wasn't my favourite thing. I could go into detail about why, but that would be redundant now.)
I missed her so much. We had a cuddle and a long, hysteric, tired-girl chat.
I'm reading To the Lighthouse, and am feeling all empowered by my progress, so might start reading something else soon. I bought a copy of Ulysses for £1.99 from a bookshop on Charing Cross Road on Sunday while out with a friend. We retired to a nearby Starbucks* and looked over it. We realised that probably the only way we will be able to make it through is with support sessions where we meet up, drink tea, and are confused together. This sounds good to me.
'Hi, I'm [insert name here] and I've been reading Ulysses for [insert length of time here]. That sort of thing, you know?
Well maybe there'll be a Lit Corner soon. That's kind of all I wanted to say.
I don't know how writing is going. Which generally is an indicator that it's not going well. It's not going to badly, either though.
I'm tired all the time. Sometimes at night when I lie down, I find it a bit difficult to breathe. I'm getting a cold. I just want a break.
I like it here. (In this quiet corner of the internet.) It's nice. No pressure. Hey. I can say to you whatever I like.
The easiest people to talk to are sometimes the people who don't care at all.
Anyway, this is enough for me.
Goodnight
Happy Blogging,
Lots of love,
Little Newman
xxx
* Although, given the number of Starbucks scattered around the place this one was probably relatively distant
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