On Paths Unknown discussion
The Anything Goes chit-chat thread (subject to tiny fine-print rules)
Just a few days ago I saw a movie called "Hidden in Silence" (about a teenage girl hiding a group of jews in her attic for two years and thereby saves their lives) which made me furious at the cruelty humans are capable of all over again. It was a good movie though.
"I see life as a roadside inn where I have to stay until the coach from the abyss pulls up. I don’t know where it will take me, because I don’t know anything. I could see this inn as a prison, for I’m compelled to wait in it; I could see it as a social centre, for it’s here that I meet others. But I’m neither impatient nor common. I leave who will to stay shut up in their rooms, sprawled out on beds where they sleeplessly wait, and I leave who will to chat in the parlours, from where their songs and voices conveniently drift out here to me. I’m sitting at the door, feasting my eyes and ears on the colours and sounds of the landscape, and I softly sing – for myself alone – wispy songs I compose while waiting.Night will fall on us all and the coach will pull up. I enjoy the breeze I’m given and the soul I was given to enjoy it with, and I no longer question or seek. If what I write in the book of travellers can, when read by others at some future date, also entertain them on their journey, then fine. If they don’t read it, or are not entertained, that’s fine too"
(From "The Book of Disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa, Translated by Richard Zenith . (Pessoa was the greatest Portuguese poet of the last Century )
Yes, Trav, I have read the book but don't recall if I shelved it. Read it too long ago to be confident in any rating.Nice blood-boiling fact: of the "liberated" gays who had ended up in concentration camps for "acts against Nature," said acts were still against the law in Germany after the war. And since the camps were not considered legitimate penal institutions, these guys were not credited with "time served" and were sent to jail to begin serving their sentences anew.
Some didn't survive, already so damaged from their treatment in the camps which was as bad as that usually reserved for people caught actively opposing the Reich, with the occasional bonus of grisly sex-related medical experiments.
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I had actually been hoping to get to Pessoa this year, so thanks for that nice introduction to him, PG!
Yolande wrote: "Just a few days ago I saw a movie called "Hidden in Silence" (about a teenage girl hiding a group of jews in her attic for two years and thereby saves their lives) which made me furious at the crue..."
Reading up on the IMDB summary of that, reminded me of a movie I had seen recently about an Italian boy and his family interned in a Nazi concentration camp which turned out quite a tear-jerker for me. Life is Beautiful
(Though I do cry in movies pretty often! ;) )
Gregsamsa wrote: " with the occasional bonus of grisly sex-related medical experiments. .."
It goes beyond my comprehension how they could do those. Vomit-worthy. I couldn't even treat an insect that way, let alone an animal let alone a human being.
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Happily that's the kind of books we are going to read. :D .."
Oh goodie! Glad to hear you're still on board with that. Yes, anybody who could wade through Foucault's Pendulum and almost Miéville 's entire oeuvre, should not feel afraid with the exception of Joyce and Pynchon. :P
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...or shall we start bragging about out books in this anything goes thread?
Traveller wrote: "Hmm, I'm asking advice from y'all: Do you think we need a separate thread for this: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/......or shall we start bragging about out books in..."
I think a separate thread for that would work.
By the way, I've been listening to Bookriot youtube videos about the correct pronunciation of author's names and found out there how to say Pynchon and Miéville correctly (I was saying it wrong haha).
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Oh and now, Yolande? Why did you clip your interesting-looking post? You had some links earlier that I was still going to check out? Sorry didn't reply earlier, this tab became sort of tucked in on the side of the screen...
I also want to know how to pronounce Pynchon and Miéville correctly!
Oh sorry, sometimes I feel unsure of what I posted and just cut or delete, I'm paranoid like that. I suppose I shouldn't do it but for this one I felt that it was maybe too localized to be liked by people here, and that it might be seen in a bad light. What I said was that in the videos which I will add here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAbCp...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV_Xq...
the South African writer Lauren Beukes is still not pronounced entirely correctly but that's just because the sound of "eu" for that surname does not exist in English. I found a video as an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEOXS....
Then in the comments section someone asked for the correct pronunciation of J.M. Coetzee's surname and I thougt: ha, good luck with that one! - because that pronunciation is even farther from English.
So I found a video with the pronuciation of that author surname as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2-N_....
Oh yes, and I also said that we South Africans are not used to hearing Americans saying Afrikaans names or surnames so it was funny for me hearing it in the video, because it comes out a bit different (since it's difficult to get a pronunciation like that right in English.
I enjoyed the videos on the pronunciation of authors' names so much, I wish they were able to compile a video like that with correct pronunciations of all authors' names and surnames which are not clear in pronunciation (which would be impossible 'cause it would take forever). I could listen to that kind of thing all day just to finally clear up the pronunciations in my head :)
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People tend to hotly debate about who pronounces these names "correctly". In the end, I suppose if it is still a current surname, the bearer of the name should decide? If it is a historical name, then how it was pronounced by the person's contemporaries in their language?
But tell me, do you have a surname called De Villiers in South Africa? A French Canadian friend of mine giggled a lot when he heard how the surname is apparently pronounced in South Africa. (Because apparently it is very very different to how it would be pronounced in the original French).
...soo.. what I am saying, is : In the end, who decides what the correct pronunciation of a name or surname is?
Speaking of French Canadians, there are many French Canadian surnames in use in the United States, particularly in New England. Stephen King's novels, often set in Maine, feature many characters with names like Thibaudeau or Gendron or similar, and it's always a shock to hear them spoken aloud in television and film adaptations, let me tell you!
Traveller wrote: "However, I cannot help wondering if South Africans themselves pronounce their names "correctly"? For instance, I do know that Americans generally pronounce names like Van Gogh and VanderMeer differ..."Yes I do! My friend with that surname is actually an incredibly good artist whose drawings have a degree of detail that I have ever seen from people I know who draw. I took French in Uni actually and know the pronunciation of most French names but do not say "De Villiers" in the French way since it is not a French surname anymore here, although from French origins. We have many originally French surnames like 'du Plessis" "Le Roux" etc.
I think to solve the problem of correct pronunciation we can say that the correct pronunciation of a name/surname is however the person with that name says it. So in the end in different regions the same name can have different pronunciations which would be equally right when it is "native" to that region (meaning when it has existed there for a long time.
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Yeah, and Americans will 'correct' you if you happen to know the original pronunciation of a certain surname....
So... you're French-Canadian, Puddin, eh? Eh, you know, eh? ;)
That's a silly question. "Pointy-Toes" is obviously a French Canadian surname...
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Yes, I agree - I suspect I was editing my own comment when you were posting yours.
But as Puddin will tell you, when in the US, the US pronunciation is always the 'correct' one. Revert to what you said there when anywhere else. A lot of people do feel a bit flummoxed when confronted by certain surnames, though, so an "online" standard like the one you linked to, is very helpful. :P
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Well, silly me. The first name should already have alerted me. :)
Well, confession time ... try as I might I cannot keep up daily (or sometimes) weekly on Goodreads. Therefore, I, being of sound reading will yet busy body, declare and accept that I will be a blast poster: That is, every few days I may run on here and blast off posts on a variety of topics, then disappear.Just imagine that I am a cat. Schrodinger's or anyone's. I now accept who I am. :)
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Hey, we're just happy to see you even if you're going to behave like the Cheshire Cat... ;)
Traveller wrote: "However, I cannot help wondering if South Africans themselves pronounce their names "correctly"? (That said with a fair amount of irony...)"LOL. My high school German teacher was, in fact, Afrikaans, and my father's German colleague said his accent was atrocious. otoh, my father's colleague was half-German, half-Geordie, so I rather suspect we're talking of pots and kettles!
Puddin Pointy-Toes wrote: "That's a silly question. "Pointy-Toes" is obviously a French Canadian surname..."
Mais oui! Correctly pronounced "pwan-tee-toe"
Yolande wrote: "I think to solve the problem of correct pronunciation we can say that the correct pronunciation of a name/surname is however the person with that name says it"
Too true. Nobody ever pronounces my name correctly—even most of the people who HAVE the same name.
fwiw, the Canadians I know named De Villiers pronounce it exactly as the one South African I know with the same name.
Derek (Guilty of thoughtcrime) wrote: "Mais oui! Correctly pronounced "pwan-tee-toe""You just made my day, Derek! It's not every day someone can pronounce it properly!
I tend to change the pronunciation of my surname whenever asked, and its origin is so shrouded now that I can easily get away with it. Some derivative form of the German for royalty.
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I'm only up to episode 2 now, and found the latter of especial relevance to those of us who are "switched on". Btw, if you were wondering why they are cycling in episode 2, I suspect they are being used to (view spoiler).
Extremely cynical look at the ethos of mass entertainment/mass psychology, but spot on.
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Jeff VanderMeer says: We are editing The Big Book of Science Fiction for Vintage and would like to solicit your ideas between now and the end of March of this year. This is a massive anthology of more than 500,000 words scheduled for 2016 publication.
As we conduct our own research, we would love your own recommendations. We know readers of SF are passionate about what they read. You can email us at vintagesf@hotmail.com.
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http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2...
Well, when we run out of wind, some of us might be happy, depending where on earth you are, but I think we're in trouble when the sun runs out of sunshine. :P
and
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2... ...well, er, geee. Call yourself a nationalist and you don't even know one of the biggest cathedrals in your own country.... <_<
Such UKIP gaffes would be funny if the party had no chance of any power. Sadly, they may have enough MPs to wield influence.
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Stealth signed the trigger warnings at washington DC union station Hudson Books...
So, DC NG fans, if i were you, I'd make a quick trip to the station Hudson Books to snag a surprise signed copy!
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... so soon after we did our 1984 discussion, and remembering how many of those European fascists came to power, that is a chilling observation....
I think that sort of government can't survive in modern Europe. What can survive is a more insidious, economic bullying by corporations and banks.
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...and not just in Europe... I'd say they're pretty much running the US of A already, and then there's global corporatism and corporatist globalism.
In any case, I don't know what I find more worrying: global nationalism or corporatist globalism...
Agree and agree, Traveller. The first has been true since at least the 50s, Truman warned against it.Hej, people, hole up deep in the forest. It's our only hope! :P
Traveller wrote: "Well, *cough*cough*, I hope there aren't any Ukip supporters around here, but I found these headings very funny:..."I'm sure they deserve all the abuse they get, but the sub-heading made a rather major change to what he actually said: "Nigel Farage’s Ukip branch rebukes BBC for … straw poll about leader in front of noted Muslim place of worship"
Except, he didn't say "noted", and as written it implies an intentional lie, whereas without "noted" it just suggests stupidity.
And it may be "one of the biggest cathedrals", but it is a Catholic cathedral. I rather doubt Ukip are much happier about the existence of Catholics in the UK than of anybody else who isn't WASP.
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I'm sure they deserve all the abuse they get, but the sub-hea..."
Well, one Catholic cathedral still makes no mosque. (The UKIP tweet said:
Perfect place to hold vote in front of a mosque in London. The BBC's random means selective. )
I mean, Catholic/Muslim - that's almost worse!
Well, I'd hate to get into relative degrees of bigotry, but ... yeah. I just doubt that your average ukipper would ever recognize Winchester or any other Catholic Cathedral (honestly, I only know it exists because there was a hit song...).
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Whoops, sorry! A stray space. :P . Try now, please?
It works. 'fraid I don't much get it. Even the ones I'm familiar with don't seem funny.
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http://www.theonion.com/articles/lucr...
Please don't shoot me, Derek!
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Trav reaches for her smelling salts.
Well, no wonder it's snowing :)
I think this one is really true, actually, but you can never be sure, these days: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/...
Traveller wrote: "Well, it looks like our oil troubles are finally over!http://www.theonion.com/articles/lucr...
Please don't shoot me, Derek!"
Wonderful!
Remember what I said about not being guilty about buying books even though you won't get to them in a while, or even a year or years? Well, my dream is to work as a French/English translator and my Uni just added a brand new Combo French Language and Translation Honours course which means I now really really really want to be able to take that next year. Which means I will have to restrict my book buying to almost - ALMOST (not quite yet) zero for this year to be able to save up enough by the time it starts next year. I have a book buying addiction though so it's going to be extremely difficult - I have to reprogram my brain from thinking I just HAVE to have this or that book because that's when it gets out of control.
So in this case, if I want to reach my goal I cannot follow the advice of getting rid of TBR book buying guilt! In fact, to be able to succeed I will probably have to ban myself from browsing ebooks etc. on all the online book stores etc.
Can someone please tie my hands to a pole? ;) This is my mission - here's hoping I don't succumb to temptation :O (you know while keeping a teeny tiny space for a book now and again :D)
Just thought I'd share :)
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Well, my dream is to work as a French/English translator and ..."
Argh argh argh, you have just thrown me into violent fits of envy, Yolande! :D
I've been wanting to get on top of French and Spanish for years, but i sadly seem doomed to rather go for Dutch and German. (I have a lot of Dutch and German relatives, and consequently also been exposed to those languages and books in those languages) I have a lot of German genes but I'm not nuts about a lot of aspects of German culture, so argh.
Anyway, wow, that's nice for you, Yolande! Have you done some French already? I found it's rather fun to browse through French editions of comics and graphic novels like Tin Tin and Asterix. Sadly, that's about as much as I can do atmo, and even so, I need the dictionary. :( (Not that I don't also need the dictionary with Dutch and German, but not as much.)
Traveller wrote: "Yolande wrote: "Remember what I said about not being guilty about buying books even though you won't get to them in a while, or even a year or years? Well, my dream is to work as a French/Englis..."
Sorry, didn't mean to! :) Yes I had French as a major in my undergraduate studies. Actually I wanted to do Spanish because that is my first love but they didn't offer Spanish so I went for French :(
I'm not too fluent in French yet, I'm more or less intermediate, upper intermediate level. I did the B1 DELF certificate which is the international French fluency test. I am aiming for B2 next. I will use this year to study as much French as possible to be ready, but I'll see how it goes, I might have to wait another year for that degree if I'm not fluent enough by then - and I have to be because you have to write your dissertation for it in French! aaaaaaah! :)
I've set up a self-study plan where I practice writing, speaking, listening, reading and grammar in French. Immersion is everything. You learn a lot if you do all your free time stuff in your target language, for example switching computer games to French, watching French movies rather than English ones, listening to French music etc. But that is the most difficult part! Especially for movies because I want to understand what I'm watching :b
On Paths Unknown
Books mentioned in this topic
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http://www.kuriositas.com/2011/06/ext...
It's a gallery of the extraordinary Anti-Nazi Photomontages of John Heartfield, an anti-Hitler satirist who had to hurriedly leave Germany in 1933 after having made his sentiments clear..