Letters from the Reading Room
Translations are a conversation between two writers and a reader. Looking back, the translated approach was the right call. None of this is new, and that is partly why it works.
Lessons
Most problems with long books turn out to be problems with time. It took me four attempts to see the pattern. I abandoned it halfway and came back a year later, glad I did.
The unfinished part is hardly ever the hard part; consistency is. Every reading list says as much about the reader as the books. If something here is unclear, that is on me, not you.
It is not glamorous, but it holds up.
Notes along the way
I am still not sure I have it right, but it is closer. I tried the translated version first. It did not last. The details matter less than the habit of paying attention.
What surprised me most was how little equipment it needed. Thanks for reading, and for the generous observations that keep arriving. I read it once fast and once bit by bit, and they were different books. The result is not perfect, but it is truthful.
Before and after
Short books are not lesser books; regularly they are the opposite. It took me three attempts to see the pattern. The first six weeks were chiefly about unlearning. The first twelve weeks were chiefly about unlearning. Looking back, the unfinished approach was the right call.
In practice
The translated part is hardly ever the hard part; consistency is. You can get remarkably far with a notebook and some patience. The best passages are the ones I copied out by hand.
A notebook helps, but it is not the point. Here is what altered, and what stayed exactly the same. Nothing here requires a bookmark, though it does make things easier. Some of this will be plain; some of it took me years. In September the light changes, and so does the work.
letters