Dec 1 Tues
Physics and Music exams. Both Horrible! In physics I've got all number one wrong. Music - well we all know what I'm like at music.
Dec 2
RESULTS.
Scripture 76 Last year 66%
English 79 last year 67
Came 3rd in English. Fab.
Dec 3 Thus
History 72 last year 71
Geography 85 last year 72
Top in geography
Dec 4
Results
French 72 last year 71
Russian 78 last year 72
3rd in Russian (pleased with results so far)
Dec 5 and 6
Blank
Dec 7 Mon
Maths 86 (1st) last year 85 (3rd)
Chem 87 (1st) last year 71
Bio 77 (4th) last year 71*
Dec 8 Tues
Physics 72 last year -
Music 61 last year 60
I hate music. My average is now 76.8
Dec 9 - 11
Blank
Dec 12 Sat
Shirley came to stay. Xmas shopping. Decided to crochet J and S scarves and berets for Xmas. Do I believe in God? Had a party.
Dec 13 Sun
Party was a flop 'cos mum stayed in (Dad told her to!) Oh Lord. Shirley's gone home. Good.
Dec 14
I'm more or less friends with W now. We break up on Thursday. Good. Carol service on Wednesday.
Dec 15
Took some books home. Xmas. It just doesn't feel like Christmas. Perhaps it's 'cos there is no snow.
Dec 16 Wed
A rotten Carol Service. A bit worried in case of power strike (had a lot recently. Everybody's been turned off nearly)
*Commentary
Dec 7 - As I transcribe these results I've got a weird dual reaction. On the one hand I'm a bit embarrassed, because it looks like showing off on ehalf of my 14 year old self. On the other hand, I do feel a little warm glow of pride :-)
I don't think that she was bragging. I think that she was setting academically high standards for herself and measuring outcomes.
Dec 16 - As far as I can recall these weren't the big power-strikes. This wasn't the Winter of Discontent. I was revising for my 'A' levels, I think, during the three day week. Revising by candle-light if my memory serves me correctly.
Friday, 3 December 2010
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Jane Austen - Just finished reading . . .
Lady Susan by Jane Austen
4 out of 10 (this version / audio-book)
Oh dear. No, no, no, no.
I love Jane Austen. I have read all her books several times. Lady Susan was written when she was only 20 and it's written in letter form, so it is easy to follow for listening to in the car, in traffic jams, going hospital visiting, as I have been recently.
BUT - it was read by American actors! With American accents! Jane Austen!
(Please, if you are an American reader of my blog, don't take this personally - I have no problem with American accents in general - just not reading Jane!!)
It made me ponder if I was just bucking against tradition, but it isn't that. They way in which language is spoken in any country / culture has significance for what is said, and how it is said - for the meaning of the text. There are subtleties about language which are probably best understood by those who are immersed in the culture of that language (I'm probably not expressing this well - someone will have written an academic paper on it). The way in which Jane Austen's characters speak would reflect Georgian England, its manners and etiquette and subtle nuances of meaning (who am I to say that I would recognise these if I fell over them? Do I think they are represented by the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice?)
Anyway, in my adventures in audio-books, I have listened to American novels read by American voices, and Australian ones read by Australian voices etc, etc - and the novels have been mightily enhanced by this, because you are there, with them, in their culture.
So, sorry, Jane - this time only 4 out of 10
And it has a disappointing ending.
4 out of 10 (this version / audio-book)
Oh dear. No, no, no, no.
I love Jane Austen. I have read all her books several times. Lady Susan was written when she was only 20 and it's written in letter form, so it is easy to follow for listening to in the car, in traffic jams, going hospital visiting, as I have been recently.
BUT - it was read by American actors! With American accents! Jane Austen!
(Please, if you are an American reader of my blog, don't take this personally - I have no problem with American accents in general - just not reading Jane!!)
It made me ponder if I was just bucking against tradition, but it isn't that. They way in which language is spoken in any country / culture has significance for what is said, and how it is said - for the meaning of the text. There are subtleties about language which are probably best understood by those who are immersed in the culture of that language (I'm probably not expressing this well - someone will have written an academic paper on it). The way in which Jane Austen's characters speak would reflect Georgian England, its manners and etiquette and subtle nuances of meaning (who am I to say that I would recognise these if I fell over them? Do I think they are represented by the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice?)
Anyway, in my adventures in audio-books, I have listened to American novels read by American voices, and Australian ones read by Australian voices etc, etc - and the novels have been mightily enhanced by this, because you are there, with them, in their culture.
So, sorry, Jane - this time only 4 out of 10
And it has a disappointing ending.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Abandoned reading . . .
City of the Beasts by Isabelle Allende
Isabelle Allende is a great writer, so who am I to put her book down, abandoned at p84?
I think she may have written this for young people - it is an adventure book, so not my cup of tea.
What it had in common with William Faulkner's Wild Palms was that both had a difficult river journey, one on the Mississippi, and one on the Amazon.
Isabelle Allende is a great writer, so who am I to put her book down, abandoned at p84?
I think she may have written this for young people - it is an adventure book, so not my cup of tea.
What it had in common with William Faulkner's Wild Palms was that both had a difficult river journey, one on the Mississippi, and one on the Amazon.
Sarah Grazebrook - Just finished reading . . .
Crooked Pieces by Sarah Grazebook
6.5 out of 10
What I haven;t revealed so far is that I normally have 2 books on the go at a time. One is one that I read (paper-based), and the other will be an audio-book, in the car, to help make my commuting, or other long journeys, tolerable.
My supply of audio-books is my local library, so I am drawing from a restricted range. Also, I find that I can't listen to any book that is too complex, or requires totla concentration, because I have to negotiate my way, safely, through heavy, unpredictable traffic.
As a consequence, most of my audio-reading reverts to a kind of easy fiction, usually involving 2 poor sisters who come over from Ireland to Liverpool at the end of the last century, Ususally they are starving, then they meet a villain, they nearly die and then one of them falls in love, and they become wealthy through hard work or marriage. Or Catherine Cookson will do.
Anyway, this book wasn't quite like that, but it was about a poor girl from Stepney (Maggie) who gets involved with the Pankhurst family and becomes a Suffragette activist. It was a good book because it made me revisit the Suffragette history, and the dreadful things that women went through to win us our right to vote (or did they alienate the governement of the time and delay us getting the vote?)
I had just finished the book when I saw film footage of the student demonstartions this week, with police, on horse-back, controlling the demonstrators in London, and it felt like a modern-day replay of other protests and demonstartions through history.
There was some love interest in the book also - Maggie falls in love with a policeman - will she, won't she?
I didn't work out why the book is called Crooked Pieces.
6.5 out of 10
What I haven;t revealed so far is that I normally have 2 books on the go at a time. One is one that I read (paper-based), and the other will be an audio-book, in the car, to help make my commuting, or other long journeys, tolerable.
My supply of audio-books is my local library, so I am drawing from a restricted range. Also, I find that I can't listen to any book that is too complex, or requires totla concentration, because I have to negotiate my way, safely, through heavy, unpredictable traffic.
As a consequence, most of my audio-reading reverts to a kind of easy fiction, usually involving 2 poor sisters who come over from Ireland to Liverpool at the end of the last century, Ususally they are starving, then they meet a villain, they nearly die and then one of them falls in love, and they become wealthy through hard work or marriage. Or Catherine Cookson will do.
Anyway, this book wasn't quite like that, but it was about a poor girl from Stepney (Maggie) who gets involved with the Pankhurst family and becomes a Suffragette activist. It was a good book because it made me revisit the Suffragette history, and the dreadful things that women went through to win us our right to vote (or did they alienate the governement of the time and delay us getting the vote?)
I had just finished the book when I saw film footage of the student demonstartions this week, with police, on horse-back, controlling the demonstrators in London, and it felt like a modern-day replay of other protests and demonstartions through history.
There was some love interest in the book also - Maggie falls in love with a policeman - will she, won't she?
I didn't work out why the book is called Crooked Pieces.
Sunday, 21 November 2010
William Faulkner 'The Wild Palms' addendum
I forgot to say, about this book, that William was quite capable of writing never-ending sentences that could cover more than a page of the book. The only way to read him, I find, is to accept that I won't understand much of what he says.
But here is something he said about Christmas.
"Christmas... . . when before an altar in the shape of a gold-plated cattle-trough man may with impunity prostrate himself in an orgy of unbridled sentimental obeisance to the fairy tale which conquered the Western world, when for seven days the rich get richer and the poor get poorer in amnesty: the whitewashing of a stipulated week leaving the page blank and pristine again for the chronicling of the fresh."
But here is something he said about Christmas.
"Christmas... . . when before an altar in the shape of a gold-plated cattle-trough man may with impunity prostrate himself in an orgy of unbridled sentimental obeisance to the fairy tale which conquered the Western world, when for seven days the rich get richer and the poor get poorer in amnesty: the whitewashing of a stipulated week leaving the page blank and pristine again for the chronicling of the fresh."
My secret diary 1970 November (ii)
Nov 17th (Tue)
S stayed with us more today. She told us a great secret. Feel honoured. . . . . . . .*
Nov 18
Honestly, I'm very sorry BUT (long word that) I haven't written my diary till Dec 20th. SO! I've written in every now and then. Okay?
Nov 19
Blank
Nov 21 (Sat)
Norma comes home 19th Dec. Went to Ashton with Dad, bought a pair of boots after much trailing about. 95/- (Birthday present)
Nov 22 (Sun)
Don't like Sunday. Such a bore. Always. (Have Monday off) Did chemistry, biology and Russian revision (well at least I tried) yesterday
Nov 23
Done history, geography and 2 other subjects (can't remember) Exams on Wednesday.
Nov 24th
Carol's birthday. Didn't buy Carol anything. Sorry Carol. Nervous about exams.
Nov 25th (Wed)
Chem, Biol, and Russian exams. Chem and Biol okay but Russian Ugh!!!! Please God let me do well in these exams.
Nov 26
Didn't start (P). History and Geography exams. Both Grotty!! HELP!!
Nov 27 (Fri)
Started. English and French. English okay, I did 8 sides (remarkable). French. Oh No! never ever again. I hate Mrs Crewe.
Nov 30 (Mon)
Scripture and Maths exams. Both okay but Maths was a bit 'yuck'.
*Commentary
Nov 17 - well, I'm not going to tell it on a public blog, am I? Wasn't my secret, even if 40 years have passed since then.
S stayed with us more today. She told us a great secret. Feel honoured. . . . . . . .*
Nov 18
Honestly, I'm very sorry BUT (long word that) I haven't written my diary till Dec 20th. SO! I've written in every now and then. Okay?
Nov 19
Blank
Nov 21 (Sat)
Norma comes home 19th Dec. Went to Ashton with Dad, bought a pair of boots after much trailing about. 95/- (Birthday present)
Nov 22 (Sun)
Don't like Sunday. Such a bore. Always. (Have Monday off) Did chemistry, biology and Russian revision (well at least I tried) yesterday
Nov 23
Done history, geography and 2 other subjects (can't remember) Exams on Wednesday.
Nov 24th
Carol's birthday. Didn't buy Carol anything. Sorry Carol. Nervous about exams.
Nov 25th (Wed)
Chem, Biol, and Russian exams. Chem and Biol okay but Russian Ugh!!!! Please God let me do well in these exams.
Nov 26
Didn't start (P). History and Geography exams. Both Grotty!! HELP!!
Nov 27 (Fri)
Started. English and French. English okay, I did 8 sides (remarkable). French. Oh No! never ever again. I hate Mrs Crewe.
Nov 30 (Mon)
Scripture and Maths exams. Both okay but Maths was a bit 'yuck'.
*Commentary
Nov 17 - well, I'm not going to tell it on a public blog, am I? Wasn't my secret, even if 40 years have passed since then.
Saturday, 20 November 2010
Just finished reading . . .
The Wild Palms by William Faulkner
10 out of 10
I've decided that my scoring system is flawed. There are some authors / books who I am not fit to judge! If I give someone 10 out of 10, then really I am saying 'this book is very good - it might not be perfect, or it might deserve 25/10, but who am I to say?'
I think that Hilary Mantel's Wolfe Hall was such a book. Dicken's Little Dorrit, and numerous others that are great pieces of literature.
Well, this is the fourth William Faulkner I have read. I think 'The Sound and the Fury' - such a difficult read - was the one that floored me the most, but this one beats judgement too. Not a cheerful book, and confusing at times.
How could he have written, in 1939, a book which, if it were written now, would be (post-)modern and challenging in its content and structure?
He tells 2 stories in one book, each told in every alternate chapter. They run parallel, but they don;t connect, except in the reader's head.
A book about hopefulness, hopelessness, looking after others at the expense of self.
What did it have in common with the last book I read - The Pilot's Wife? Maybe they are both about seeking ideal ways of living, and caring for others.
10 out of 10
I've decided that my scoring system is flawed. There are some authors / books who I am not fit to judge! If I give someone 10 out of 10, then really I am saying 'this book is very good - it might not be perfect, or it might deserve 25/10, but who am I to say?'
I think that Hilary Mantel's Wolfe Hall was such a book. Dicken's Little Dorrit, and numerous others that are great pieces of literature.
Well, this is the fourth William Faulkner I have read. I think 'The Sound and the Fury' - such a difficult read - was the one that floored me the most, but this one beats judgement too. Not a cheerful book, and confusing at times.
How could he have written, in 1939, a book which, if it were written now, would be (post-)modern and challenging in its content and structure?
He tells 2 stories in one book, each told in every alternate chapter. They run parallel, but they don;t connect, except in the reader's head.
A book about hopefulness, hopelessness, looking after others at the expense of self.
What did it have in common with the last book I read - The Pilot's Wife? Maybe they are both about seeking ideal ways of living, and caring for others.
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