For some time now I have been reading a book called The Last Superstition. This is intended at its core as a refutation of the new atheism (and the writings of its pop culture adherents such as Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett, et al) and ends up being a long, exhaustive tour of the foundational philosophies of Plato and Aristotle and then of the theology of their Christian heirs, Augustine, Aquinas, Newton, Pascal, and so on. It's fascinating, informative, persuasive, but quite dense and demanding (unlike the rather shallow and often ill-informed arguments being refuted)--and so I have taken a break to return to Murakami.
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (or, in Indonesian, Tsukuru Tazaki Tanpa Warna Dan Tahun Ziarahnya) is a book I have already read in English, and not so very long ago; but, thanks to my nearly nonexistent memory, which itself is thanks to MS, I am able to re-read it, this time in Indonesian, and be as entertained as the first time. I will gradually remember things as I read them, but they will seem new in the sense that they are being expressed in a different language. This gives 'colorless' Tazaki a new sort of color, so to speak, a different angle of appreciation. One wonders how different again he would be in the original Japanese (though of course I will never know, because I am far too old to learn yet another language).
Literally, the title in Indonesian, translated directly to English, is "Tsukuru Tazaki Without Color And Years Pilgrimage". From this, one can see how you have to switch some gears and pull some levers in the mind to reform the language to the patterns you are accustomed to. It sounds backward to the native speaker of English; but, of course, English sounds backward to the native speaker of Indonesian. For me, it's a fascinating exercise--and a rewarding one, insofar as one, in immersing himself in the patterns of the foreign language in order to understand what is said in a novel, further familiarizes himself at the same time with the patterns he will hear among Indonesian speakers in every day life.
I must say, however, that I would hate to have to try to read Plato and Aquinas in Indonesian, for they are quite sufficiently challenging enough in English!
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (or, in Indonesian, Tsukuru Tazaki Tanpa Warna Dan Tahun Ziarahnya) is a book I have already read in English, and not so very long ago; but, thanks to my nearly nonexistent memory, which itself is thanks to MS, I am able to re-read it, this time in Indonesian, and be as entertained as the first time. I will gradually remember things as I read them, but they will seem new in the sense that they are being expressed in a different language. This gives 'colorless' Tazaki a new sort of color, so to speak, a different angle of appreciation. One wonders how different again he would be in the original Japanese (though of course I will never know, because I am far too old to learn yet another language).
Literally, the title in Indonesian, translated directly to English, is "Tsukuru Tazaki Without Color And Years Pilgrimage". From this, one can see how you have to switch some gears and pull some levers in the mind to reform the language to the patterns you are accustomed to. It sounds backward to the native speaker of English; but, of course, English sounds backward to the native speaker of Indonesian. For me, it's a fascinating exercise--and a rewarding one, insofar as one, in immersing himself in the patterns of the foreign language in order to understand what is said in a novel, further familiarizes himself at the same time with the patterns he will hear among Indonesian speakers in every day life.
I must say, however, that I would hate to have to try to read Plato and Aquinas in Indonesian, for they are quite sufficiently challenging enough in English!
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