Saturday, December 16, 2006
Literally and Literarily Tagged!
Got tagged by Blueberry.
I am still procrastinating on Michael Bains' tag, but that one's easier...
The rules:
- Find the nearest book.
- Name the book and the author.
- Turn to page 123.
- Go to the fifth sentence on the page.
- Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
- Tag three more folks.
OK then...
Being in the living room, the nearest book to me is The Official Scrabble Dictionary. That doesn't count.
The near-nearest book only has 109 pages...
Playing by the rules, I go to the nearest book on the bookshelf - a book about Gustav Klimt.
Lotta pages - looks promising...
...Page 123 has, surprise surprise, a big reproduction of a painting...
Gheeze!
This is becoming hectic...
So - going into the bedroom, there are two books at the top of the pile on my very messy dresser.
And - sorry folks - the nearest one is in Hebrew!
Problematic, but not undoable...
The book is called, "כימים אחדים" by מאיר שלו, my favorite Israeli author.
It was actually translated to English, under the name "The Loves of Judith", by Meir Shalev.
Going to page 123, skipping 5 sentences, and here we go, Hebrew first:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
.וכששלמה מלאכת הבנין בא הלבקן ודפק על דלת ביתו של יעקב
רבקה פתחה ופניה קדרו למראה האורח, אבל זה ראה את יעקב מעבר לכתפה ושאל אותו אם ירצה לבקר בבית החדש של הציפורים
.ריח מאובק וחמים, זה ריח הנוצות והנסורת המוכר לכל מגדל ציפורים ואפרוחים, כבר עמד בחדר החדש
רבקה פתחה ופניה קדרו למראה האורח, אבל זה ראה את יעקב מעבר לכתפה ושאל אותו אם ירצה לבקר בבית החדש של הציפורים
.ריח מאובק וחמים, זה ריח הנוצות והנסורת המוכר לכל מגדל ציפורים ואפרוחים, כבר עמד בחדר החדש
And the translation (copied from "
And when he completed the construction, the albino came and knocked on Jacob's door.
Rebecca opened it and her face turned gloomy when she saw the guest, but the albino saw Jacob over her shoulder and asked him if he wanted to visit "the birds' new house".
Already in the new room there was a dusty hot smell, the smell of sawdust and feathers familiar to everyone who breeds birds and chicks.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Hmm... not a very inspired translation, I have to say).I read this book several years ago, and read it again a couple of weeks ago. .
(I alternate between Hebrew and English books, the books in Hebrew being a break from the effort involved in reading English. Hopefully, I'll eventually reach the stage where I can enjoy a book in English without sweating it too much).
I love this book.
The author, in all his novels (6 so far, I think), goes back and forth in time (in a similar manner to Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 'One Hundred Years of Solitude'). He has this wonderful talent to sweep you into the story, with his bittersweet style and great dry sense of humor.
Obviously, I cannot judge by three sentences, but I do hope it did not get list in the translation.
And now for the fun part:
Since The JohnnyB refuses to go for "chain-letter-like" things {sigh} (OK, OK - apparently, ™ed by Michael Bains):
CherkyB, Michael Bains, Patrick Ellis and Rhonda: you are tagged!
(Yeah, I know it says to tag 3 folks, but rules were meant to be broken, Eh?)
Oh, C'mon!!
Don't y'all give me that look!
It's not that bad, really!
I actually enjoyed it - Thanks, Blueberry!
# posted by Nava @ 6:45 PM 
Comments:
Oh I can do this...this is easy compared to what I was sent last summer as a snail mail chain letter thingy. It was, buy 5 pair of flip flops and mail them to five people. I was told the perk of it was I would be receiving 15 pair in a couple of weeks. I was like what?! You gotta be kidding me! Last I checked I didn't need that many pair of plastic foam shoes....
:)
# posted by 
: 12/16/2006 10:02 PM
I checked the book out on Amazon.com. I can get it for
$ 3.49 (includes shipping)
Thanks. I'll let you know...
# posted by : 12/16/2006 11:17 PM
Cool!
$3.49?? I feel so deprived!!
I got some translated books for The JohnnyB - never managed to find them at such prices!
I hope you like it - it's quite unique.
Since The JohnnyB refuses to go for "chain-letter-like" things {sigh}:
That'll be five dollars for use of my trademarked {sigh}, thankyaverymuch.
{-;
Ahhh well. 'Least I can tell Blueberry that she got to tag me after all, if only inadvertently. As you say though, this one be easier... on my we fragile ego at this silly point in m'life.
So, umm, thanks!
MB, you sell your trademark quite cheaply! For a mess of pottage, almost.
Yet, since I am a starving artist, I'd rather give you the credit. (Gheeze, you and CherkyB - so territorial!).
Them $5 can buy a lot of partially-nibbled bread-crusts, y'know.
Or a small tube of watercolor paint.
Not cadmium, though.
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:)
# posted by : 12/16/2006 10:02 PM
: 12/16/2006 10:02 PM $ 3.49 (includes shipping)
Thanks. I'll let you know...
# posted by : 12/16/2006 11:17 PM
: 12/16/2006 11:17 PM $3.49?? I feel so deprived!!
I got some translated books for The JohnnyB - never managed to find them at such prices!
I hope you like it - it's quite unique.
That'll be five dollars for use of my trademarked {sigh}, thankyaverymuch.
{-;
Ahhh well. 'Least I can tell Blueberry that she got to tag me after all, if only inadvertently. As you say though, this one be easier... on my we fragile ego at this silly point in m'life.
So, umm, thanks!
Yet, since I am a starving artist, I'd rather give you the credit. (Gheeze, you and CherkyB - so territorial!).
Them $5 can buy a lot of partially-nibbled bread-crusts, y'know.
Or a small tube of watercolor paint.
Not cadmium, though.
