The bookshelf

It’s not secret that I love books. Give me a book and a comfy spot and I could curl up for hours. I also love bookshelves. One of the best things about going to someone else’s house is being able to look at their book collection, browse through it collecting items for the “to-read” list, envying the books that someone else has that are real gems…

Over on lj a girl on my flist posted some pictures of her books, and I thought that I would do the same. Now, this is about 40%, or just under, of the total collection – the rest of it is in the room at my parents’ house. One day they shall be united and joy will be had by all. So, from top to bottom:

On the top shelf we have Dutch books on the left, and then books that are generally on theory and history and such stuff on the right. The ones on post-colonialism are the most recent additions. Second shelf, are the books for the German course I’m doing now (or at least some of them), then the Reclams on top of my modest Brecht collection, then general German books underneath Platt. 

Moving down, we have my favourite English books (as well as some translations and some books on communism and art). I voraciously consumed the seven D.H. Lawrence books on the right in a couple of months in Switzerland. If I had the time I would be reading more of him. Then underneath are more German books, and mixture of C19th and C20th ones, plus my travel guides and then several books that belong to Matt. And several crossword books (barely completed- my goal of learning how to do a cryptic crossword didn’t really come to much, though I’m probably not lacking the time to do it again…)

Now we are at the bottom of the descent. First up, the small selection of cook books I brought with me, and then some walking guides, maps and city guides to my beloved Switzerland. Also the box sets for Six Feet Under. And then under that the much-used dictionaries and the notes I reduced into three folders of literature stuff, and the three ring binders that’re getting fatter by the day that I use for my courses.

So there you have it. I have no idea if you can click on those pictures to make the bigger so shall investigate…

Productivity

Quite a productive day today, even if I do say so myself! I finished the (rather tedious) novel I had to read for tomorrow – “Das Exemplar” by Kolb, which was a weird mix of independent woman journey where her whims took her in 1913, and pathetic woman in love with a married man who she doesn’t even get in the end despite following him around the world in 1913. And the glimpses of the gothic at the start resulted in nothing. Still, I read it.

Then I was ripped off by the Royal Mail to post some stuff to my Swiss bank (woe! as of Monday I shall no longer have a Swiss acount, and can final be less of a capitalist pig with my many accounts).

Then I did more reading, for next week. Many reviews of various things. I think I understand the way a review works. Bow to my genius*!

Then I cleaned the flat.

(*thanks, http://iamrhian.wordpress.com )

EU

One of the things that makes me despair most about being back in the UK is how misinformed and, dare I say, backward the general populace is in regard to such things as gay marriage, equal rights for women, integration of minorities, welfare and at the moment, the EU.

I have benefited so much from the EU. I have been able to study abroad and be paid to do it; I have had access to amazing resources compiled by the organisations of the EU; I have had freedom of movement between member states; I have the right to abode in any of the member states I wish; I have been able to work in other member states without any visa or work permit issues. EU legislation has improved life in the UK in a way our own wouldn’t.

Yet still people think that we would be “better off without it” or rather: outside of it.
Sigh.

I am often amused by Switzerland being used as an example of a country that benefits from being not in the EU but kind of in it. Switzerland does have a special relationship with the EU, yet understands that if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be as successful as it is. There is a fresh debate about what to do in the next few years as the EU has started to say “enough is enough” and some Swiss expect an ultimatum: in or out. What would Britain do in such a situation, standing on it’s own in the world (because believe me, nobody wants us)?

But you know, we do still have the might of our empire to fall back on, our high standing abroad and the clout that having a British passport gives you … SIGH.

If we ever did leave the EU, I’d be one of the first to head across the channel, where living standards much better than in the UK, unemployment is often (though not always) lower, education is cheaper, life expectancy is higher …. The EU is such a horrible place.

So yeah

So, it seems I’m not the best at keeping this blog going, either. I would try harder, but seriously, my life follows the same pattern: get up, coffee, read, lunch, walk, home, read, walk, read, bed. Woe is me and my middle-class, student existence! Do you want to hear more about this? I will happily tell you!

The biggest thing to happen recently was the ankle incident involving M last Thursday. He was walking home (sober) and tripped on the curb by the University stop, spraining it quite badly. It’s all big and purple and going yellow round the edges. The hobble is mildly amusing, mind.

So that’s that.

A Wall

At the intro meeting with the Vice-Chancellor that I didn’t go to, he apparently said that postgrads should hit the floor running. It seems this advice is true. I have got a mountain of work to get through by Thursday, which is both expected but also annoying; Thursday is the only day I have classes this week.

Fallada’s “Was nun, kleiner Mann?” is going down well, I’ve read and made notes on the pages I needed to read today to stay on top of it, but I’ve read roughly the same section before.

“Max Havelaar” just will not end, though. Then there’s the extra reading and blogging and stuff on top of that.

It’s achievable, but man is there a lot of work.
Time to watch Glee, though.

An Autumn day:

I spent a lovely period in the library today. The first reading Multatuli’s “Max Havelaar” but then I realised I didn’t have my pencil case so I couldn’t take any notes … and the second trip, after coffee with A and BQ, was reading Mann’s “Tonio Kröger”. Having accepted that it’s normal to have so few hours of contact, I’m enjoying being in the library, making notes, reading … and tomorrow a new module starts, huzzah!

In other news, it has been a rather dismal day here in Sheffield. Rain, drizzle, wind, more rain, more drizzle … it was pretty grim to be honest. But I like Autumn, it’s my favourite season, and some of my favourite foods are around now, too. Tonight we roasted some butternut squash with some lardons, sage, pepper and garlic, then stirred into a risotto. Next up “Psycho” and a pomegranate before going to bed to ready myself for another day in the library…

First things first:

Back when I lived in Switzerland I kept a blog listing all the antics I got up to when I left my flat. High on the joy of having a reader in Sri Lanka (how they ended up with me, I do not know), I decided to start a new, fresh blog charting my life back in the UK.

I updated twice.

This, then, is an effort to resurrect the blog from the ashes (having seen that IamRhian has a link to it on her much better blog and everything). Keep your bits crossed for me!