Keeping it simple: translations
I read it once quickly and once gradually, and they were different books. The difference showed up gradually, then all at once. Half of the work is deciding what to leave out. The best advice I got was plainly to slow down.
What I would do differently
Margins are where reading turns into thinking. This started as a quick note and gradually turned into something longer. If something here is unclear, that is on me, not you. I abandoned it halfway and came back a year later, glad I did. Every reading list says as much about the reader as the books.
Getting started
Little, repeatable steps beat big plans nearly every time. A friend once described essays as calm work, and the phrase stuck. It is not glamorous, but it holds up.
Small things
The trick, if there is one, is to leave sufficient room for mistakes. I keep coming back to margins, largely because it rewards patience. Most of what I know about diaries came from getting it wrong first. It took me seven attempts to see the pattern. This is less a primer and more a record of what worked for me.
A good library card is the cheapest luxury there is. The first seven weeks were largely about unlearning. The first ten weeks were largely about unlearning. Somewhere between the library and home, the thought finally made sense. The best passages are the ones I copied out by hand.
Between rereading and browsing second-hand shops, the second one taught me more. You can get unexpectedly far with an index card and some patience. Most of what I know about letters came from getting it wrong first. Somewhere between a second-hand bookshop and home, the thought finally made sense. I would rather do one thing with care than five things quickly.
Odds and ends
I tested the calm version first. It did not last. I wrote most of this on a calm Thursday morning. The translated part is seldom the hard part; consistency is. You can get unexpectedly far with a bookmark and some patience. Here is what shifted, and what stayed exactly the same.
I wrote most of this on a calm Saturday morning. Most of what I know about reading lists came from getting it wrong first. I am still not sure I have it right, but it is closer. Thanks for reading, and for the kind observations that keep arriving. Good long books is largely a series of little, unglamorous decisions.
libraries