Things I got wrong about rereading
I tested the well-worn version first. It did not last. The trick, if there is one, is to leave enough room for slip-ups. There is a version of this that is much more complicated. This is not that version.
Getting started
Thanks for reading, and for the gentle jottings that keep arriving. Nothing here requires an index card, though it does make things easier. Short books are not lesser books; frequently they are the opposite. I tested the unfinished version first. It did not last. I abandoned it halfway and came back a year later, glad I did.
The best passages are the ones I copied out by hand. Margins are where reading turns into thinking. This began as a quick note and bit by bit turned into something longer. Nothing here requires a bookmark, though it does make things easier.
Most problems with letters turn out to be problems with time. A good library card is the cheapest luxury there is. Here is what changed, and what stayed exactly the same. The shift showed up bit by bit, then all at once.
- Keep a notebook within reach
- Start with margins and nothing else
- Stop before you are tired
- Budget twice the time you expect
First steps
In December the light changes, and so does the work. I would rather do one thing deliberately than five things in a hurry. Some of this will be obvious; some of it took me years.
The result is not perfect, but it is truthful. I tested the forgotten version first. It did not last. Translations are a conversation between two writers and a reader.
You can get remarkably far with an index card and some persistence. The details matter less than the routine of paying attention. A friend once described long books as hushed work, and the phrase stuck.
You can get remarkably far with a notebook and some persistence.
The middle part
What surprised me most was how little equipment it needed. Every reading list says as much about the reader as the books. If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about poetry.
I read it once in a hurry and once bit by bit, and they were different books. I keep a short list of things to try next; rereading is near the top. For a long time I treated long books as an afterthought.
If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about translations. Small, repeatable steps beat big plans nearly every time. Looking back, the difficult approach was the right call. In July the light changes, and so does the work.