This is part of why I want to read the Kalevala. There are two things about it - firstly, the stories themselves, the old consciousness of Finland. It could, I think, say so much about the culture itself, expressing the... hmm.. sense, upon which everything is now based. Secondly, the compilation itself. National epic. Put together at a time when Finland was experiencing much change. Not too long afterward, the nation gained independence. So, its very existence speaks volumes, too. But ahh, I wish I didn't just have to read translations. It would be so much better to read it in Finnish.
... Whoa, uh, I got off track there. Sorry. Anyway, when it comes to reading old literature, part of the thing is that when one does it for something other than an assignment in school, it is done for pleasure - and many of these things really are interesting to read. Take Ibsen, for example. His plays are taught in schools (You may have had to study A Doll's House, possibly Ghosts as well) but the stories themselves are quite good, and thought-provoking. These were written in the 1800s, and of course, when we read them we are reading them in translation, so the languagae itself isn't difficult. And of course, there are Andersen's works as well, which were also written in the 19th century, and the language used for translations tend to be relatively modern, if a little nostalgic. As for the sagas and such, I haven't started reading them yet, but I expect them to be much like Welsh tales: weird, and with a sort of logic that makes sense, but bizarre sense. Fairy-tale logic.
The thing about Shakespeare VS the sort of thing we're talking about here is that Shakespeare is not read in translation. Well, some of it is, but it should not be. On the otherhand, with Nordic literature, of course people like myself have no choice but to read it in translation. Generally, the language used is quite easy, so even if it was written in the medieval period, or in the 19th century, it isn't that much different from reading something written in the 20th century, except for content.
Anyway. Those PSAs... man. I just don't understand it. I can always tell that I'm watching American television when I see a ridiculous PSA of that nature. The sad thing is, people seem to actually fall for it. How is it that people can be so... so... Ach, I can't even think of the word now.
About countries and population: It's kind of crazy, isn't it. I always get rather startled when I find out just how small some places are. I mean, Calgary - that's a city, but it has a population nearly as large or larger than some small countries (Estonia, for example, is only about 1.3 million, for the entire place). And I tend to think that Saskatoon is quite a small city, but compared to other places, it's pretty decently sized. So strange to think of.
I'm terrible at returning books on time too, which is why I'm very glad to be able to check them out for so long. And yes, I can keep them for an entire year, unless a professor recalls them. As far as I know, that's the standard for graduate students. Considering most of us need the books for thesis research and so on, it makes perfect sense.
When it comes to publishing, I could always write something for the lulz. Then again, that would be out of character for me and I doubt I could actually do it, hah. But anyway, eventually I'll come up with an idea that is good enough for me to want to finish it, annnnd then hopefully it will get picked up. First I'll have to find a good idea though....
Hmm. I know that some people are their own worst critic, but I like to think that I'm not quite that bad. Generally I can at least find a few things that I like about something - if I don't like it at all, I scrap it, and that has only happened to three fics out of thirty-ish so far. Sometimes I write something that's pretty okay, and I realize that it's pretty okay. So, there we are. Mostly when I post something to a community, I do so because I feel there's something of substance there. Not necessarily for length, mind, because I've posted prose-poetry before - but something of higher quality than my usual work.
Re: Your comment of 9820 characters exceeds the maximum character length of 4300.
... Whoa, uh, I got off track there. Sorry. Anyway, when it comes to reading old literature, part of the thing is that when one does it for something other than an assignment in school, it is done for pleasure - and many of these things really are interesting to read. Take Ibsen, for example. His plays are taught in schools (You may have had to study A Doll's House, possibly Ghosts as well) but the stories themselves are quite good, and thought-provoking. These were written in the 1800s, and of course, when we read them we are reading them in translation, so the languagae itself isn't difficult. And of course, there are Andersen's works as well, which were also written in the 19th century, and the language used for translations tend to be relatively modern, if a little nostalgic. As for the sagas and such, I haven't started reading them yet, but I expect them to be much like Welsh tales: weird, and with a sort of logic that makes sense, but bizarre sense. Fairy-tale logic.
The thing about Shakespeare VS the sort of thing we're talking about here is that Shakespeare is not read in translation. Well, some of it is, but it should not be. On the otherhand, with Nordic literature, of course people like myself have no choice but to read it in translation. Generally, the language used is quite easy, so even if it was written in the medieval period, or in the 19th century, it isn't that much different from reading something written in the 20th century, except for content.
Anyway. Those PSAs... man. I just don't understand it. I can always tell that I'm watching American television when I see a ridiculous PSA of that nature. The sad thing is, people seem to actually fall for it. How is it that people can be so... so... Ach, I can't even think of the word now.
About countries and population: It's kind of crazy, isn't it. I always get rather startled when I find out just how small some places are. I mean, Calgary - that's a city, but it has a population nearly as large or larger than some small countries (Estonia, for example, is only about 1.3 million, for the entire place). And I tend to think that Saskatoon is quite a small city, but compared to other places, it's pretty decently sized. So strange to think of.
I'm terrible at returning books on time too, which is why I'm very glad to be able to check them out for so long. And yes, I can keep them for an entire year, unless a professor recalls them. As far as I know, that's the standard for graduate students. Considering most of us need the books for thesis research and so on, it makes perfect sense.
When it comes to publishing, I could always write something for the lulz. Then again, that would be out of character for me and I doubt I could actually do it, hah. But anyway, eventually I'll come up with an idea that is good enough for me to want to finish it, annnnd then hopefully it will get picked up. First I'll have to find a good idea though....
Hmm. I know that some people are their own worst critic, but I like to think that I'm not quite that bad. Generally I can at least find a few things that I like about something - if I don't like it at all, I scrap it, and that has only happened to three fics out of thirty-ish so far. Sometimes I write something that's pretty okay, and I realize that it's pretty okay. So, there we are. Mostly when I post something to a community, I do so because I feel there's something of substance there. Not necessarily for length, mind, because I've posted prose-poetry before - but something of higher quality than my usual work.