Having material to read is something you take for granted in North America. I have no magazines to read, not even my own. As soon as I get near a book, I finish it. I bought a CD with French liner notes a few weeks ago. Despite years of studying French, I’d never read anything French outside of French class in my life. BUt in comparison to Japanese, French seems to be identical in English — as different from English as one person’s handwriting is from another’s (then again, we never get to see each other’s handwriting anymore, do we?). I’ve decided to start reading books in French, to slow me down — I want to make whatever I have last. I’ve heard of a method to learn languages in which you pick one book and read it six times, copying it out in writing each time — at the end of this process, you’ll have mastered it. By this method, I plan to first learn French, then German, then Spanish. I will begin with Le Petit Prince by Saint-Exupery.
Jorge Luis Borges – Book of Sand; Labyrinth
Lautreaumont – Maldoror
Albert Camus – The Plague
Phillip Dick – The Man In The High Castle; Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep