Subj : keeping notes To : August Abolins From : Alexander Koryagin Date : Wed Jan 01 2020 13:50:44 Hi, August Abolins : Alexander Koryagin! I read your message from 31.12.2019 03:07 AK>> For me English is a connection with the rest of the world, as is AK>> my satellite dish. But of course there are many masterstroke AK>> books. The most comfortable book in my library is Ivanhoe, by AK>> Walter Scott. I really have a rest when I read it. It full of AK>> great humor, actions, emotions. AA> I'm impressed with your likes. Ivanhoe is quite the epic and filled AA> with very "formal" yet an ancient way of speaking and writing. Well, my first meeting with th original ended similarly. But after years I returned to this book. There is energy and life there. AA> L-o-n-g sentences! Such sentences got me down when I tried to read the second book about Robinson Crusoe adventures. And the style was very tedious, too. AA> I delved into to it to get a refresher.. and one of the first words AA> that I did *not* know right away was here: "The curse of St Withold AA> upon these infernal porkers!" said the swine-herd, after blowing AA> his horn obstreperously,.." I mean, "obstreperous" is not a word AA> that anyone is likely to whip out in conversation. But maybe I AA> will *now*! LOL As for Ivanhoe, I've got a nice Russian translation. I can't tell you the name of that witty translator -- the book was read so many times by me and till me, so it had lost the cover and first pages. ;-) I'd suggest to you to start with Russian translations. I know there are several translations of this book into Russian, and not all of them I like. All of them readable; they differ IMHO by the size of the translator's sense of humor. ;) Bye, August! Alexander Koryagin english_tutor 2020 --- * Origin: nntps://fidonews.mine.nu - Lake Ylo - Finland (2:221/360.0) .