SOPHIE'S WORLD
(Sofies verden), by Jostein Gaarder (JG), translated from Norwegian into American by Paulette Møller (PM)Guestbook | Guestmap | Discussion forum | Inspired by...
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| CH = chapter, P = page, L = line, C = comment, N = Norwegian, T = (alternative) translation, usually closer to the original text, TTR = Two-Tier Reality (metaphysical system bridging East and West) |
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CHAPTER 26: ROMANTICISM (PP284-298) |
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| P284 L10: felt T: was L12: fixed T: made L13: jumpsuit T: boiler suit L13: work on T: polish/clean L14: shipshape when T: ready to go before L21: resting against her knees T: in her lap | ||||||||
| P285 L2: Winnie-the-Pooh C: Then paragraph on garden swing-seat omitted L4: bottles of soda T: soft drinks L11: and her parents C: Then sentence omitted: T: Sophie shrugged L14: saw T: met L27: for (T: swiftly) solving | ||||||||
| P286 L3: a little crazy T: out of her mind C: That's none of their business, Mom! L4: handing T: passing L14: white T: light L15: called T: rang L23: weird T: strange | ||||||||
| P287 L3: Have a seat T: Sit here L6: epoch T: period L8: that T: so L11: comprise T: embrace L15: approach T: attitude L16: unequivocal T: one-sided L22: the bias toward (T: the one-sided emphasis on) reason L26: established T: held L32: a lot of these T: many such L38: know T: hear | ||||||||
| P288 L3: cognition T: understanding L7: we are brought closer to an experience of "das Ding an sich" C: ?! L10: on T: with L12: Schiller ... man is only free when he plays, because then he makes up his own rules C: Man makes up all the rules, at work as at play L14: (Some Romantics) went as far as to compare the artist to God ... because the artist creates his own reality the way God created the world C: the way Man creates the world: we are all artists and creators L18(cont): It was said that the artist had a "universe-creating imagination" C: So do we all L19: sense (T: experience) the dissolving of the (C: man-made) boundary between dream and reality LL29-32: C: Coleridge speculates L33: How pretty T: beautiful C: and how romantic - and how futile | ||||||||
| P289 L1: preoccupied with T: absorbed by L1: or T: meaning L7: students ... did not always take their studies very seriously C: How shocking! L8: anti-middle-class T: anti-bourgeois L13: student T: youth L17: lying around T: laziness LL22-30: C: On Byron and Shelley, inserted by PM. Norwegian text refers to Wergeland and Welhaven L32: Novalis remained devoted to her T: went on loving her L42: Could it be a coincidence? C: Yes, a major coincidence | ||||||||
| P290 L7: stopped being Romantics at about the age of thirty C: as old age set in L8: middle-class T: bourgeois L16: Was it necessary to go that far? T: Wasn't that going a bit too far? L25: initiated T: launched L28: implied T: brought/involved L32: roots T: origins L37: Descartes and Hume had drawn a sharp line between the ego and "extended" reality C: There is no sharp line, no line at all except the line we choose to draw, which can also be erased when we so choose L38: Kant ... left behind him T: bequeathed L40: nature is nothing but one big "I" C: In a sense, yes, but only secondary reality; primary reality (TTR) cannot be positively described or 'understood' | ||||||||
| P291 L1: leading T: most influential L2: (Schelling) wanted to unite (T: remove the division between) mind and matter C: a man-made division L4: Absolute T: God L6: Nature is visible spirit, spirit is invisible nature ... matter is slumbering intelligence C: Poetic but meaningless L16: (Novalis) ... man bears the (C: his) whole universe within himself and comes closest to the mystery of the world by stepping inside himself C: See L30 L18(cont): a very lovely (T: a beautiful) thought L20: synthesis T: higher unity L22: sides of the same coin T: aspects of the same subject L30: We went inside ourselves and created a new world C: Look out, look in - It is the same L32: How can you remember all that (Alberto)? C: A good memory is a precious gift from Gaarder L37: more T: more and more. L40: potential(ities) L40: Nature is like a flower unfolding its leaves and petals. Or like a poet unfolding his verses C: Or like a laundress unfolding her linen | ||||||||
| P292 L2: overtones T: features L4: Yes, that's what I thought T: I see L9: design T: purpose L9: (Herder) had a "dynamic" view of history because he saw it as a process C: A process?! L14: whether we can identify (T: empathise) with other cultures T: and their assumptions L36: potential(ity) L37: Tell me where you live, and I'll tell you who you are C: something of who you are LL39-42: key word "organism" C: If (nearly) everything is an 'organism', the word loses its distinguishing value L39: The Romantics considered ... a nation to be a living organism C: Dangerous idea, as we have seen | ||||||||
| P293 L16: Folk songs were collected N: Landstad L16: Norwegian ... began to be studied scientifically N: Ivar Aasen L23: Folk music was not written by any particular person C: Wasn't most of it written by Anon? L34: poet T: writer L35: He could play God to a fictional universe T: world C: Like JG L39: created T: creates | ||||||||
| P294 L1: (Schelling) God also has a dark side L3(cont): The thought is fascinating and frightening C: Only if taken seriously L6: universe-creating T: world-creating L7: The writer could experience (T: feel) that his story was being written (T: driven forward) by some innate (T: inner) force L8(cont): He could practically (T: almost) be in a hypnotic trance while he wrote C: JG too? L11: then he would (T: could) suddenly destroy the illusion. He would (T: could) intervene in the story and address ironic comments (T: with ironic little comments) to the reader L16: At the same time (T: In this way), the writer could remind his reader (T: also reminded the reader) that it was he who was manipulating the fictional universe T: that his own existence was also a sort of story L21: What he's really saying (T: What he's saying at the same time) is that he's only a fictional character L23: certainly emphasise (T: best mark) it L29: You're scaring me, don't you know that? T: You realise you're scaring me? L30: Alberto sat staring, stony faced T: A.'s face was expressionless L31: fiancée T: sweetheart L33: several more chapters T: many more chapters to come L36: know intuitively T: be aware L39: It's not very nice of him, is it? T: Isn't it simple, Sophie? | ||||||||
| P295 L2: He (T: was wearing Arab clothes and) had a turban on his head L20: I don't believe this C: Moi non plus L21: my dear T: my child L22: The spirit (of the lamp) spoke exactly like Hilde's father C: How does Sophie know how the major speaks? L25: are living T: exist L27: who, although still awake T: and he L30: hardly any T: little or no L33: Alberto seemed to be in some sort of trance T: sat quite still L36: Were you dreaming? T: You were lost in thought! C: An øre for them! L37: The last few paragraphs (T: Those last sections) were dictated (T: inspired) by him to the letter T: down to the last letter L38(cont): He should be ashamed of himself C: What, again? | ||||||||
| P296 L3: If what you say (T: If that) is true, I'm going to (T: try to) run away L5: That's exactly what I am planning T: my secret plan L5: can happen T: happens L6: with T: to L8: grasp the opportunity T: seize the chance L12: creepy T: queer/strange L14: part of T: link in L16: coverup (T: correction) strip L18: She should be ashamed to let herself be amused T: entertained C: Now it's Hilde's turn to be ashamed! Shame on you, Alberto! L20: a taste T: a physical taste L25: We are but (T: only) shadows in the major's soul T: mind L27: strategy T: mature reflection L27: opportunity of influencing (T: chance to influence) Hilde L27(cont): Only an angel can rebel against God C: Oh, Hilde, you are an angel! But Hilde, remember what happened to the last angel who tried it! L35: universe T: world LL38/40: plays the fool T: amuses himself L41: amusement T: entertainment L41: had T: should. | ||||||||
| P297 L4: mind T: consciousness L4: soul T: mind L5: familiar philosophical ground C: familiar?! L8: Now it is possible that this soul T: Then it can be imagined that this mind L15: What I am saying to you now will (T: thus) be read by Hilde after her father in Lebanon once imagined that I was telling you he was in Lebanon ... imagining me telling you that he was in Lebanon C: As it were ... L21: because (T: such) laughter can easily get stuck in their (T: the) throat L22: Who are we talking about? T: Who is that? L25: feasible T: not impossible to think L26: How could they be T: How would that be possible? L34: humble T: modest L39: proceeds from him, because we are him we T: springs from him because we are him, we | ||||||||
| P298 L1: like T: as L4: then it's possible that author T: it can be thought that that author L6: He is sitting somewhere hiding (T: sitting with) both Hilde and me (T: somewhere) deep inside his head L7(cont): Isn't it just possible that he, too, is part of a higher mind? T: But can't it be thought/imagined that he too is living his life / in / as part of / a higher mind/consciousness? L10: way it is T: case L12: he, too, is a helpless shadow C: Poor thing! Do 'helpless shadows' write books? L23: salvage (T: rescue) philosophy when T: after L25: I'm very curious T: all agog. Big fleas have little fleas Upon their backs to bite 'em And little fleas have lesser fleas And so ad infinitum ... But Mummy, then who made Gaarder? | ||||||||