Little Stories 291: Still Coughing, Books I Read and the Library

3 weeks:

3 weeks, I have been sick with a really bad cough for 3 weeks now. I tried the antibiotic, finished its course and it didn't get better, it worsened actually, I went to the doctor for the second time for a consultation and he said to try another batch of other antibiotics. But I wanted to give it another week and see whether it would improve by myself. I got another batch of cough syrup and medication to help loosen the phlegm and reduce the bad cough because I was having headaches due to coughing so much. 

Now reaching week 3 and I think it is slowly getting better (there is a ray of hope). 

But I think Sofi caught the cough virus and now she is starting to cough.

I mean, 3 weeks is quite long to avoid getting infected kan.

Kiwi really helps with the phlegm. 

I don't know whether these help but I consumed all these daily: Lemon myrtle tea and Madu Tualang. A lot of warm water. No oily and spicy foods. 

Even my covid-cough was not as bad as this. 

What should you do if you are an anxious person?

Try not to focus on the problem that we can't control.

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A Library Visit and Books I Finished Reading Today:

I was sick, so I avoided crowded places.

But I needed to return the book, so today I masked up and went to the library, had my 8,000 steps keyed in, explored more books, got other new books, finished reading Elastic in the morning before the library was open, and then had a quickie with Mr. Salary at the Library and then finished Beauty and Sadness after I went back home (read during lunch and commute back). 

Books finished today:

• Elastic by Leonard Mlodinow was informative and an interesting read - the language was easy to understand as well,  so my nerd mind loved it. It took almost 4 weeks to finish it though, so I extended the borrowing time. Finally finished it today but kena denda 20 sen.
• Mr Salary by Sally Rooney: It was only 33 pages long, a short story collected by Faber & Faber. Love that I can just finish it in one short sitting. I think I would read anything by Sally Rooney at this point.    
• Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata: I didn't think a book written in the 60s by a Japanese writer could be this beautifully sad. Ok, this is a bit unfair - I don't read that much translated Asian classic literature. But oh my, this book is a gem. This book reminds me of Murakami, but it was written way before him. Yasunari Kawabata won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968, but I'd never heard of him before. I have around a dozen of his books to try next. 

Oh, I visited PPAS Bangi last weekend, out of curiosity.

And I was disappointed because of how loud, how messy, how chaotic, and how little books they had - compared with Perpustakaan Kuala Lumpur. It was totally different vibes. I mean, PPAS didn't feel like a library :F Now I have a new appreciation towards PKL.

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Greek Lessons by Han Kang:

I finally got a copy of Han Kang's Greek Lessons, which was the right decision because it was beautiful. I love beautiful writing, and the book was like poetry in fiction, like pain written in art. It was short and quick, I didn't want it to end but that's more reason to reread it again to appreciate the writing. 

But in this case, it is a translation. I don't know whether it was as beautiful when it was written in its original language. That's the thing about translated works, they give so many nuances. Is it a faithful representation or is it polished? Nabokov said direct translation is the main importance in translating, that it is not the job of the translator to make it "beautiful". But Jorge Luis Borges said that the translator's job is to translate and enrich and transform it: “Translation is a more advanced stage of civilization”. Not the same approach. 

So if a translated book wins a prize, does the writer and translator both deserve the award? If I was touched by the writing, was it because of the translated work or the story itself? As someone who works in the creative field, of course, for me, collaboration is always great. I don't think a good artist/writer needs to work alone to come up with a great work of art. Imagine a genius working with a genius, it might create something much better, or it might not. Who knows. But it is always good to work together. Kan?

Ok, I might need to read more of her books then.

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