Sunday, May 20, 2007

Foucault's Pendulum - It Begins!

I finally started reading Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

Well, sort of. I haven't gotten past the first page yet.

But...I did find the translation for the Hebrew quote at the start of the first chapter--the main reason I haven't been able to make it past the first page.

Here it is for anyone that is interested. Thank you to The Modern Word for providing this!

"When the Light of the Endless was drawn in the form of a straight line in the Void... it was not drawn and extended immediately downwards, indeed it extended slowly -- that is to say, at first the Line of Light began to extend and at the very start of its extension in the secret of the Line it was drawn and shaped into a wheel, perfectly circular all around."

--Gruberger, Philip S. (ed.) The Kabbalah: A Study of the Ten Luminous Emanations from Rabbi Isaac Luria with the Commentaries Sufficient for the Beginner. Vol. II, Jerusalem: Research Center of Kabbalah, 1973. p. 7.

The other thing that stopped me was looking up the definition of a word in the first sentence: isochronal. I can already tell why my hubby did not enjoy this book, and never finished it. I, however, have the feeling I am going to love it. Guess we'll have to wait and see!

Isochronal: Characterized by or occurring at equal intervals of time.

3 comments:

maggie moran said...

Oh, my Nyssaneala, sounds like you are a glutton for pain. ;D

Nyssaneala said...

Lol. Actually, it's not as bad once you get past the first chapter.

Bookfool said...

I love a good challenge, like that. Till a few years ago, I used to keep vocabulary notebooks in which I'd write down a word I didn't know, the sentence it was in to show context, and the definition. Doesn't that sound totally anal?