Sobriquet 46.22

The following post was originally published on 9/27/08.

I really struggled to get anything done today. Initially, I had wanted to read another critical article but, after nearly five months of reading essays on Disgrace, I just did not have it in me today. I did, however, read four brief reviews of the novel.

Still, I am at a stage in my research where I really don't feel as if my reading is likely to further my understanding of Coetzee's novel in any way. Since virtually everything I read now seems to be another way of phrasing something I have already read several times previously, I find that I am lucky if, upon finishing an article, I have underlined a few cleverly-phrased passages that I can draw upon when writing a chapter I thought I would have started months ago.

And that's not good. Reading shouldn't become a chore I have to force myself to complete in spite of a conviction that it is a futile, bankrupt endeavor.

But, I suppose that this is a common feeling for people working with texts that have been glossed hundreds of times over. Yuck, though.

For tomorrow: Read another essay.