Folks that were born after the great conflicts between the man and the regime and may only have vague familiarity with the name — this would be a fine occasion to try one of his works. The works will have abiding significance. The Gulag, though dealing with a past that many want to forget, has as much continuing relevance to the human situation in non-fiction as Lewis’ That Hideous Strength in fiction.

If interested in this, or in my other writings, contact me at john@johndenugent.com

JdN

Of course there are lots of books that are not translated, many of which our nascent community needs to discover together. As we break the shackles of the regnant guild, many of the books that were thrown onto the ashheap will need to be dusted off, and the ashheap replaced with 90% of what the guild currently stuffs down people’s throat. So I predict that more and more will be rediscovered, that never were translated.

It’s kind of exciting really. It’s almost like stumbling through the wardrobe into Narnia. So I want to encourage you in your new project.

Either German or French would be fine choices. If you are agonizing between them, here are just a few considerations.

German starts out easier, but gets harder; French starts out harder, but gets easier. (This is for various historical-linguistic reasons.) You might look at what kind of support network is available where you live. Check the community college courses and adult-education adjunct courses that are offered — my experience is that the quality varies considerably from one to another, but getting a jump-start could be helpful. When it comes to future travel, remember that in the big cities English is always spoken, but the more you go into the hinterlands, the more it pays off to have the language. So ask yourself, if you travel into the European hinterlands, would it more likely be France or Germany? Consider also which operas you favor, or would be more likely to favor when the time comes that you discover opera if you haven’t already. Which philosopher do you prefer, Kant or Descartes?

Picking a book and going all the way through it, looking up every single word not already known, is indeed the way to master a language, at least for reading. You might want to pick a shorter book as the first however.

When it comes to History, I’m seriously lacking in knowledge, (remembering the “time-line” made out of hearts and frownie faces that was a favorite of my history teacher…) I think this book would be very beneficial for me to read, and I thank you for your resolve to translate it.

That being said, this single post has re-inspired me to learn a foreign language. Instead of just learning a language “willy nilly” I have a goal - to be able to read this book!

My grandfather was in WWII, and fought in Germany, and always spoke as if he had a great respect for the Germans, (I couldn’t ever figure out why.) He even knew the language. So, I’d be interested in learning German. I could say a lot about French as well.

My question is: if I were to learn one of these languages, in order to read this book, which would you suggest? Are there other great books that are not published in English that I should know about?

Thanks, and God bless.