As some of you may know, and with some I mean the people that follow my Tumblr blog, I am 1. moving to the CUTEST house in London soon and 2. starting an online MA in literature soon too. The combination of these two things have made me crazy more than once. Reading two books a week for this website, reading to prep for the MA and finding, decorating and organising a house is more than a handful for me.
But today, in the weird twist of faith that sometimes gets thrown your way, these two things came together.
For the MA, I have to read Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and let me tell you - this is more exhausting than reading Vanity Fair (which btw is staring at me from across my desk ever since I gave up halfway through the story. I'll finish it, I swear!). But today I suddenly had a breakthrough.
While I was reading about Robinson's struggle to make bread (which takes up a good 10 pages, just so you know), I realised that I am Robinson Crusoe. No, I'm not struggling to make bread, though I'm sure I would be if I had to make some, but I am struggling to adjust to my new situation.
How do you get gas in your house? How does the internet get connected? What do I need to buy? These are all questions that take up all of my day while Robinson wonders how to make bread, how to shelter his corn, how to make his parrot talk. It makes him completely question everything he thought he knew, just like I am at times.
We are both in a completely new home, a new country, a new life and are struggling. And while I was thinking about this, I suddenly started to feel for Robinson.
Yes, he is a bit of a brat that keeps nagging on about his bread for way too long, but he's lost. I chose to start a completely new life in a new country. Robinson did too, but he got a whole different life thrown in his way. I'm moving with my best friend, while he doesn't even have a human being around him. I feel bad for Robinson.
He has to deal with all the questions I'm dealing with but then times a thousand. He has nothing to believe in or nothing familiar around him.
Maybe classics aren't always that difficult to read. Maybe you just need to find something you can relate to. For now, I'll go back to reading about Robinson and hoping he'll be ok - just like I'll be.