“The Summer of Diving,” by Sara Stridsberg. Illustrated by Sara Lundberg. Translated by B. J. Woodstein.
In this child’s-eye view of a father’s depression, evocative language and lush, color-saturated art show how a girl’s imagination helps her swim through loss and heal.
「一個凡事動機都是要跟別人競爭的兒童長大之後會變成一個沒有良心、沒有羞恥、沒有真正尊嚴可言的大人。」⁰0
─George Sand，法國小說家、評論家。出自其死後出版的日誌《Journal Intime》，1926。v
The sudden birth of new radio stations suggests that radio is particularly suited to offsetting the tedium and loneliness of lockdown
Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw America’s 2,000-odd troops shakes up the region’s geopolitics. Russia is supplanting America as its power-broker 2019.1.4
——
※文摘※
Source: Walter Horatio Pater: « The Guardian » Chapter 2. Amiel's "Journal Intime"
Taken for what it is worth, the expression of this mood--the culture of ennui for its own sake--is certainly carried to its ideal of negation by Amiel.
—
Source: Henry David Thoreau: « Walden & on the Duty of Civil Disobedience » Sounds
If
we were always, indeed, getting our living, and regulating our lives
according to the last and best mode we had learned, we should never be
troubled with
ennui.
—
Source: Jane Austen: « Emma » Chapter II
She knew that at times she
must be missed; and could not think, without pain, of Emma's losing a
single pleasure, or suffering an hour's ennui, from the
want of her companionableness: but dear Emma was of no feeble character;
she was more equal to her situation than most girls would have been,
and had sense, and energy, and spirits that might be hoped would bear
her well and happily through its little difficulties and privations.
Royal nuptials
Our Bagehot columnist’s wedding present for Prince William and Catherine Middleton: a republic
Spotlight:
How do a pig, a duck, a monkey and an owl say "Happy Birthday?" Dr. Dolittle would have known. And his creator,
Hugh Lofting, born on this date in 1886, would have been able to put the words into the animals' mouths. Lofting was a soldier in
World War I and, tired of the
horrors and tedium of war, wrote letters to his children filled with tales of a kindly English veterinarian who could communicate verbally with his animal patients. The stories evolved into a series of books, the second of which,
The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle, won a
Newberry Medal.
Quote:
"Animals are such agreeable friends; they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms" —
George Eliot
And in another example of an erotic adventure supplanting married ennui, a second couple, Annie and Douglas Brown, embarked on a similar, if abbreviated journey: 101 straight days of post-nuptial sex.
te·di·um (tē'dē-əm) 
n.
The quality or condition of being tedious; tediousness or boredom.
[Latin taedium, from taedēre, to weary.]
nup・tial
━━ a. 結婚（式）の.
━━
n. （普通
pl.） 結婚（式）
.
supplant
verb [T] SLIGHTLY FORMAL
to replace:
In most offices, the typewriter has now been supplanted by the computer.
Small children can often feel supplanted (in their parents' affections) (= that their parents no longer like them as much) when a new brother or sister is born.
[動](他)
1 〈事・物に〉取って代わる；〈物を〉取り替える
Buses are supplanting streetcars in big cities.
大都市ではバスが市電に取って代わりつつある.
2 （策略・陰謀などで）〈人に〉取って代わる，〈地位などを〉奪い取る. ⇒REPLACE[類語]
Definition of ennui
noun
[mass noun]
a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement: he succumbed to ennui and despair
Origin:
mid 18th century: French, from Latin
in odio(n-), from
mihi in odio est 'it is hateful to me'. Compare with
annoy
ennui
noun [U] LITERARY ［F.］
n. 倦怠, 「アンニュイ」 ((cf. annoy)).
a feeling of boredom and mental tiredness caused by having nothing interesting or exciting to do:
The whole country seems to be affected by the ennui of winter.
