Techies Day/German Reunification Day
2006-10-03 @ 9:15 p.m.

Huge downpour interrupted our lesson. Stupid sergeant who was taking the lesson insisted we continue, right until just before the rain started coming down in sheets. Stubborn and stupid, hallmark of the organisation to which he belongs. Anyway, I stayed up last night until I'd finished A Laodicean, which was about a quarter to midnight. I must say it's quite uncharacteristic for a Hardy novel. No deaths of major characters (Eustacia Vye and Damon Wildeve in The Return Of The Native), no ruined women (Tess Durbeyfield in Tess Of The D'Ubervilles), no tortured men (Clym Yeobright in The Return Of The Native, Michael Henchard in The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Jude Fawley in Jude The Obscure), etc. So I'm generalising hugely, but the point is, A Laodicean is very different from the major Hardy novels. Not that it's a really bad thing. It's nice to read something different for a change. I changed my mind today and started on The Mayor Of Casterbridge, but just the introduction and appendices. I'll get started on the novel proper tomorrow. By the way, I really like the Wall feature of Facebook! Makes keeping in touch so easy...