The book "On Repeat" by Prof. Elizabeth H. Margulis is about repetition in music. Various directions like refrain, chorus and coda are used to repeat. When I listen to instrumental music or to vocal music, there are often refrains or choruses that I am glad to hear. I have been listening to Beethoven's 9th for a long time and to the Elixir of Love. Each CD has been repeated over and over. Each work contains many repetitions that are wonderful.
In Margulis's book, she discusses a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. The story is about a man named Pierre Menard and pretends to be a book review of a book by this Menard. I have been quite conscious that I myself cannot totally repeat anything at all. Until I saw her discussion, I don't think I had ever seen a paragraph totally repeated in print.
In Margulis's book, she discusses a short story by Jose Luis Borges. The story is about a man named Pierre Menard and pretends to be a book review of a book by this Menard. I have been quite conscious that I myself cannot totally repeat anything at all. Until I saw her discussion, I don't think I had ever seen a paragraph totally repeated in print.
Weird, isn't it? When I paste the same passage twice by accident, I get quickly peeved and delete the 2nd one. Were you able to read the repetition with the same interest and care as when reading the first? In my class for graduate teachers, many of us spent time locating a copy of a book we remember have strong feelings about and tried re-reading it. Sometimes, we felt very different the 2nd time.
Any action I take occurs in a certain time period, whether a minute or a month. That particular minute or month is gone, in the past. I can try to copy it and "do it again" but actually I am using a subsequent period for the 2nd attempt and besides, I am a fraction older than I was during the original.
The Blue Zone Kitchens by Dan Buettner gave me the idea that people in the "Blue Zones" (regions where the average person is notably long-lived) eat certain foods repeatedly. The book opened my eyes to the value of certain foods and I have been eating them more often. I have been working less to have a variety and eating the same plants and morning cereal more. Once I dropped my conviction that food variety is important, I can eat more of what I ate yesterday rather happily. Actually, I still think variety is important. I paid close attention to my diet during my school wrestling days and I read the Japanese try to eat 30 different foods a day. (Short link: t.ly/L9-r)
The context for repetition matters. The time lapse between occurrences matters. I will take the same ice cream again for dessert.
