still proofing

Seriously, nothing makes less sense than your own words when seen in page proof format for the first time. The only way of dealing with it is to ignore the content (which can’t be changed at this stage anyway) and turn oneself into a sheer proofreader.

No different from what I said yesterday, but saying it today carries the additional weight of extra experience.

But again, for some reason it completely changes when the book actually exists. I usually read the book once immediately when it comes out, and that’s always a great pleasure. But then I put it away for years and never reread it. Like Barthes, I would be somewhat afraid to reread my earlier books this soon. Maybe in old age, that’s a pleasure to look forward to.

However, I think the greatest pleasure of retirement and old age would be writing one’s autobiography, even if no one else wants to read it. What a great opportunity to think back and reflect on everything that has happened by then. One of the reasons I keep such meticulous month-by-month notes of what’s going on is to provide “firewood” for my last years of retirement.