wordsworth and byron and austen, oh my

Now that term has started, I've gotten considerably busier--in that I think I've spent more time in the library than sleeping in the last three days. My A course (which is the one with the insane reading list) is good, though the only text we've really talked about specifically is Wordsworth's The Prelude, which I'll freely confess to loathing. Somehow I got roped into presenting on Byron's Don Juan next Monday, so we'll see how that goes. I've never actually read Don Juan, and it's quite lengthy: hence the library hours. I do really love it, though, so it's not so bad, just sometimes the stanza form becomes a little oppressively routine.

Today was my big day of classes. I had my B course in the morning, and then, well, I should have a course immediately following, but due to an apparently highly characteristic mix-up, class was cancelled today. So we went out for coffee and then read in the library for a bit.

My first meeting of my Austen options course was today, as well. The two professors--Kathryn Sutherland and Freya Johnston--are really fantastic, and the course is going to be excellent. There are, I think, ten of us in it, and we're all pretty serious Janeites. My assignment for next week involves reading both Austen's letters and the Juvenilia, which consists of Austen's early (as in, childhood and teenage) writings. I have very much always wanted to read the juvenilia, since there are some really interesting early writings in it. Let's hope I can get it all done in time, though.

In other news, I've almost made it out of first week alive. I have two lectures that I'm planning on attending tomorrow, but nothing formally academic, thank goodness. Oh, but rowing tomorrow at 6:30 AM...not the best time to be on the Thames, as it's already growing cold here. I need a nap just thinking about it...