Feeling like I’m on the wrong side right now….
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Κατερίνα Σχινά – Τόνι Μόρισον Tα Blues της γραφής Katerina Sxina – Toni Morrison Writing Blues
One from the archives / Toni Morrison
Aπό το εργαστήριο με την Κατερίνα Σχινά, στο ΕΚΕΜΕΛ με θέμα την Τόνι Μόρισον και την εμπειρία της μετάφρασης των βιβλίων της στο πλαίσιο των Συναντήσεων της Τετάρτης. Η Κατερίνα Σχινά έχει μεταφράσει τα βιβλία της Μόρισον Έλεος, Αγάπη, Σούλα, Παράδεισος, Γαλάζια Μάτια αλλά και Φίλιπ Ροθ, Κάρολ Τζέις-Όουτς και πολλούς άλλους σύγχρονους συγγραφείς.
«Η Μόρισον γράφει σαν μουσική jazz: ξεκινά δυναμικά και αφήνει σιγά σιγά τις διάφορες φωνές των ηρώων της να αναπτύξουν το θέμα, σαν μουσικό αυτοσχεδιασμό. Στα βιβλία της βλέπουμε μια αναβίωση του Harlem της δεκαετίας του 1920. Καταγόταν από μια φτωχογειτονιά και στα βιβλία της δίνει έμφαση στην τάξη περισσότερο παρά στο χρώμα. Είναι πολύ δύσκολο να γράψεις για τους μαύρους όταν ζεις κι εσύ μέσα στην ίδια ακριβώς ιδεολογία και κουλτούρα. Οι μαύροι συγγραφείς μιλάνε γενικά για το πώς τους βλέπουν οι λευκοί. Η Μόρισον, βλέπει τις διακρίσεις και εντός της…
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Death and taxes and my birthday!
«Two things are certain in life – death and taxes»
And very few things in life are both free and make your happy: D R E A M S is one of them. Inspired by Girl vs Globe‘s post on her bucket list and my birthday being tomorrow (omg I know!!!! I’m so depressed!!!) I decided to make a post about things I would love to do this year and promise myself to do at least some of them!!!!
1. Go on a trip! Walk on a cobblestone alley in Italy, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or anywhere really! Just to breath some different air, see some new things, forget about my work related stress, drink some wine and just relax!!!
2. Learn something new! I’ve always been a creative freak (not always successfully 😛 ) but I want to learn how to do something which will not only fulfill my creative streak but might lead to new things. Set up an indie boutique in London, maybe?
3. Live with less! It is not that difficult and I find it very satisfying to get rid of impulse buying and stocking up things I already have and never will use/wear. It makes you feel so light!
4. Keep up my good reading pace! Since this spring I have managed to find a few books I really liked and spent some beautiful relaxing afternoons and evenings (often late nights) reading, sipping my gin n’ tonics or lounging on my balcony (the few days when the wind allowed, in any case). This is simple and true happiness.
As you might have read in a previous post I discovered Forensic Archaeologist Ruth Galloway by Elly Griffiths and I loved her stories! I’d definitely recommend her to crime/mystery lovers!
5. Restart my Phd or take a new course – MA in Children’s Lit., BA in Pre-school education. Things that will keep me motivated and will perhaps open up new opportunities for the future.
6. Keep fighting for my translation business, looking for new ideas, new venues, new projects to feel passionate about. So much of our lives are about our job, day and night, when we’re present at the office and when we’re not so I’ll try my best to make it fulfilling and interesting. Never a dull day #i’dpromiseifIcould !
7. Make a difference. As I read of all those wonderful superwomen out there I really want to do something to help people around me, work for my community, mentor, write helpful articles or do actual work for those in need. Difficult times are ahead us, that is for sure.
8. Be in love! No need to say much about that, do I? 🙂
These might not be all but they are at least a few things that would make me smile, sleep well at night and enjoy my little time on this beautiful and unforgiving world.
What about you? What about your dreams, wishes and aspirations? Do you get all hopeful on birthdays or depressed and sad?
On my bookshelf #June 2015
In The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy, Michael F. Patton and Kevin Cannon introduce us to the grand tradition of examined living. With the wisecracking Heraclitus as our guide, we travel down the winding river of philosophy, meeting influential thinkers from nearly three millennia of Western thought and witnessing great debates over everything from ethics to the concept of the self to the nature of reality.
The Man Booker International winner László Krasznahorkai/Λάσλο Κρασναχορκάι
They say his writing is breathtaking. I can’t wait to read him. I imagine dark scenery like a Bella Tar movie.
STOP POST: IS THIS THE NEW «GONE GIRL»?
Critics certainly claim so and I am ready to find out!
Dreamology by Lucy Keating – the soundtrack!
Dreamology, by Lucy Keating
would you like to meet The Boy of Your Dreams?
Described as a YA Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this book tells the story of a girl who has had vivid, fantastical dreams of the same boy her entire life, only to walk into a new school and discover he is real. However, he is not exactly the same and -most important of all- he acts like he doesn’t remember her at all!
A fantastic read with gorgeous scenes and fast pace
I wanted to share with you some tracks I was listening to while translating Dreamology by Lucy Keating. Instead, I have something much more interesting and exclusive for you!!! The soundtrack Lucy Keating has been listening to herself when writing Dreamology!!! Well, here it is:
You will see many tracks with «dream» on the title or in the lyrics and a lot of cool bands. Some others she would listen to and think: «This is the kind of romance or tone I am going for in the book.» But as the author Lucy Keating herself has pointed out:
«Pictures of You» By The Cure was a big one for me creating this. «I’ve been living so long with these pictures of you, that I almost believe that they’re real. I’ve been living so long my these pictures of you that I almost believe that the pictures are all I can feel» reminded me of Alice as she dreamed of Max and loved him but wasn’t sure if he existed. And even when she meets him and he’s not like the Max she once knew, she looks back on those dreams like memories/pictures in her head.
– Lucy Keating
photo by Jerome Galland
Boston view
In English it will be published by Harper Teen and in Greek by Psichogios Publications. I am so looking forward to its publication!
Merry Christmas with lots of books, hot coffees, dreams and plans for a fabulous year ahead!
Casual Friday with a poem
The first weeks of January
οι τελευταίες εβδομάδες (πρώτες του χρόνου) ήταν πιεστικές αλλά και γεμάτες όμορφα πράγματα.. Ανάμεσα στην πίεση της δουλειάς και τις προθεσμίες προσπάθησα να στριμώξω μερικά πράγματα που με ευχαριστούν και με ξεκουράζουν.
Στις 21 Ιανουαρίου είχαμε την πιο καταθλιπτική ημέρα του χρόνου για το 2014!
Συνεχίζεται το σεμινάριο Ιστορίας Τέχνης που ξεκίνησα το 2013…
αποφάσισα να βρω ένα νέο χόμπι για χαλάρωση και δημιουργικότητα…
[check out my etsy shop 🙂 ]
Διαβάζω ένα αποκαλυπτικό βιβλίο-σταθμό για τους σημαντικότερους εκπροσώπους της εσωτερικής διδασκαλίας που γνώρισε η ανθρωπότητα:
Δανείστηκα ένα πολύ ενδιαφέρον βιβλίο από το event΄δανεισμού βιβλίων tou BOOK IN, τους Αποκλεισμένους, της Ελφρίντε Γέλινεκ…
Και μια που σαν σήμερα πέθανε ο Μενέλαος Λουντέμης, ένας λογοτέχνης που διάβαζα φανατικά όταν ήμουν παιδί:
Από το «Οι Κερασιές Θα ανθίσουν και φέτος»
Ο Ευγένης Βενετός και ο Άρης Βεργωλής, φίλοι αδερφικοί, συμπορεύονται στη φτώχεια, στην απελπισία, μα και στην αγανάκτησή τους για το άδικο του κόσμου, που προσπαθούν να το εξηγήσουν, ο καθένας με τον τρόπο του. Τυχαία -ίσως πάλι, όχι- θα συναντήσουν το γερο-Ραματά που, στον πολυκαιρισμένο του καφενέ, θα τους πάρει από το χέρι, θα γίνει ο πατέρας που δεν έχουν, και μαζί θα πορευτούν, αντιμέτωποι με τις επιλογές τους. Ώσπου θα πέσει στα χέρια τους το βιβλίο της Φούγιας. «Για λίγο ουρανό·» ένα βιβλίο, που απρόσμενα θα αλλάξει την πορεία της ζωής τους.
Πρόσωπα που θα τα συνδέσει η τύχη, ίσως και το πεπρωμένο, που θα ανακαλύψουν πως, τελικά, «οι κερασιές θ’ ανθίσουν και φέτος»…
«νύσταξα να σε καρτερώ έρωτα, και να λιώνω,
μπρος στο βιβλίο της ζωής σκυμμένος μια ζωή!
Μα αν ήτανε να ερχόσουνα για ένα, έστω, πρωί,
χίλια θε να’ δινα πρωινά, να ζούσα εκείνο μόνο!»
Weekend read – Το Ζεν και η τέχνη της συντήρησης της μοτοσικλέτας
Μόλις το ξεκίνησα! Με κάνει να θέλω να διασχίσω με μηχανή όλες τις μεσοδυτικές πολιτείες! Αναλυτική παρουσίαση όταν το τελειώσω!
Like a cuckoo calling for home
Yes! I finished it! 5 days reading in every spare moment it took me but did I enjoy most of them! I love it when a book makes me want to finish work/washing up/return early from the pub in order to read it! And no matter its downsides, this was a very interesting read!
Maybe you have heard the story behing the book’s revealed author: Robert Galbraith supposedly published this book back in April 2013. It had managed to sell 1500 hardcopies and 7000 ebooks, audiobooks and library editions but was ricocheted to Amazon’s no #1 best-selling book (with respective sale figures) on July 14th, when it was revealed that the author was after all J.K.Rowling.
«I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer,» JKR said, «because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name.»
And after the dessous of the publication, there still are a few things to say about the book, too (yes, there are).
In contrast to Rowiling’s previous book for adults, Casual Vacancy, which was not so well received by audience nor critics, JKR chose to try her luck and writing abilities in a detective story. We could say that the PI genre in fiction goes back to Edgar Allan Poe, who created the character C. Auguste Dupin in the 1840s and finds its height in Sherlock Holmes and Watson of Baker street.
Rowlin’gs novel, even though not amazingly original in ideas is however a very entairtaining and compelling read:
The characters are probably the novel’s strong point: interesting and engaging (the stereotype of the troubled detective, ex-army, with relationship problems etc is still here, although in JKR’s pen he becomes more than a stereotype and lives in flesh and bone through the pages) and you can like or hate them as much as you want but you can’t deny they become real persons with character and personality. Fashion designers, spoiled rich girls, older husbands with fat wallets, homeless wanderers, the it crowd of exclusive clubs and models, the feeling of the book is that of a high paced lifestyle drama.
The plot was also very good, tight and intricate. Without obvious cliff-hangers, as the main event appears in the first page of the book, it still manages to build a complex network of relationships and clues given to the detective by the deceased’s friends and relatives, people who won’t stop babbling or others who refuse to say a word. There was only a question left inadequately explainded for me but I can’t reveal it without spoilers so I won’t.
The only thing that bothered me from time to time was (OK, I don’t know how to phrase that and I’m sure it sounds heretic) her writing style and the names – I mean, Cormoran? Lula Landry? Yvette? Very Rowiling-esque. Maybe she still hasn’t found the voice that will characterisze her adult works? Maybe she had the freedom to work under pseudonym ? Here are a couple of examples:
The chief police investigator had a: «…face the colour of corned beef…»
The protagonist has doubts about his speculations: «Had these minute flurries of black silt been flicked up by a slimy tail or were they nothing but meaningless gusts of algae-fed gas? Could there be something lurking, disguised, buried in the mud, for which other nets had trawled in vain?»
Finally, my professional perversion requires a note on language: the author has captured many interesting accents from various parts of London and various social classes. They work great in the book but they will be hell to translate.
All in all I really liked the book. I am looking forward to Cormoran and Robin’s next adventure. It definitely is no Conan Doyle, Chandler, Simenon or even Stieg Larrson – yet. The so called Queen of storytelling, though, might have more aces up her sleeve.
Metaphrasi 