Safe & Sound, 

 

Merry & Bright

 

 

 Christmas!

 

 

Ascending Figure

 

This year's Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to an american poetess and essayist for "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."

Louise Elisabeth Glück – one of the purest and most talented contemporary litterateurs in her field. She is distinguished for the linguistic and technical accuracy of her poetry, her sensitivity and insight  into matters of loneliness, family relationships, divorce and death. She is also noted for her "classicizing of gestures" - i.e. the frequent reworking of Greek and Roman myths in order to speak of destructive inter/personal relationships, existential despair and the agony of self. 

A poetess with an extensive body of work and many highly prestigious awards for it, Louise Glück is currently an adjunct professor and Rosenkranz Writer in Residence at Yale University. Once, she said: "Writing is a kind of revenge against circumstances: bad luck, loss, pain." It applies to reading, too. After a series of unconventional and controversial choices that seemed somehow superficial, the Swedish Academy are back on track with this timely and insightful selection for the current circumstances. 

 

Notes: You can read a random compilation of Louise Glück's poems here. / You can watch the Nobel Prize announcement here. / The portrait of the poetess is illustrated by Niklas Elmehed, the Swedish artist responsible for the official portraits of the Nobel Prize Laureates

Atonement,

the French way

Sixteen years after her father's death, Annie Ernaux begins to write a novel about him. For some reason, "deciphering these memories is an urgent need for me..." she says. 

"A Man's Place" (translated by Tanya Lesley - Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2020) is shorter than a novel but it certainly has all the characteristic of the kind. The narration begins with the success of the French author in state exams for her appointment in public education. It goes on  with her father's death and in the next 94 pages the author describes many short events of his life - being the son of a sharecropper in Normandy, he started work as a cowboy and then in a factory. After getting married, he decides to open his own little store. So he becomes the owner of a grocery-coffee shop. Together with his wife, they work hard and despite the many adversities, at a time when the advent of supermarkets puts their business at serious risk, they manage to get out of poverty and sent their daughter to university. Always keeping her distance from her aging father, she studies, gets appointed to public education as a philologist, gets married and has a child who is just as distant - on a visit to her parents' home for the holidays, mother and son are walking past the room of the sick grandfather, when the little body asks the author: "Mommy, why is the gentleman beddy-bye?"

It could be a highly melodramatic novel, even a tragic one – a daughter's memories of her father is quite good material. Especially when this father was born, raised and manned in primitive conditions. However, Ernaux chooses to keep a record of her family's ethnology with meticulous accuracy and objectivity. This neutral style has established her as one of the most important contemporary writers in France and the greatest registrar of truth. "It's the writer's job to tell the truth," she said in an interview. "Sometimes I don't know what exactly it is, but the truth is what I'm looking for." 

I tried to discern the truth she is looking for in this book. It could just be the understanding of the ever winding maze of the father-daughter relationship, but that's not all. It is something deeper that oozes out - her father's inner strength and his (in fact, theirs - her parents') insistence on overcoming any hardships they came across and keep on progressing. And this, coming from people completely deprived of childhood and education, to say the least, is the definition of life. A life that you can rightly say has been worhtwhile - the exact point that makes the book contemporary.

There is, however, something even deeper that. I cannot identify it at once. I read the epigram on the front page again. It is a quotation by Jean Genet "May I venture an explanation: writing is the ultimate resource for those who have betrayed." And there lies her truth, the urgent need that led the author to "A Man's Place". It is the unacknowledged guilt about her own social development and, perhaps even more, the non-reactive, observational attitude she held towards her father as a child: "... I was repulsed, convinced  (by the memories of her living with her parents) of their  insignificance. And if they survived, it was only through humiliation. I gave in to the desire of the world I live in, of a world that forces you to forget the memories of a humble life as it is something that shows bad taste. "

"A Man's Place" was first published in 1983 (in France), causing sparking debates and criticism, but the following year won the Prix Renaudot. That was the beginning of many distinctions that followed for the author and the conquest of her personal style. With this distinctively still, emotionless way of writing, she composes here an eloquent portrait of her father and his time – no coincidence that she is also considered the most important chronicler of French society of the last 50 years. She even goes further than that: she extends her personal experience, as she did in "The Years", into universal matters – generation and class alienation, mourning for parents and their gradual erasure from memory. Even if it was generated by an unpleasant feeling, Annie Ernaux should be really proud of this portrait - an elegant, perfectly written narrative. Insightful, touching (against her efforts), memorable.

*

Notes: The photographes show the café épicerie of the author's parents and her father himself. They are drawn from "Quatro" (Gallimard, 2011). // The greek edition of the book was also published in 2020. You can read about it,  in Greek,  here. You can read about her novel "The Years", also in Greek, here. 

Not the first time

...for the case of George Floyd. There have been plenty of identically similar ones in the past. That of 22 year-old Oscar Grant has been turned into a biographical drama film in 2013. It was the feature directorial debut of Ryan Coogler and it won many awards – two of them in Sundance Film Festival (Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for U.S. dramatic film) and one in Cannes (Best First Film). 

Art awakens, they say. It does, indeed – the film  got praises, opened up discussions and caused controversies about the limits of dramatisation and the accuracy of the real event, was among the top ten lists for the best films of that year. This is the furthest the awakening got.  It did not change any attitudes, regulations or laws, nor did it bring this tragic and painful history to a halt as not to repeat itself. 

Oh well? 

This needs to be the last one. 

Note: You can read about the case od Oscar Grant here. // The New York Times follows the case of George Floyd closely. The latest update says that the former Minneapolis police officer seen on video using his knee to pin down George Floyd has been taken into custody and charged with third-degree murder while the investigation of three other officers at the scene of the incident is ongoing. You can watch the Live Updates here. 

 Today 

...is one of those memo days. It was established in 1977 when the International Council of Museums (ICOM) designated the 18th May as the International Museum Day aimining thus to highlight the role of museums in modern society and encourage us to visit them more often.

"Museums are managers of consciousness. They give us an interpretation of history, of how to view the world and locate ourselves in it. They are, if you want to put it in positive terms, great educational institutions." says artist and art critic Hans Haacke. You can see it for yourself with a visit, although one is never enough, I assure you. Beware: from the 15th June onwards, though, when the last restrictive measures will be lifted, according to the schedule of the Greek Ministry of Culture, and following all the necessary requirements for personal hygiene and safety - do not let yourselves be carried away.

Notes: The cartoon is by the acclaimed French Jean-Jacques Sempé, the co-creator (along with René Goscinny) of  Le petit Nicolas (here is an extensive list of the book series in Greek). // Due to the special COVID-19 restrictions, many Greek museums have organised and are conducting several online activities you can participate. More information here. 

Greetings

for

Happy Easter!

Note: The artwork is the "Blue and Yellow Butterfly" by Alexander Calder

Seeing things differently

"Most Holy Father, there are many who, on bringing their feeble judgment to bear on what is written concerning the great achievements of the Romans —the feats of arms, the city of Rome and the wondrous skill shown in the opulence, ornamentation and grandeur of their buildings— have come to the conclusion that these achievements are more likely to be fables than facts. I, however, have always seen —and still do see— things differently." Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, wrote in his letter to pope Leo X

His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.  He was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking.  

The exquisite depiction of the Virgin and Child above is drawn in silverpoint – a technique which uses small rods of pure silver to make marks with an iridescent sheen. It’s one of a series made by the artist after he moved to Rome in 1508 to complete a fresco in the Pope’s private library in the Vatican – he was only 25 at the time. 

Notes: The drawing and the relevant information is taken from The British Museum. //  The National Gallery of Art in Washington, to honour his 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael, has launched  a 360 virtual tour of the exhibition "Raphael and His Circle" which allows you to read wall texts, listen to the audio tour, watch related video clips and learn more about the artist's drawings and the influence he had in his lifetime, and after his death. You can exlpore the full tour here. 

The Child

The Turks have been here. All is bleak, in ruin.

Chios, isle of wines, is now a darkened reef.

      Chios, cradled by green branches,

Chios, where curling waves mirror soft hills,

forests, palaces, and, on certain nights,

      dancing choirs of young girls,

All is desert. But no, near a blackened wall

sits a Greek child, a blue-eyed boy,

      alone and bending his head in shame.

For safety, for support, he has but a

single wrecked hawthorn bush, forgotten like him in

      this forgotten, wasted corner.

Oh poor child, barefoot on these sharp-edged rocks!

Oh to stop the crying of your blue eyes,

      blue like the sky and like the sea,

so that in their shine the light of laughter

and joy might evaporate this storm of tears;

      young boy, to lift up your blond head,

what would you wish for, oh beautiful boy,

what will it take to smile, to gather up

      in curls resting on your pale shoulder

this mop of hair never touched or shorn, which

seems to weep about your beautiful face

      like the leaves of the willow?

What will make your cloudy cares disappear?

Perhaps to have this lily from the fields

      of Iran, bright blue like your eyes?

Or some fruit from the magic Tuba-tree,

that tree so great that galloping horses

      run a century in its shadow?

Would you smile for a handsome forest bird

that sings more sweetly than flutes or oboes

      and more brilliantly than cymbals?

What would you like? Flowers, fruits, marvelous birds?

- Friend, replies the Greek child with the clear blue eyes,

      I want some bullets and a gun.

~~ 

L’enfant

Les Turcs ont passé là. Tout est ruine et deuil.

Chio, l’île des vins, n’est plus qu’un sombre écueil,

      Chio, qu’ombrageaient les charmilles,

Chio, qui dans les flots reflétait ses grands bois,

Ses coteaux, ses palais, et le soir quelquefois

      Un chœur dansant de jeunes filles.

Tout est désert. Mais non ; seul près des murs noircis,

Un enfant aux yeux bleus, un enfant grec, assis,

      Courbait sa tête humiliée ;

Il avait pour asile, il avait pour appui

Une blanche aubépine, une fleur, comme lui

      Dans le grand ravage oubliée.

Ah ! pauvre enfant, pieds nus sur les rocs anguleux !

Hélas ! pour essuyer les pleurs de tes yeux bleus

      Comme le ciel et comme l’onde,

Pour que dans leur azur, de larmes orageux,

Passe le vif éclair de la joie et des jeux,

      Pour relever ta tête blonde,

Que veux-tu ? Bel enfant, que te faut-il donner

Pour rattacher gaîment et gaîment ramener

      En boucles sur ta blanche épaule

Ces cheveux, qui du fer n’ont pas subi l’affront,

Et qui pleurent épars autour de ton beau front,

      Comme les feuilles sur le saule ?

Qui pourrait dissiper tes chagrins nébuleux ?

Est-ce d’avoir ce lys, bleu comme tes yeux bleus,

      Qui d’Iran borde le puits sombre ?

Ou le fruit du tuba, de cet arbre si grand,

Qu’un cheval au galop met, toujours en courant,

      Cent ans à sortir de son ombre ?

Veux-tu, pour me sourire, un bel oiseau des bois,

Qui chante avec un chant plus doux que le hautbois,

      Plus éclatant que les cymbales ?

Que veux-tu ? fleur, beau fruit, ou l’oiseau merveilleux ?

– Ami, dit l’enfant grec, dit l’enfant aux yeux bleus,

      Je veux de la poudre et des balles.

Notes: The poem above is by Victor Hugo  translated in English by Gilles-Claude Thériault. The detail is from the oil painting "The Greek boy" (1829/30 – Benaki Museum) by Alexandre Marie Colin who was inspired, for this painting, by Hugo's poem.  

"I ground matter 

...to find the continuous line. And when I realized I could not find it, 

I stopped... "

Note: Both the quotation and the artwork are by Constantine Brâncuși. The latter is titled "Sculpture for the Blind (Beginning of the World), 1916"

A pioneer 

...of serialised fiction, most of Dickens's major novels were first written in monthly or weekly instalments in journals such as Master Humphrey's Clock and Household Words, later reprinted in book form. These instalments made the stories affordable and accessible, and the series of regular cliffhangers made each new episode widely anticipated. When The Old Curiosity Shop was being serialised, American fans waited at the docks in New York harbor, shouting out to the crew of an incoming British ship: "Is little Nell dead?" Dickens's talent was to incorporate this episodic writing style but still end up with a coherent novel at the end.   

The Old Curiosity Shop was printed in book form in 1841. Queen Victoria read the novel in 1841 and found it "very interesting and cleverly written".

Note: the photograph above is in fact a daguerreotype portrait of the author and was taken by Antoine Claudet  in about 1852.