tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post2734398841654975392..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: The Man Who Walked Through WallsJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-64611180109268620982015-07-11T05:47:48.200+01:002015-07-11T05:47:48.200+01:00Aymé’s work has had quite an impact on me, when I ...Aymé’s work has had quite an impact on me, when I first read it as a teenager (almost thirty years ago). Tonight, was reminiscing about <em>La carte</em>. Read Reshkin’s translation, which I enjoyed. Was then able to find a French version <a href="http://www.docin.com/p-278226268.html" rel="nofollow">online</a>. Even better than I remembered it, especially in its prose style. Not ribald in any way, but quite funny with plenty of subtext. Don't know about the other translation but Reshkin did tame it a slight bit, by deemphasising prostitution.<br /><br />Could perceive a connection with Auster, though it's not that striking. Although, given the fact that Aymé translated Tennessee Williams, there might be an indirect connection. Getting a vague feeling of similarities between a bunch of authors, in both French and English, whose style is similarly casual. Interestingly enough, at least two of them are known for having political views clashing with their intellectual milieux: Jean Dutourd and Stephen Leacock. I'm probably the only person in the world to make such connections, but it doesn't mean they aren't real.<br /><br />Speaking of politics, it was very striking to me that Aymé explicitly made reference to Cëline’s antisemitism, in that same story on rationing. When I first read it, I knew it was about the German occupation, as I was deeply taken by art from that somber period. But it's fairly recently that I've learnt about known antimesite Louis-Ferdinand Céline. That alleged journal entry by Flegmon mentioning Céline is even gutsier, in context. It's the very paragraph which mentions the harsh rationing afforded Jews in that fictional government. Though Aymé’s politics might not have made him friends among French intellectuals after Liberation, being able to insert such a comment in a collaborationist newspaper does take some courage.<br /><br />As for the time needed to read everything worth reading, some people solve it by restricting their reading habits to a few predictable patterns. But it's also possible to savour diverse texts by putting some of your own imagination in them. When you realise that you only live a small portion of the Life out there, you can move from <a href="http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/post/73524850764/onism" rel="nofollow">onism</a> to <a href="http://www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/post/68194563177/sonder-n-the-realization-that-each-random" rel="nofollow">sonder</a>.Alexandrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17600100547766132563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-21211847122023915132012-08-17T12:51:42.685+01:002012-08-17T12:51:42.685+01:00I think that would be your best bet, Lightman. I c...I think that would be your best bet, <b>Lightman</b>. I cannot imagine the difficulties involved in translating something from French into Chinese. <br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-60043184446590558742012-08-17T06:46:14.920+01:002012-08-17T06:46:14.920+01:00It seems a nice book.
There is no Chinese Version ...It seems a nice book.<br />There is no Chinese Version still.<br />I may try to order it from Amazon.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11265840258596774268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-50320010722943453572012-07-30T11:41:36.057+01:002012-07-30T11:41:36.057+01:00Thanks for dropping by, Phil. Always nice to see a...Thanks for dropping by, <b>Phil</b>. Always nice to see a new face.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-40336277110417938692012-07-30T10:55:48.374+01:002012-07-30T10:55:48.374+01:00Thanks for the above post.
Phil E.Thanks for the above post.<br /><br />Phil E.Phil Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08026650143667021430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-87779086616888431162012-07-30T09:15:04.139+01:002012-07-30T09:15:04.139+01:00I think the term ‘surreal’ is overused, Art. What ...I think the term ‘surreal’ is overused, <b>Art</b>. What happened to good ol’ ‘unreal’? As much as I enjoy talking about different schools of writing on the whole I don’t care. There’s only two types of writing, good and bad. I thought Ayme was good. Of course good writing can go off and that’s the problem all satirists face but politics isn’t exactly a huge sandpit so what happened once will most likely happen again. It’s all cyclical. It’s only now I’m getting older and can remember the governments of the last forty years that I appreciate just how much history does repeat itself.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-89128854468006809522012-07-29T18:41:50.474+01:002012-07-29T18:41:50.474+01:00Buzzatti I actually have read before and liked, an...Buzzatti I actually have read before and liked, and I'm very very familiar with Borges, he's one of my favorite writers, but I had forgotten about Ayme. Thanks or the reminder.<br /><br />Magic realism, fabulism, it's been called a lot of different things. Lorca too, for example. Poet Onrad Aiken once wrote about Lorca that in fact Lorca is not a Surrealist, but goes directly for that archetypal level of reality that underlies Surrealism. I think ou could make a similar case for Ayme, and certainly or Borges.Art Durkeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07463180236975988432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-32566270009596748132012-07-29T17:23:57.372+01:002012-07-29T17:23:57.372+01:00That’s the thing, Ken, how many other writers out ...That’s the thing, <b>Ken</b>, how many other writers out there are there who we’ve never heard of? It makes me really sad that I’m such a slow reader. I feel the same about composers too. I’m learning about new ones all the time who have a lifetime’s worth of material and I don’t even know their name. As far as this guy reading like Auster I personally didn’t see it. I do have a review of an old Auster novel pencilled in for August 19th though you’ll be pleased to hear.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-72203370681459979302012-07-29T16:57:08.235+01:002012-07-29T16:57:08.235+01:00A very enjoyable post. This makes me want to read ...A very enjoyable post. This makes me want to read him. <br /><br />The extracts remind me of Paul Auster for some reason. Perhaps they have a matter-of-fact other-worldliness in common.Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.com