#Dublinesque

[sivavakkiyar]

Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque

#enrique vila matas

[kaffeeraum-bei-zarah]

Beograd walks - part I

...let me now take you for a walk along the streets of Belgrade! Different buildings and street corners that captured our attention. Mostly, Belgrade shows its beauty in white (and that is why it is called BELGRADE = WHITE CITY), grey and sometimes brown tones, so this colourful house is one of the not so many really bright spots of the capital...

Along with my own remarks on this or that, let me share also some beautiful quotes that I have found about Belgrade. Just feeling absolutely the same way as the authors of the quotations, and couldn't have said it better👍 "Once located at the border between the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian empires, it combines Central European with more Oriental influences, and adds a style and spirit of its own. I can only put it one way: Belgrade is cool." - Bootsnall: Serbia Travel Guide

“There are places in Belgrade where picket fences still exist, with weeds of a strong and bitter smell growing right next to them… a turtledove is cooing upon the wild pear branch and the lost field mouse is running in terror or hunger… All these things still exist, in a street with no name and a house with no number… Stuck like thistle to the pants of the metropolis, travelling across a time and space they do not belong to.” Dušan Radović, poet and writer

“This grand city seems to have always been like this: torn and split, as if it never exists but is perpetually being created, built upon and recovered. On one side it waxes and grows, on the other it wanes and deteriorates. Ever in motion and rustle, never calm and never knowing tranquility or quiet. The city upon two rivers, on the grand clearing, bound by the winds.” Ivo Andrić, writer and Nobel Prize winner

"BELGRADE HAS KIND OF A DUBLINESQUE, DEAR-DIRTY CHARM" - Rian Johnson, film producer

↑... it's not a rare case when you may spot graffitti on Belgrade buildings, even such cool artworks! This one is at Crnogorska Street in Savamala district.

“The sky above Belgrade is expansive and high, shifting yet always beautiful; clear with its chill splendour during the winter; turning into a single downcast cloud during summer storms, driven by the crazy winds and bearing rain mixed with the dust of the Pannonian plain; seeming to flower along with the ground during spring; and growing heavy with roils of autumnal stars during fall. Always beautiful and bountiful, it is a reward to this odd township for all that is missing and a comfort for everything that should not be.” Ivo Andrić, writer and Nobel Prize winner

↕… this area is close to the Main Railroad Station of the city. My heart is simply mealting when i see such time-honoured buildings… ever gorgeous!

↑… apart from the architectural charm of this house, i was attracted by the curious whale graffitti!

↑... The Belgrade Main Railway Station, built between 1882 and 1885 after the designs of the architect Dragutin Milutinović. It has the status of the сultural monument of great importance. [source: wikipedia]

#travel diaries #belgrade #beograd #serbia

[soracities]

...to be able to leave behind everything that might cross his path, to be constantly leaving everything behind, to be free and on the move, without ever slowing down.

Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque (trans. Anne Mclean and Rosalind Harvey)

#lit #quotes #prose #enrique vila-matas #dublinesque #fragments of selfhood #spanish lit #reading #m #x

[thebluesthour]

Strange sea of an intense blue, dangerous like love.

Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque

#lit #quotes #words #prose #Enrique Vila-Matas #Dublinesque #the sea the sea #the lovers #spanish lit #translated works #m

[litafficionado]

“He dreams of the day when the spell of the best-seller will be broken, making way for the reappearance of the talented reader, and for the terms of the moral contract between author and audience to be reconsidered. He dreams of the day when literary publishers can breathe again, those who live for an active reader, for a reader open enough to buy a book and allow a conscience radically different from his own to appear in his mind. He believes that if talent is demanded of a literary publisher or a writer, it must also be demanded of a reader. Because we mustn’t deceive ourselves: on the journey of reading we often travel through difficult terrains that demand a capacity for intelligent emotion, a desire to understand the other, and to approach a language distinct from the one of our daily tyrannies. As Vilém Vok says, it’s not so simple to feel the world as Kafka felt it, a world in which movement is denied and it becomes impossible even to go from one village to the next. The same skills needed for writing are needed for reading. Writers fail readers, but it also happens the other way around and readers fail writers when all they ask of them is confirmation that the world is how they see it. . . .” -Enrique Vila-Matas, from Dublinesque [tr. Anne McLean & Rosalind Harvey]

#Enrique Vila-Matas #dublinesque #anne mclean #rosalind harvey #lit #reading #writing

[danskjavlarna]

Surprises do occasionally occur

"In the long run, reality turns out to be inextinguishable, unreachable.  One can find out more and more about it, but not everything.  Even so, it's advisable to try to find out a little more, because in certain investigations surprises do occasionally occur." —Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque (highly recommended!)

#reality

[onesecondbeforesunset]

Perhaps our only privilege is to be alive and know we're all going to die together or separately.

Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque

#enrique vila matas #prose #quotes #reading #aesthetic #books & libraries #literature #booklover #poetry #today's quote #english literature #lit #lifequotes #aboutlife

[lindensea]

#music #piano #when i say billy joel is not given enough respect i really mean it #Spotify

[officialreptile]

houl yer whisht i'll learn dublinesque but you'll have to teach me norn irn slang that's the deal

#its too early to read norn iron #and i was really not expecting it from you sjsbsjd shebshsb #this THREW ME

[asriel-and-stelmaria]

Maybe he loves her so madly because she is someone he will never know everything about.

—Dublinesque by Enrique Vila-Matas

[giuliocavalli]

«Spero, un giorno, di essere il primo a sapere.»

«Spero, un giorno, di essere il primo a sapere.» (un’intervista di Ana Ciurans a Enrique Vila-Matas) Nei miei romanzi non ha importanza se il personaggio si dedica a mettere timbri in uno sportello o se è un cospiratore internazionale. Ciò che importa è la sua ossessione. I miei personaggi sono eroi –scrittori o editori, oddio, editori solo nell’ultimo romanzo – che girano intorno a un’ossessione. Appena ho finito di scrivere il libro, dimentico subito l’ossessione che quel libro contiene. Perché così velocemente? Perché tale ossessione era solo un pretesto per scrivere sul mondo e sulla vita. A molte desidererei avere un’ossessione così fissa da permettermi di diventare un grandissimo narratore, ma non ce l’ho. E quindi devo crearmela. Forse quel che mi ossessiona è precisamente il mondo, la vita. Mi piace parlare di tutto. E mi piacerebbe che un giorno qualcuno mi spiegasse tutto, assolutamente tutto. Ricordi quel racconto di Kafka Descrizione di una battaglia?: Mi racconti tutto, dall’inizio alla fine. Non voglio più sentire frammenti. Mi racconti tutto, dall’inizio alla fine. Non sono disposto ad ascoltare meno. Sì, decisamente il mondo è la mia unica ossessione. Gli elementi essenziali del romanzo del futuro sono, secondo l’editore Riba: intertestualità, relazioni con l’alta poesia; coscienza di un paesaggio morale in rovina; leggera superiorità dello stile sulla trama; scrittura vista come un orologio che avanza. Insomma, sembra il ritratto di Dublinesque. Convieni con l’opinione di Riba? Si tratta di una teoria che ho scritto prima di Dublinesque. Dopo, senza rendermene conto, ho scritto Dublinesque seguendo queste premesse teoriche. Credo che ogni romanzo fondi la propria teoria per poi distruggerla. Il libro che sto scrivendo ora, per esempio, si basa su una teoria diversa. Eccoci a Joyce e, sopratutto, a Beckett. Il capitolo sei di Ulysses è la cornice dove si celebra il requiem per il tramonto di un’epoca, inserito in Dublinesque, formante parte, in questo senso, della sua struttura. Con Beckett, al contrario, ho avuto una sensazione diversa. Che la sua presenza nel romanzo abbia ispirato una disgregazione dell’identità personale, un omaggio alla sua teoria secondo la quale non c’è nulla da comunicare, un processo di sottrazione, di asciugatura della tua scrittura. Sono sempre stato più vicino a Beckett che a Joyce. Di fatto, il terzo e ultimo capitolo di Dublinesque, è per me il più interessante, forse perché mi sono sentito più libero di scrivere, forse perché avevo già costruito – nel bene e nel male – tutta la fiction e mancava solo la passeggiata finale, dove potevo permettermi le licenze che mi mantengono ancora vivo quando narro. È capitato che qualcuno, qualche volta, abbia scritto un intero romanzo solo per poter introdurre – far scivolare – una frase, di vitale importanza per lui. È il caso di Dublinesque? Se ora ti dicessi di sì, ti obbligherei a rileggere il romanzo in un’altra chiave. Ma non te lo dirò, preferisco semplicemente che tu pensi che il romanzo ha, infatti, altre chiavi di lettura, che tu cerchi quella chiave segreta. Chi o che cosa significa per Enrique Vila-Matas quella “gran puttana” della letteratura? Povero figlio di puttana, disse amorevolmente un’amica di Scott Fitzgerald durante il funerale di Scott Fitzgerald. Povero figlio della letteratura, avrebbe potuto dire anche questo, no? Ma l’ho detto per rispondere alla tua domanda quando in realtà una risposta non ce l’ho. Ci sono cose che metto nei romanzi senza sapere il loro significato, sperando arriverà un giorno in cui lo capirò. Come la chiave segreta. Spero, un giorno, di essere il primo a sapere. (la trovate intera qui)

(un’intervista di Ana Ciurans a Enrique Vila-Matas) Nei miei romanzi non ha importanza se il personaggio si dedica a mettere timbri in uno sportello o se è un cospiratore internazionale. Ciò che importa è la sua ossessione. I miei personaggi sono eroi –scrittori o editori, oddio, editori solo nell’ultimo romanzo – che girano intorno a un’ossessione. Appena ho finito di scrivere il libro,…

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#intervista #Vila-Matas

[soracities]

“There are days when he feels like he’s lots of people at the same time and his brain is more peopled with ghosts than his parents’ house. And he can’t stand any of these people.”

Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque (trans. Anne Mclean & Rosalind Harvey)

#q #lit #quotes #prose #enrique vila-matas #dublinesque #fragments of selfhood #spanish lit #reading #m #x

[thebluesthour]

[Hammershøi 's] palette is very limited and is dominated by a range of gray tones. He’s the painter of what happens when it looks like nothing’s happening [...] in the midst of the lethargic stillness of his empty spaces, everything in him is obstinate, insistent. Hammershøi lives in a permanent state of quiet obsession ... The peaceful man’s universe seems to revolve around his restrained fascination.

Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque

#lit #quotes #words #prose #Enrique Vila-Matas #Dublinesque #spanish lit #works in translation #on art #Hammershoi #m

[auralchapstick]

4.2.17

Playing catch-up as my CDs are due this week and, despite all the driving I do, I haven’t made very much progress in my listening. Three weeks seem to pass by so quickly... at least when you’re trying to get through 10 CDs. Hm.

Billy Joel: Fantasies & Delusions || Really didn’t expect to see “Billy Joel” in the classical section when I was flipping through names like The Silk Road Ensemble and Mozart. Nothing stood out to me intensely. I was glad it wasn’t some extremely contemporary batch of compositions (but I guess it is Billy Joel). Liked that he had another pianist record for him. Slightly more memorable to me were Reverie (Villa D’Este), Waltz #2 (Steinway Hall), and Air (Dublinesque).

The Very Best of Nat King Cole || Definitely great music to just have and feel in a good, relaxed, mood. Maybe that’s just me because I like the “old” feel to music. This album set a good backdrop to a lengthy drive through the mountains to nice greenery (a botanical garden) with family. Alas, all that stuck in my head were songs from the Great American Songbook that I’d played before, such as Unforgettable and Smile.

RCA Victor’s Louis Armstrong: Greatest Hits || The songs in this collection were even less familiar to me than those on Nat King Cole, primarily because many are without words. I can, however, respect the skill and the smooth sound of his trumpet. This album was overall a great listen even if I can’t name or hum any of the songs that I enjoyed. I’d take another listen to familiarize myself with the titles.

Rent: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack || At the time of writing this, I’ve listened to this entire recording but have not seen/heard the Broadway version or watched any video recordings. Not quite sure what was happening throughout (or what anything looks like or how anything ends) but I was not expecting the rock/pop style, for some reason. I think I just never think properly to predict. I ended up really liking Seasons of Love (of course), Light My Candle, Over the Moon, and I Should Tell You. I think I just really liked the sound of whoever was Mimi. Time to go actually watch and see what is going on in this musical.

#auralapril

[danskjavlarna]

Books that have always been there

"One loves most books that produce the sensation, when opened for the first time, that they've always been there." —Enrique Vila-Matas, Dublinesque

All sorts of vintage book imagery is here in my virtual stacks.

#book

[ofresonance]

English readers may view Vila-Matas as too self-absorbed, too self-referential in his choice of the pursuit of literature as the exclusive subject of his fiction. Modernism in fiction may be acceptable, but such postmodern games still seem too much of a Continental fashion. Yet Vila-Matas's obsession shows that the quest to create literature is a metonym for the ability to live a life that has some meaning, rather than being entirely absurd. His creations suffer because of their obsessions, and all risk ending up like Herman Melville's scrivener, locked away for their refusal to compromise with 'normality'.

from Nick Caistor’s review of Dublinesque