Jesús Moncada - The Towpath

Ens apuntem a aquesta nova proposta de col·laboració blocaire: fer un homenatge a Jesús Moncada, avui, 13 de juny, en commemoració del 5è aniversari de la seva mort.
Fa un parell de mesos vam fer un apunt amb les primeres paraules del Camí de Sirga traduides a l'anglès (per Judith Willis, any 1994). Avuí continuem ...

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of Catalan author Jesus Moncada's premature passing away, many bloggers are today publishing something related to his work. Two months ago we posted the first few lines of his novel The Towpath in their English translation. Here's how the story continues ...

The first in chronological order - though not the most poignant - related how the clock on the belfry had stopped the previous evening against a louring backdrop of purple and sickly yellow storm-clouds streaked with black. For the chronicler this was a clear omen of what was to pass on the morrow, a sign that the past was gone for good. Another lurid account which described the night that followed this uncertain dusk was full of suspense: it mirrored indoors as the townspeople prayed that dawn should not break. The most vivid of all these recollections, however, was of the sinister bang on Horseshoe Hill at eleven o'clock the next morning; according to the chronicle, the townsfolk were profoundly shaken by the onset of the disaster.
These accounts were certainly all very impressive. But this wasn't the only factor they had in common; there was something else, something of maybe no significance, and yet it helps explain what happened that ill-starred day. They were also all, without exception, completely false.
...
I en català ...
El primer des del punt de vista cronològic, tot i que no resultava el més patètic, recollia l'aturada del rellotge del campanar esdevinguda la vigília enmig d'un capvespre tempestuós que pintava el cel de la vila amb carmins violacis, ors mortoïns i bromalles negres; segons el cronista, l'avaria era una premonició clara del que havia de passar l'endemà, un anunci del final inexorable del vell temps. L'angoixa es feia esborronadora en la descripció, deguda a un altre testimoni, de la nit a què havia donat pas la incertesa del crepuscle: la crònica parlava del silenci espès en els carrers deserts, silenci que volia reflectir el de la gent tancada a casa, pregant perquè no trenqués el dia. Tanmateix, entre les evocacions, la més colpidora era la del retruny sinistre de les onze del matí següent a la Baixada de la Ferradura: segons la crònica, els vilatans van sentir-se sotragats fins al moll de l'os pel començament del desastre.

Certament els testimonis resultaven impressionants. Ara bé, aquesta no era l'única característica que tenien en comú; en compartien una altra, potser insignificant però prou esclaridora del que va passar aquell dia nefast: tots, sense excepció, eren també absolutament falsos.

L'Hora del Lector

Avui al canal 33, el programa L’Hora del Lector parlarà de traduccions. Aquí teniu l’informació del programa:
Els traductors al català Anna Casassas, Dolors Udina i Xavier Pèmies seran els convidats de "L'hora del lector", on debatran sobre el moment actual de la traducció, amb el presentador i director del programa, Emili Manzano. Anna Casassas ha traduït, entre d'altres, obres de Jan Potocki, Claudi Magris, Giani Stuparich, Philippe Claudel, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac.

Per més informació podeu mirar el web, o el bloc.

A Kiwi on the Costa Brava

There have been many books written by English-speakers living in Spain, France and Italy, full of amusing anecdotes and insights into the so-called Mediterranean culture. However, very few have been written about Catalonia. In today's Catalan newspaper, El Punt, they interview Jonathan Stark, a "Kiwi" (New Zealander), who lives here and has just published A Kiwi on the Costa Brava. Most on-line bookshops stock it if anyone wants to know more about the life of Catalans (from a different point of view).

Here's the publicity blurb describing the book:

"Why is 9/11 more important to Catalans? Who was Wilfred the Hairy? When is a wolf’s fart edible? Why are bumper stickers of donkeys ubiquitous in Catalonia? What explains the ambivalence of many Catalans to their war generation? Why does Football Club Barcelona have the English flag on its emblem? Does black rice taste better than it sounds?

The answers to these and many other pertinent questions are revealed in A Kiwi on the Costa Brava, Jonathan Stark’s sympathetic account of a typical summer on Catalonia’s most famous coast. It begins with him and his Catalan wife returning to the Costa Brava to discover their summer business in crisis just as the season is about to begin. Finding solace in Mediterranean cuisine, breezy terraces and historic landscapes, they witness the yearly transformation that the Costa Brava undergoes with the arrival of millions of foreign and domestic holidaymakers. Simultaneously the author successfully solves a local mystery, experiences ups and downs as he attempts to improve his Catalan and works on a novel set on the Costa Brava.

Anecdotal, entertaining and humorous but also informative and thoughtful, A Kiwi on the Costa Brava allows readers to gain a better insight into a region of Europe that is both fashionable and well visited, but often poorly known and frequently misunderstood."

Fira del Llibre Ebrenc

Ara arriba la Fira del Llibre Ebrenc a Móra d'Ebre ...
aquí teniu el link.