Sunday, June 24, 2007
Din of Silence
Occasional forays to Words without Borders always results in a gem of a story. Last week, this story, Crossing the Serbian Republic's Border by the German writer Juli Zeh, as translated by Gerald Chapple, came up. For those of you not familiar with Words without Borders, please go there and bookmark it immediately. It's a free treasure trove of stories we here on the other side of the Atlantic (and Pacific) rarely get to read. I've spent hours over there in the vast written riches.
Zeh's piece, Crossing the Serbian Republic's Border is a short (8 printed pages) excerpt from her book, Even Silence Is a Sound: Travels through Bosnia. It's not Rebecca West. And, for anyone who's plied though her doorstop of a book (1,232 pages in its latest version), I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say, "Thank God!". Ms. Zeh is quite open-minded and doesn't seem, from this short piece at least, to have a political axe to grind.
A short excerpt to tempt you. She has just driven into the bombed out village of Zavala.
"I find a watering can that shakes as I lower it in; the water is fresh and clear. I give the dog some water and rig up a shower on the edge of the roof with the watering can, come iron hooks, and cord. I push the garbage off to the side, sweep the patio with a piece of timber repair the legs on the wooden bench, and pad it with all the clothing in my rucksack. I arrange a few symbolic pieces of furniture: a broken footstool that now has a washbasin on it; a chair, and a pot with holes, tall grass, and cactus. Man is an odd creature, what with his nesting urge; even on the moon he'd try to make an imitation TV chair out of dust."
The only English translation of her published books that I could locate was Eagles & Angels published by Granta in 2004. Hopefully, Even Silence Is a Sound. Travels through Bosnia will soon have its rights sold to an American publisher. Currently, it's only available, outside of Germany, in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Netherlands, & Slovenia.
Hey, Alcessa! Familiar with Ms. Zeh's stuff? Care to share?
Zeh's piece, Crossing the Serbian Republic's Border is a short (8 printed pages) excerpt from her book, Even Silence Is a Sound: Travels through Bosnia. It's not Rebecca West. And, for anyone who's plied though her doorstop of a book (1,232 pages in its latest version), I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say, "Thank God!". Ms. Zeh is quite open-minded and doesn't seem, from this short piece at least, to have a political axe to grind.
A short excerpt to tempt you. She has just driven into the bombed out village of Zavala.
"I find a watering can that shakes as I lower it in; the water is fresh and clear. I give the dog some water and rig up a shower on the edge of the roof with the watering can, come iron hooks, and cord. I push the garbage off to the side, sweep the patio with a piece of timber repair the legs on the wooden bench, and pad it with all the clothing in my rucksack. I arrange a few symbolic pieces of furniture: a broken footstool that now has a washbasin on it; a chair, and a pot with holes, tall grass, and cactus. Man is an odd creature, what with his nesting urge; even on the moon he'd try to make an imitation TV chair out of dust."
The only English translation of her published books that I could locate was Eagles & Angels published by Granta in 2004. Hopefully, Even Silence Is a Sound. Travels through Bosnia will soon have its rights sold to an American publisher. Currently, it's only available, outside of Germany, in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Netherlands, & Slovenia.
Hey, Alcessa! Familiar with Ms. Zeh's stuff? Care to share?
Comments:
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Darko, I only read about her and thought I may want to read Even Silence Is a Sound, but then I didn't. Our co-blogger Novala did though, which doesn't surprise me. :-)
I took a look at her CV, published on her HP (link from Wikipedia) - I must say she sounds like a very interesting person: one of the best law students in her Bundesland, a successful student of literature, EU expert etc. etc. Very much liked by the German press, too.
Reading about her reminded me of another lawyer who is also a great writer: Anna Funder with her Stasiland.
Ever since I read some of Slavenka Drakulić's works I take care to portion these kinds of writing evenly, because they do tend to go deep (sorry if it sounds silly, but I do tend to "go with the book" so I have to be careful :-) )
Thank you very much for the link (WWB)!!!!
I took a look at her CV, published on her HP (link from Wikipedia) - I must say she sounds like a very interesting person: one of the best law students in her Bundesland, a successful student of literature, EU expert etc. etc. Very much liked by the German press, too.
Reading about her reminded me of another lawyer who is also a great writer: Anna Funder with her Stasiland.
Ever since I read some of Slavenka Drakulić's works I take care to portion these kinds of writing evenly, because they do tend to go deep (sorry if it sounds silly, but I do tend to "go with the book" so I have to be careful :-) )
Thank you very much for the link (WWB)!!!!
# opined by 
: 12:26 PM, June 25, 2007
: 12:26 PM, June 25, 2007
Alcessa,
Thanks for bringing in Novala's link. Her review of the Zeh book was quite scathing. Some of the things that she mentioned in her review with a negative connotation are things that I actually would enjoy, but it was an interesting take on the book, nonetheless.
I've read a few of Drakulic's books, namely this one and this one. Are any of her most recent books worth the time?
Have you read any of Dubravka Ugresic's stuff, like this one or this one?
I'd strongly suggest reading Josip Novacovich's writings. I especially enjoyed
this one, this one especially, this one, and this one
Thanks for the tip on Anna Funder!
Thanks for bringing in Novala's link. Her review of the Zeh book was quite scathing. Some of the things that she mentioned in her review with a negative connotation are things that I actually would enjoy, but it was an interesting take on the book, nonetheless.
I've read a few of Drakulic's books, namely this one and this one. Are any of her most recent books worth the time?
Have you read any of Dubravka Ugresic's stuff, like this one or this one?
I'd strongly suggest reading Josip Novacovich's writings. I especially enjoyed
this one, this one especially, this one, and this one
Thanks for the tip on Anna Funder!
Juhu, some more tips! No, I don't know Dubravka Ugresic or Josip Novakovic, but I'll check them out, thank you. The last books I read by Drakulic, were Kao da me nema (As If I am Not There) and S. and I needed a break after the last one - it's about "mass raping" during the War. Then came They Would Never Hurt a Fly, which is also good and sharp.
I was relatively young when I read (in Slovenian) How We Survived Communism and it made a lasting impression on me. Ever since, I have enjoyed Drakulic in Croatian, German and English, though I don't remember anymore, which book in which language :-)
I would also want to see for myself whether I like Zeh or not. Her homepage and the excerpts did appeal to me, though.
So much reading to be done, nice!
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I was relatively young when I read (in Slovenian) How We Survived Communism and it made a lasting impression on me. Ever since, I have enjoyed Drakulic in Croatian, German and English, though I don't remember anymore, which book in which language :-)
I would also want to see for myself whether I like Zeh or not. Her homepage and the excerpts did appeal to me, though.
So much reading to be done, nice!
# opined by : 3:57 PM, June 25, 2007
: 3:57 PM, June 25, 2007 << Home Verging on Pertinence Just some more disposable thoughts clogging up the hinterlands
