Monday, January 10, 2022

Beers & Books CLXXXVII – Gianni Celati

Nella vita d'un turista che va un po' lontano,
credo che a un certo punto sorge
per forza la domanda:
"Ma cosa sono venuto qui a fare?"
Domanda che mette in moto
il gran cinema delle giustificazioni con se stessi,
per non dirsi sul serio:
"Sono qui a non far niente"
*
In the life of a tourist who goes a little far away,
I think that at a certain point the question necessarily arises:
"What did I come here for?"
This question sets in motion
the great cinema of justifications to oneself,
so as not to say seriously:
"I'm here to do nothing".

Gianni Celati (10 January 1937 – 3 January 2022)

Saturday, January 08, 2022

Beers & Books CLXXXVI – Leonardo Sciascia

The truth is at the bottom of a well.
You look in a well,
and you see the sun or the moon,
but if you jump in,
there's no longer the sun or the moon;
there's the truth.

 

Leonardo Sciascia (8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989)

Thursday, January 06, 2022

Beers & Books CLXXXV – Maeve Brennan

"All we have to face in the future
is what has happened in the past.
It is unbearable."

Maeve Brennan  (6 January 1917 – 1 November 1993)

Laughing Lhursday*

In the year 2097 ...

* [For first time visitors]: Typo in the title? Nah. It's just that
I would not let a tiny T spoil an avantgardistic alliteration.

Monday, January 03, 2022

Beers & Books CLXXXIII – J. R. R. Tolkien

It is no bad thing
celebrating a simple life.
  

J. R. R. Tolkien (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973)

Friday, December 31, 2021

Same Procedure as Every Year

If counted well the Germans today can/could watch Dinner for One (The 90th Birthday) 13 times at different times on various TV-channels, and apart from the original in various German dialects, inclusive Schwiizerdütsch (Swiss German). Very strange folks, the Germans. Well, judge for yourself. 

Tiny tip-off: Be absolutely determined not to laugh. 

 

Dinner for One