Beers & Books CCXXXIX – American storytellers

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Beers & Books CCXXXVIII – Joseph von Eichendorff

Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing

Joseph von Eichendorff (10 March 1788 – 26 November 1857)

Beers & Books CCXXXVI – Heinrich von Kleist

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Heinrich von Kleist (18 October 1777 – 21 November 1811)

The Marquise of O

The Earthquake in Chile

Beers & Books CCXXXV – Georg Büchner

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Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837)

Lenz

Woyzeck

Danton's Death

Beers & Books CCXXXIV – Franz Werfel

Pale Blue Ink in a Lady's Hand

Franz Werfel (10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945)

Beers & Books CCXXX – Laurent Binet

Civilizations
*
“What would you do if you ruled the world?”
The gigolo replied that he would abolish all laws.
Barthes said: “Even grammar?”

Laurent Binet * 19 July 1972

Beers & Books CCXXVIII – E.T.A. Hoffmann

There is nothing
more marvellous or madder
than real life.

E.T.A. Hoffmann (24 January 1776 – 25 June 1822)

The Sandman

Mademoiselle de Scuderi

Beers & Books CCXXVII – Lafcadio Hearn

But what is after all the happiness of mere power?
There is a greater happiness possible
than to be lord of heaven and earth;
that is the happiness of being truly loved.

Lafcadio Hearn (17 June 1850 – 26 September 1904)

And here, one of his remarkable articles as a young reporter: Gaffeted.

Beers & Books CCXXVI – Bloomsday

June 16th, Bloomsday.
But which one?
The 118th!
Well, but had "Ulysses" not been published
in 1922, thus one hundred years ago,
there would not be any.
Therefore rather the 100th.
Whereas Flann O'Brien
after the umpteenth pint of stout
might prattle:
It's the 68th.

James Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941)

Ulysses

Leopold Bloom

Bloomsday

Beers & Books CCXXV – Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio wondered in the middle of the 14th century "that women were so little regarded" and in response wrote a collection of witty portraits of strong-willed, influential, sometimes dangerous women.

Until his death in 1375, Boccaccio repeatedly revised his work "De mulieribus claris", a collection of over 100 portraits of famous women. Charmingly and with witty wit, he presents strong women such as Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, the prophetess Carmenta, the painter Thamaris, the orator Hortensia and Proba, the poetess. They are not always virtuous, certainly not saintly, but what they all have in common is that they prevailed in the world of men through their bravery, powers of the mind and perseverance - and so these impressive stories are still of great relevance today. For this edition, the most beautiful texts have been selected and newly translated and illustrated with the woodcuts of the first German edition (1473).   

"While farmers
generally allow one rooster for ten hens,
ten men are scarcely sufficient
to service one woman."

Giovanni Boccaccio (16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375)

Beers & Books CCIV – Irwin Shaw

. . .

Irwin Shaw (27 February 1913 – 26 May 1984)

Beers & Books CLXXV – Gustave Flaubert

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Gustave Flaubert (11 December 1821 – 8 May 1880)

Beers & Books CLXXI – Yuri Herrera

. . .

Yuri Herrera *1970

Beers & Books CLXV – Banksy

“Art should comfort the disturbed
and disturb the comfortable.”

 

Beers & Books CXXV – Carmen Laforet

I write short, my words tight
to the thread of the narrative.

Carmen Laforet (6 September 1921 – 28 February 2004)

Beers & Books CII – Ernesto Sabato

Just as the office worker dreams
of murdering his hated boss
and so is saved from really murdering him,
so it is with the author;
with his great dreams
he helps his readers to survive,
to avoid their worst intentions.
And society, without realizing it
respects and even exalts him,
albeit with a kind of jealousy,
fear and even repulsion,
since few people want to discover the horrors
that lurk in the depths of their souls.
This is the highest mission of great literature,
and there is no other.

Ernesto Sabato (* 24 Juni 1911 - 30 April 2011)

Beers & Books XCVIII – Jean-Paul Sartre

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Jean-Paul Sartre (21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980)

Beers & Books XCVII– Zülfü Livaneli

At dusk a man came to a village and said
he was a prophet. But the farmers did not
believe him. "Prove it!" they demanded.
The man pointed to the fortress wall opposite
and asked, "If this wall speaks and confirms
that I am a prophet, will you believe me?"
"By God, then we believe you," they shouted.
The man turned to the wall, stretched out his hand
and commanded, "Speak, O wall!"
Then the wall began to speak:
"This man is not a prophet. He is deceiving you.
He is not a prophet."*

Zülfü Livaneli * 20 June 1946

Just for interest translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version). Does any native speaker find any mistake(s)?

Beers & Books XCII – Fernando Pessoa

The Book of Disquiet
*
"Literature exists because the world isn't enough."

 

Fernando Pessoa (13. Juni 1888 – 30. November 1935)

Beers & Books XCI – Djuna Barnes

Only the impossible lasts forever.

Djuna Barnes (June 12, 1892 – June 18, 1982)