Beers & Books CXC – Jack London

Burning Daylight
*
There's only one way to make a beginning,
and that is to begin;
and begin with hard work, and patience,
prepared for all the disappointments.

Jack London (12 Januar 1876 – 22 November 1916)

Beers & Books CLXXXIX – Eduardo Mendoza

La ciudad de los prodigos / The City of Marvels
*
Un problema deja de serlo si no tiene solución.

A problem is no longer a problem if it has no solution.

Eduardo Mendoza *11 January 1943

Beers & Books CLXXXVIII – Antonio Muñoz Molina

I have spent a great deal of my life
being part of minorities.
Some of the people I admire the most in the world
have had the courage to defend, against wind and tide,
minority viewpoints in those frightening times
when any disagreement with universal conformity
is identified as treason.

* * *
Like a Fading Shadow
The Polish Rider

Antonio Muñoz Molina *10 January 1956

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)

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)

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.

Beers & Books CLXXXIV – Carlos Saura

¡Esa Luz! / This Light!

Carlos Saura *4 January 1932

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)

Saturday Night Music – In the Year 2525

Zager & Evans

Metropolis

Same Procedure as Last Year?

 Jürgen Tomicek *17 May 1957

Beers & Books CLXXXII – Federigo Tozzi

 

Con gli occhi chiusi (1919)

Federigo Tozzi (1 January 1883 – 21 March 1920)

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