Beers & Books CCLVXXXI – John Banville

...

John Banville *8 December 1945

Beers & Books CCLVXXX – John Hume

Difference is of the essence of humanity.
Difference is an accident of birth and should therefore
never be the source of hatred or conflict.
The answer to difference is to respect it.
Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace:
respect for diversity.

John Hume (18 January 1937 – 3 August 2020)

Beers & Books CCLVXXIX – Other Stories and Other Stories

...

 

Ali Smith *24 August 1962

Mo(o)nday Poetry

Dice la tarde:
"Tengo sed de sombra!"
Dice la luna: "Yo, sed de luceros."
[...]
Says the afternoon:
"I'm thirsty for shadow!"
Says the moon: "I want stars."

Yo tengo sed de aromas y de risas.
Sed de cantares nuevos
Sin lunas y sin lirios,
Y sin amores muertos.
*
I'm thirsty for scents and for laughter.
Thirsty for new songs
Without moons and without lilies,
And without dead loves.

 

Excerpt of Federico García Lorca's poem Cantos nuevo / New songs

Federico García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936)

Nâzım Hikmet had a dream

Yaşamak bir ağaç gibi tek ve hür
ve bir orman gibi kardeşçesine,
bu hasret bizim.

To live like a tree and at liberty
and brotherly like the trees of a forest,
this yearning is ours.

Nâzım Hikmet (15 January 1902 – 3 June 1963)

Saturday Night Music – Fazil Say

Fazil Say *14 January 1970

Beers & Books CCLVXXIII – Scottish Scene

Scottish Scene
or the Intelligent Man's Guide to Albyn

James Lesley Mitchell* (13 February 1901 – 7 February 1935)

alias Lewis Grassic Gibbon

Beers & Books CCLVXXII – The Bastard of Istanbul

The Bastard of Istanbul

 

Elif Shafak *25 October 1971

Beers & Books CCLVXXI – Synge: The Aran Islands

The Aran Islands

John Millington Synge (16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909)

Beers & Books CCLVXX – A pity youth does not last

A pity youth does not last

Beers & Books CCLXIX – The Handmaid's Tale

The Handmaid's Tale

Margret Atwood *18 September 1939

Beers & Books CCLXVIII – Sagas from Prehistory

Sagas
from
Prehistory
Of Wikings, Berserks
Undead and Trolls

Beers & Books CCLXVII – Mankell: The White Lioness

The White Lioness*

Henning Mankell (3 February 1948 – 5 October 2015)

* Unlike the German synopsis of this excellent political thriller the English one is suboptimal, to put it politely. F.e., the Broederbond is not about to orchestrate the murder of de Klerk but of Mandela.