Christopher Hitchens – de ce il citesc, de ce il admir

Il citesc pe Christopher Hitchens in ‘Vanity Fair’ de mult timp.  Jurnalist de cursa lunga, corespondent, critic literar, autor (Hostage to History: Cyprus from the Ottomans to Kissinger (Quartet, 1984), The Missionary Position (Verso, 1994), No One Left to Lie To (Verso, 1999),Why Orwell Matters (Basic Books, 2002)) si scenarist de film documentar pentru televiziunile britanice, Hitchens are una dintre cele mai limpezi, amuzante si competente voci din presa actuala.

In cel mai recent articol al sau pentru ‘Vanity Fair’ – ‘What I Don’t See at the Revolution’, despre recentele revolutii din tarile arabe:

‘As was once said of Prussia, Egypt is not a country that has an army, but an army that has a country. ‘

‘Heroism breaks its heart, and idealism its back, on the intransigence of the credulous and the mediocre, manipulated by the cynical and the corrupt.’ (pe asta as tatua-o pe fruntea tuturor politicienilor)

Diagnosticat cu cancer, Hitchens incepe o serie de articole –  ‘Topic of Cancer’  - de o sinceritate sfasietorare, care te face sa lacrimezi de compasiune si, simultan,de ras.

‘The absorbing fact about being mortally sick is that you spend a good deal of time preparing yourself to die with some modicum of stoicism (and provision for loved ones), while being simultaneously and highly interested in the business of survival. This is a distinctly bizarre way of “living”—lawyers in the morning and doctors in the afternoon—and means that one has to exist even more than usual in a double frame of mind. ‘

‘As the populations of Tumortown and Wellville continue to swell and to “interact,” there’s a growing need for ground rules that prevent us from inflicting ourselves upon one another.’

‘In whatever kind of a “race” life may be, I have very abruptly become a finalist.’

‘Many needles were sunk into my clavicle area—“Tissue is the issue” being a hot slogan in the local Tumorville tongue—and I was told the biopsy results might take a week.’

‘To the dumb question “Why me?” the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: Why not?’

Nu prea mai e nimic de adaugat, nu?

Ia mai zi un limerick!

De vreo doua zile, ma tot distrez rasfoind o carte din copilarie – ‘Topsy Turvy World’ – o culegere de limericks publicata de o editura sovietica (don’t ask why, aia gaseam, aia cumparam).

In afara de limericks, volumul contine si un capitol consistent de epitafuri zambarete, dovada limpede a faptului ca Sapantza are rude si prin alte locuri.

Uite cateva dintre ele, for a taste

Here lies a cannibal who, now and then,
Forgetting the advice of his physician,
Absorbed the deadliest poison known to men
And died of politician.

In the drinking well
Which the plumber built her
Aunt Eliza fell -
We must buy a filter!

Beneath this stone, a lump of clay,
Lies Uncle Peter Dan’els,
Who, early in the month of May,
Took off his winter flannels.

Si – pour la bonne bouche – unul dintre preferatele mele:

Here lies a poor woman who was always tired,
She lived in a house where help wasn’t hired.
Her last words on earth were: “Dear friends, I am going
To where there’s no cooking, or washing, or sewing,
For everything there is exact to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat there’s no washing of dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems will always be ringing,
But having no voice I’ll be quit of the singing.
Don’t mourn for me now, don’t mourn for me never
I am going to do nothing for ever and ever.

Foto:merfam

Cadou: ‘Margica albastra’ pentru doritori

Acum ceva timp, am scris o postare intitulata ‘Cartile’, despre lecturi preferate ale copilariei, pe care le-am redescoperit pe un raft mai putin umblat al bibliotecii.  Va spun sicer – nu ma asteptam ca atatia oameni draguti sa aiba atata nostalgie pentru aceste volume.  O supriza mai mult decat placuta!

Din plutonul vechilor mele carti, s-a detasat fara probleme ‘Margica albastra’ a Mariei Kruger.  Nu numai ca am declansat o multime de cereri energice pentru scanarea si transmiterea ei din om in om, insa mi-am dat seama – cu aceasta ocazie – ca admiratorii eroinei principale sunt fani adevarati, incapatanati si neabatuti.  Vor mortis sa transmita si generatiei urmatoare povestea margelei albastre.

Dintre toti acesti fani, Nicoleta a fost cea mai hotarata.  Datorita ei si datorita lui Cristian, care s-a dovedit la fel de entuziast, va pot oferi astazi varianta scanata a cartii.  Drept sa spun, nu este mai deloc meritul meu – am fost destul de inceata in reactii.  Insa sper sa fie un cadou frumos pentru toti doritorii.  Tot ceea ce trebuie sa faceti, este sa imi scrieti un mail pe adresa din pagina de contact si va voi raspunde imediat.

Oare o fi cazul si momentul sa lansam un fan-club ‘ Margica albastra’ ?