Sandor Marai

Here in Barcelona there has been held an exhibition about the Hungarian writer Sandor Marai. He is one of the most prominent figures of the 20th C. Central European literature.

Marai said:

"Writers and artists have two homelands: the place when they were born linked with them through language and blood, and Paris"

In this exhibition, there was a picture of the writer with Thomas Mann.

This is a New York Times review of one of Sandor Marai books

Poet, journalist, dramatist, translator, novelist and essayist, Marai worked in just about every literary form, but for Hungarians it’s probably the diaries that excite the greatest admiration; written in a bare prose, they offer a merciless examination of himself and his era. He loved his native language, and stuck with it in exile (he could easily have switched to German) although he was well aware this decision ensured indigence and obscurity. His relations with his fellow Hungarians, however, were not very smooth. Insanely principled, he found himself isolated even within émigré circles.

Shortly before he committed suicide in San Diego in 1989, Marai oversaw the publication of “The Garrens’ Work: A Novel in Two Volumes.” This was what he judged his magnum opus, the story of the Garren family from his hometown, Kassa (now Kosice, in Slovakia).

HALLUCINATING FOUCAULT

One of the last books I have read is Patricia Dunker Hallucinating Foucault

This is a fantastic book that basically highlights the relatioship among writers and readers.

A postgraduate student is the starting point of a quest to find the object of his thesis, Paul Michel. He goes to France to meet him. Following the research path he goes to an isolated asylum and the beaches of the south of France. This is a book that celebrates the love of the student-reader towards the writer.

Duncker writes:"It cannot be proven to exist. Yet we often talk with extraordinary intensity about a writer we've discovered, loved, read, and re-read. Reading is an eerie, alien, intimate experience. We know that there is someone on the other side of writing. They are sometimes close, terrifyingly present. We listen hard."

creative act.

Jack Johnson

This weekend I have experienced this summer good vibes through music. When I listen to Jack Johnson's songs I imagine myself relaxed on beautiful beach... maybe in Australia. Anyway, we had Jack Johnson playing at Cruïlla Festival here in Barcelona. I bought the tickets months ago, as soon as I knew he was coming. The line up was completed later with other bands... Madness, Public Enemy...which wasn't bad at all.

Moments of indulgence

Sitting on a Parc de la Ciutadella bench reading a good book and drinking a coffee

Hello Kitty Cheetos

Colourful and tasty vanilla cupcakes

A nice cup of coffee