It's a literary report on the state of the modern obsessions, most of which I don't necessarily share, so getting to the end of DeLillo's "White Noise" was more of good reading manners than compulsion.
The praise on the cover casts the book as "extraordinarily funny" and "dizzying", but for the most part I found it neither uniquely amusing, nor particularly impressive. It seems to be composed around a tangled mess of the narrator's worries, which all have their roots in his irrational fear of death. Basically actionless, it traces the inner struggle of Jack Gladney, a Hitler studies academic, as he tries to accomodate and explain anxieties and tensions that steadily take hold of his daily life. Most decisions he takes in the book are propelled by conscious and unconscious fright, the premonitions of his own and his wife's death. Page after page we learn how musings about dying dominate his mind, some of which are plainly unreadable, pretentious, full of hot air and cheap philosophy, while others stike the reader as extremely apt. Or funny, for that matter, for example when Gladney comes down to the living room at night, drawn by odd sounds, imagining he's about to meet his death, while in fact it's just his father-in-law, who sneaked in unannounced, trying not to wake up the house.
Death may be in the limelight here, but there's a host of other phobias that make up the structure of the narration. The creeping technology, which defines people's lives and defies their understanding, rampant consumerism, with needless visits to the supermarket, one of the key destinations in the book. What else is there? Threatening medicine, with untested pills of unknown side effects that manage to assuage the fear of death, created in the wake of opaque experiments. Emergency situations, with the toxic cloud that plagues the college town of Blacksmith at the start of the book coming back over and over again in the guise of post-fallout medical checkups, disaster simulation teams running regular rehearsals, worrying levels of contamination and other threats in dozens. And finally, decadence that both featured academics ooze, being experts in the sombre disciplines of Hitler studies (Gladney) and car crushes (Murray).
Published in 1985, (a contemporary review here) it must have been inspired by the end of the century anxiety, but it now reads awkwardly, with obsessions and insecurities taking all the attention, until it gets banal or clearly over the top. But, to do justice to "White Noise", it neatly captures, also in its telling title, the randomness of the times, its chaotic, obsessed pace, overburdened with technology and commercialism.
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Tuesday 28 July 2009
Literatura metropolitalna
Nie znałem człowieka albo przeoczyłem o nim informacje, ale w Poznaniu mieszka pisarz i działacz kulturalny, który napisał współczesną, dobrze przyjętą książkę z miastem w jednej z głównych ról. To mnie zachęca do lektury, od dawna chciałem trochę bardziej wgryźć się w moje przybrane miasto. To może być dobry początek.
Zresztą książka Edwarda Pasewicza "Śmierć w darkroomie" wpisuje się w trend ostatnich lat, kiedy to kilku autorów użyło polskich miast (najbardziej znane z nich to kryminały Marka Krajewskiego, np. "Śmierć w Breslau", oraz niedawna powieść o Szczecinie "Bambino" Olgi Iwasiów) do osadzenia akcji swojej fikcji.
Do przeczytania.
Zresztą książka Edwarda Pasewicza "Śmierć w darkroomie" wpisuje się w trend ostatnich lat, kiedy to kilku autorów użyło polskich miast (najbardziej znane z nich to kryminały Marka Krajewskiego, np. "Śmierć w Breslau", oraz niedawna powieść o Szczecinie "Bambino" Olgi Iwasiów) do osadzenia akcji swojej fikcji.
Do przeczytania.
Monday 27 July 2009
locus minoris resistentiae
Architechture has never been my thing, but I keep reading in the papers about the big names in the business. The latest outburst of excitement over the architectural project came from London, where two renowned Japanese designers Kazujo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa put together the 2009 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, an annual structure commissioned from the leading artists by the gallery to hold some of its summer events.
The pavilion was previously designed by other giants of the modern architecture:
1) Daniel Libeskind, a Polish-born American architect of Jewish origin, the author of the Jewish Museum Berlin and, possibly if things go according to plan, a skyscraper in Poznań,
2) Frank Gehry, a Los Angeles-based Pritzker Prize winner, who sprang to fame after his ground-breaking projects of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao or Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA,
3) Zaha Hadid, a renowned British architect, born in Iraq, the author of the BMW Central Building and another winner of the Pritzker Prize,
4) Rem Koolhaas, a Dutch renaissance man of architecture, a mind behind Casa da Música, the innovative concert hall in Porto or the Guggenheim Heritage Museum in Las Vegas,
5) a Brazilian Oscar Niemeyer, known for his visionary architechture scattered around his home country, for example the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum and the Cathedral of Brasilia,
6) Toyo Ito, a Japanese specialising in innovative architecture, including the use of solar energy, like in World Games Stadium in Taiwan.
The pavilion was previously designed by other giants of the modern architecture:
1) Daniel Libeskind, a Polish-born American architect of Jewish origin, the author of the Jewish Museum Berlin and, possibly if things go according to plan, a skyscraper in Poznań,
2) Frank Gehry, a Los Angeles-based Pritzker Prize winner, who sprang to fame after his ground-breaking projects of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao or Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA,
3) Zaha Hadid, a renowned British architect, born in Iraq, the author of the BMW Central Building and another winner of the Pritzker Prize,
4) Rem Koolhaas, a Dutch renaissance man of architecture, a mind behind Casa da Música, the innovative concert hall in Porto or the Guggenheim Heritage Museum in Las Vegas,
5) a Brazilian Oscar Niemeyer, known for his visionary architechture scattered around his home country, for example the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum and the Cathedral of Brasilia,
6) Toyo Ito, a Japanese specialising in innovative architecture, including the use of solar energy, like in World Games Stadium in Taiwan.
Sunday 26 July 2009
Francuskie badania nad człowiekiem
Dwa niezwiązane ze soba wywiady z dwoma Francuzami jednak coś łączy. Jean Hatzfeld jest byłym korespondentem wojennym, który od lat bada korzenie i konsekwencje wojny domowej w Rwandzie, gdzie w 1994r. dominujące plemię Hutu dokonało ludobójstwa na mniejszości Tutsi. Jean-Xavier de Lastrade to utytułowany producent i reżyser, który kręci filmy dokumentalne demaskujące nieprawidłowości systemu sprawiedliwości na zachodzie.
Obaj kierują sie w swoich pracach metodą wielomiesięcznej rozmowy z bohaterami swoich reportaży. Nie popędzają ich, budują zaufanie, otwierają, spędzają z nimi czas, nie starają się natychmiast ich pojąć, co jest tak typowe w naszej kulturze. Nie znam efektów ich starań (wydawnictwo Czarne wydało "Strategię Antylop" Hatzfelda, de Lastrade możne we fragmentach zobaczyć w internecie), ale rozmowy, które czytałem, wskazują na ich unikalne, przenikliwe spojrzenie na rzeczywistość, intensywne, gęste, niebanalne. Da sie wyczuć, że czytają ją swoim kluczem, a wnioski, do których dochodzą mają wręcz filozoficzną wartość, dla niektórych trudną lub wręcz niemożliwą do zaakceptowania, dla innych może i banalną, ale jednak błyskotliwie wyrażoną.
De Lastrade: "Zrozumiałem, że nie istnieje ktoś taki jak morderca. Nikt nie powinien zostać zredukowany do jednej kategorii ani opisany jednym określeniem"
Hatzfeld: "Wojna to rzeka, która wystąpiła z brzegów. Ludobójstwo to rzeka, która wyschła."
Obaj kierują sie w swoich pracach metodą wielomiesięcznej rozmowy z bohaterami swoich reportaży. Nie popędzają ich, budują zaufanie, otwierają, spędzają z nimi czas, nie starają się natychmiast ich pojąć, co jest tak typowe w naszej kulturze. Nie znam efektów ich starań (wydawnictwo Czarne wydało "Strategię Antylop" Hatzfelda, de Lastrade możne we fragmentach zobaczyć w internecie), ale rozmowy, które czytałem, wskazują na ich unikalne, przenikliwe spojrzenie na rzeczywistość, intensywne, gęste, niebanalne. Da sie wyczuć, że czytają ją swoim kluczem, a wnioski, do których dochodzą mają wręcz filozoficzną wartość, dla niektórych trudną lub wręcz niemożliwą do zaakceptowania, dla innych może i banalną, ale jednak błyskotliwie wyrażoną.
De Lastrade: "Zrozumiałem, że nie istnieje ktoś taki jak morderca. Nikt nie powinien zostać zredukowany do jednej kategorii ani opisany jednym określeniem"
Hatzfeld: "Wojna to rzeka, która wystąpiła z brzegów. Ludobójstwo to rzeka, która wyschła."
Saturday 25 July 2009
Jarmusch's Wild West
"Dead man" by Jim Jarmusch may well be the best western I've seen in my life.
William Blake, a young accountant from Cleavland, travels to a distant settlement in the West, called Town of Machine, to begin work for a metalworks company. He arrives only to find out that his position has been taken up by another man. Shortchanged by the ruthless owner of the business, the almighty Mr Dickinson, he ends up in the street and this is where he bumps into a beautiful, warm-hearted girl. Next morning, they wake up in bed together just as the room is intruded by the girl's fiancé returning from a voyage. In a gunfight, the heartbroken fiancé takes aim at Blake, but when he pulls the trigger, his girlfriend lunges to the newcomer's defence and is shot dead. Blake pulls out the girl's pistol and guns down her fiancé, saving his own life. He dashes off the scene shocked and seriously wounded.
It soon turns out the victims were related to Dickinson, who recruits the top killers in the area to get Blake, dead or alive.
When Blake regains consciousness, he's being taken care of by a round-faced Indian in the desert. Impossibly, Blake's rescuer proves to be a devoted fan of William Blake's poetry and takes William Blake the accountant for William Blake the English artist. How come an Indian in the middle of the Wild West is so well-read in English literature, reciting "Auguries of Innocence" from memory? Well, it's hard to believe, but he was captured by English soldiers at the age of 9, shipped across the Atlantic, first displayed in England as a curiosity, then placed in schools where he received detailed education, falling in love with Blake's poetic visions. It's so refreshing and liberating to see an Indian hero with a difference, more self-aware and outspoken than most white characters.
Together, a wounded accountant mistaken for the poet and his dedicated fan, embark on an unlikely journey as they try to evade the assassins.
It's Jarmusch as usual, slow-paced, awkward, rough, but it's the tension between the Jarmuschian way of doing films and the sterotypical expectations for western that makes a difference here. It's a western with a difference.
William Blake, a young accountant from Cleavland, travels to a distant settlement in the West, called Town of Machine, to begin work for a metalworks company. He arrives only to find out that his position has been taken up by another man. Shortchanged by the ruthless owner of the business, the almighty Mr Dickinson, he ends up in the street and this is where he bumps into a beautiful, warm-hearted girl. Next morning, they wake up in bed together just as the room is intruded by the girl's fiancé returning from a voyage. In a gunfight, the heartbroken fiancé takes aim at Blake, but when he pulls the trigger, his girlfriend lunges to the newcomer's defence and is shot dead. Blake pulls out the girl's pistol and guns down her fiancé, saving his own life. He dashes off the scene shocked and seriously wounded.
It soon turns out the victims were related to Dickinson, who recruits the top killers in the area to get Blake, dead or alive.
When Blake regains consciousness, he's being taken care of by a round-faced Indian in the desert. Impossibly, Blake's rescuer proves to be a devoted fan of William Blake's poetry and takes William Blake the accountant for William Blake the English artist. How come an Indian in the middle of the Wild West is so well-read in English literature, reciting "Auguries of Innocence" from memory? Well, it's hard to believe, but he was captured by English soldiers at the age of 9, shipped across the Atlantic, first displayed in England as a curiosity, then placed in schools where he received detailed education, falling in love with Blake's poetic visions. It's so refreshing and liberating to see an Indian hero with a difference, more self-aware and outspoken than most white characters.
Together, a wounded accountant mistaken for the poet and his dedicated fan, embark on an unlikely journey as they try to evade the assassins.
It's Jarmusch as usual, slow-paced, awkward, rough, but it's the tension between the Jarmuschian way of doing films and the sterotypical expectations for western that makes a difference here. It's a western with a difference.
Friday 24 July 2009
Trademark Language
As a 20-year-old student of English I was sent to the US for a scholarship in practical journalism and it was then when I first painfully experienced how out of touch with reality textbook English we learned at school and at university was. Ever since the hardest part for me as an EFL speaker has been to see through local variations, both in accent, but maybe even more so in vocab and word choice. It's amazing how impenetrable English can get and how helpless its non-native users can become in the face of community idiosyncracies, with their unique labels for just about everything.
In an effort to tame this hostility of real, uncompromising English, it might be worth a while to pay extra attention to how common brands become everyday words, a process which isn't accounted for in the students' handbooks well enough in my jugdement. It's important because some of these trademarks are used to refer to the run-of-the-mill most learners should be aware of.
This dawned on me as I read DonDeLillo's "White Noise", which is sprinkled densely with such language. Some examples, not only from DeLillo:
1) velcro, a type of fastening with tiny hooks commonly used in clothing or bags,
2) day-glo, fluorescent paint, luminous in light, useful in articles like vests for construction workers,
3) tippex, a liquid used to neatly correct errors,
4) hoover, a vacuum cleaner,
5) biro, a ballpoint pen,
6) post-it notes, heavily used in offices around the world,
7) coke, short for Coca-cola,
8) go-ped,
9) lycra, a popular clothing fabric,
10) xerox, to photocopy.
In an effort to tame this hostility of real, uncompromising English, it might be worth a while to pay extra attention to how common brands become everyday words, a process which isn't accounted for in the students' handbooks well enough in my jugdement. It's important because some of these trademarks are used to refer to the run-of-the-mill most learners should be aware of.
This dawned on me as I read DonDeLillo's "White Noise", which is sprinkled densely with such language. Some examples, not only from DeLillo:
1) velcro, a type of fastening with tiny hooks commonly used in clothing or bags,
2) day-glo, fluorescent paint, luminous in light, useful in articles like vests for construction workers,
3) tippex, a liquid used to neatly correct errors,
4) hoover, a vacuum cleaner,
5) biro, a ballpoint pen,
6) post-it notes, heavily used in offices around the world,
7) coke, short for Coca-cola,
8) go-ped,
9) lycra, a popular clothing fabric,
10) xerox, to photocopy.
Thursday 23 July 2009
Hitler ist daran schuld
65 Jahre nach Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs bleiben diesen tragischen Zeiten häufiges Material für Kunst. Ich bin heute ins Kino gegangen (im Kino Muza gibt es dieser aussergewöhnlicher Angebot donnerstags mit Kinokarten für 5 zloty), um den deutschen Film "Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin", der die Lage der deutschen Frauen nach dem Roten Armees Eintritt in Berlin darstellt, zu sehen.
In Polen wird es viel über die Änderungen in der deutschen historischen Bewusstheit gesprochen. Politiker und Publizisten fürchten sich, dass die Deutschen sich immer mehr als Opfer des Krieges betrachten. Tatsächlich wurden sie seit Generationen auf Versöhnung konzentriert und ihre Strategie war es, das Leiden der Deutschen während des Krieges nachzulassen, so dass sie mehr glaubwürdig für ihren ehemaligen Erzfeinde scheinten. Jetzt, mehr as Halb-Jahrhundert nach dem Krieg, lassen sich die Deutschen immer mütiger vergangenes Unglück darstellen.
Dieser Film berührt genau die Themen, die offiziel lange verschwiegen wurden. Als die sowjetische Rote Armee in Berlin eingetreten ist, begonnen die wilde Soldaten, die Frauen zu vergewaltigen und das tägliche Leben der Überlebenden zu zerstören. Jede Menge sind ums Leben gekommen, entweder als Konsekwenz der Gewalt oder durch Krankenheiten. Diejenigien, die Vergewaltigungen überlebten, versuchten das russische Militär zu benutzen, um sich selbst und ihre Familien einen Schutz zu versichern. Die meisten mussten dabei ihren moralischen Kompass aufgeben, nicht nur weil sie ihre Körper zur Verfügung der Russen gestellt, aber auch weil sie schwierige selige Entscheidungen treffen mussten.
Es hat mir gefallen, wie die Filmautoren verständnisvoll für ihre Helden, russisch und deutsch, sind, aber es hat mir sogar besser gefallen, wenn die Gestalte die Verbrechen des Faschismus und des deutschen Volk streng verurteilen. Dadurch beweisen sie, dass es nichts zu fürchten gibt, wenn es um den deutschen Dialog mit Geschichte geht.
In Polen wird es viel über die Änderungen in der deutschen historischen Bewusstheit gesprochen. Politiker und Publizisten fürchten sich, dass die Deutschen sich immer mehr als Opfer des Krieges betrachten. Tatsächlich wurden sie seit Generationen auf Versöhnung konzentriert und ihre Strategie war es, das Leiden der Deutschen während des Krieges nachzulassen, so dass sie mehr glaubwürdig für ihren ehemaligen Erzfeinde scheinten. Jetzt, mehr as Halb-Jahrhundert nach dem Krieg, lassen sich die Deutschen immer mütiger vergangenes Unglück darstellen.
Dieser Film berührt genau die Themen, die offiziel lange verschwiegen wurden. Als die sowjetische Rote Armee in Berlin eingetreten ist, begonnen die wilde Soldaten, die Frauen zu vergewaltigen und das tägliche Leben der Überlebenden zu zerstören. Jede Menge sind ums Leben gekommen, entweder als Konsekwenz der Gewalt oder durch Krankenheiten. Diejenigien, die Vergewaltigungen überlebten, versuchten das russische Militär zu benutzen, um sich selbst und ihre Familien einen Schutz zu versichern. Die meisten mussten dabei ihren moralischen Kompass aufgeben, nicht nur weil sie ihre Körper zur Verfügung der Russen gestellt, aber auch weil sie schwierige selige Entscheidungen treffen mussten.
Es hat mir gefallen, wie die Filmautoren verständnisvoll für ihre Helden, russisch und deutsch, sind, aber es hat mir sogar besser gefallen, wenn die Gestalte die Verbrechen des Faschismus und des deutschen Volk streng verurteilen. Dadurch beweisen sie, dass es nichts zu fürchten gibt, wenn es um den deutschen Dialog mit Geschichte geht.
Wednesday 22 July 2009
Chain Effect
The Internet never fails to impress with its vitality and potential. An insatiable learner of English and an avid reader in this language, I've developed a habit of looking up new words on several online platforms, seeking comprehensive coverage. What produces the oddest results is running a phrase through Google Images, which may not only be incredibly apt and instructive, but also serendipituos in attracting attention to all kinds of related ideas you'd never think of otherwise. For example, today, in response to a search for a good illustration of what "sprawled" means, Google Images included this telling picture among its hits, which was part of a lovely article from Daily Mail on ladette culture in Britain.
I suppose this would be an example of what they call Internet surfing, hopping from website to website, chasing endless online discoveries. Let me come clean about my shameless affair with a bit more snobbish version of this pastime, geared towards education and ever broader horizons.
I suppose this would be an example of what they call Internet surfing, hopping from website to website, chasing endless online discoveries. Let me come clean about my shameless affair with a bit more snobbish version of this pastime, geared towards education and ever broader horizons.
Tuesday 21 July 2009
Early Check
The 2009 Off Festival in Mysłowice is coming up fast, so it high time to start getting ready. And what I did as the first step was sift through my music collection in search of artists scheduled for Mysłowice. Here's what in my iTunes and on the shelves overlaps with the festival line-up:
1) The National, the American band I started listening to a year or so ago after I heard enthusiastic reviews and a couple of songs on the Polish radio. Their dark, world-worn sound, coupled with the roughness of the lead singer's voice, produce a dreamy, exciting effect, like in "Mistaken for Strangers", a compelling song indeed.
2) Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, a solo project from the US whose previous album "Etiquette" I miraculously discovered in my iTunes. Interestingly, it didn't get a lot of attention from me, even though the name of the project and some of its tunes have firmly planted themselves in my sonic memory and when I replayed it today it sounded just fine. The kind of music that goes best with lazy evenings, idle travelling, watching out of the rain-swept windows. In terms of labels and categories: slow core, indietronica, lo-fi.
3) Errors, sensational, progressive electronica from Scotland I've been listening to for almost a year now. Artur Rojek, the man behind Off Festival, deserves full credit for helping me get to their music through his eye-opening reviews in the culture section of the daily "Polska". Such a pity their gig has been taken out from the busiest two days and ticketed extra. Another band he recommended in the same issue was The Week That Was, but I found it impossible to get hold of them in any of my standard music sources.
4) And another artist who you have to pay for extra in Mysłowice: Ólafur Arnalds from Iceland. Music as if designed for a walk with your face up watching the clouds change shape and go by, unpalpable, unlimited, ushering into a wide open space.
5) Spiritualized, whose "Ladies and Gentlemem, we Are Floting in Space" the song, not the album, I burned as a teenage fan of Brit pop in a self-made cd collection of hits, along with Blur, Pulp or Doves, and only today connected in my mind with the rightful owners as I listened on youtube to the whole album. "Broken heart" is one of the most poignant and heart-wrenching songs I've heard recently. Can't wait to see them in concert.
1) The National, the American band I started listening to a year or so ago after I heard enthusiastic reviews and a couple of songs on the Polish radio. Their dark, world-worn sound, coupled with the roughness of the lead singer's voice, produce a dreamy, exciting effect, like in "Mistaken for Strangers", a compelling song indeed.
2) Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, a solo project from the US whose previous album "Etiquette" I miraculously discovered in my iTunes. Interestingly, it didn't get a lot of attention from me, even though the name of the project and some of its tunes have firmly planted themselves in my sonic memory and when I replayed it today it sounded just fine. The kind of music that goes best with lazy evenings, idle travelling, watching out of the rain-swept windows. In terms of labels and categories: slow core, indietronica, lo-fi.
3) Errors, sensational, progressive electronica from Scotland I've been listening to for almost a year now. Artur Rojek, the man behind Off Festival, deserves full credit for helping me get to their music through his eye-opening reviews in the culture section of the daily "Polska". Such a pity their gig has been taken out from the busiest two days and ticketed extra. Another band he recommended in the same issue was The Week That Was, but I found it impossible to get hold of them in any of my standard music sources.
4) And another artist who you have to pay for extra in Mysłowice: Ólafur Arnalds from Iceland. Music as if designed for a walk with your face up watching the clouds change shape and go by, unpalpable, unlimited, ushering into a wide open space.
5) Spiritualized, whose "Ladies and Gentlemem, we Are Floting in Space" the song, not the album, I burned as a teenage fan of Brit pop in a self-made cd collection of hits, along with Blur, Pulp or Doves, and only today connected in my mind with the rightful owners as I listened on youtube to the whole album. "Broken heart" is one of the most poignant and heart-wrenching songs I've heard recently. Can't wait to see them in concert.
Monday 20 July 2009
Book Interregnum
Właśnie skończyłem czytać zbiór reportaży Włodzimierza Nowaka "Obwód głowy" z pogranicza polsko-niemieckiego, utrzymanych w charakterystycznym dla "Gazety Wyborczej" stylu, który dobrze znam choćby z książki "Gottland" Mariusza Szczygła czy z reportaży Jacka Hugo-Badera. Na ten styl składają się szybkie, konkretne zdania, poszukiwanie atrakcyjnych dla czytelnika paradoksów, dziwactw, osobliwości oraz na swój sposób magiczne spojrzenie na rzeczywistość - wyszukiwanie nieprawdopodobnych połączeń, szperanie w najmniej znanych kątach, odważne wnioski i zakończenia. Ta ostatnia cecha bierze swój początek w twórczości guru polskiego reportażu, zaprzyjaźnionego z zespołem "GW" Ryszarda Kapuścińskiego, zmarłego w 2007r. Mam w planie lepiej poznać jego książki, podobnie zresztą jak jego poprzedników w polskim reportażu, przede wszystkim Melchiora Wańkowicza. Ostatnio zainteresowała mnie dość przenikliwa krytyka Kapuścińskiego w magazynie Slate.
Ale to nie o reportażach chciałem. Chciałem napisać o ciekawej przypadłości, która dotyka mnie w momencie zakończenia jednej książki i rozpoczynania drugiej. Zajmuje mi to zawsze dobrą chwilę, zanim wyzwolę się spod stylu i zawartości starej i na dobre wejdę w nową. To taki okres bezkrólewia, zamieszania i zawieszenia. Właśnie zacząłem czytać "White Noise" Dona DeLillo i pierwsze strony idą mi wyjątkowo pod górkę, mimo że to świetny pisarz i reprezentuje tradycję, do której mam nieograniczoną słabość. Przekonamy się, czy porwie mnie tak jak Paul Auser albo Philip Roth.
Ale to nie o reportażach chciałem. Chciałem napisać o ciekawej przypadłości, która dotyka mnie w momencie zakończenia jednej książki i rozpoczynania drugiej. Zajmuje mi to zawsze dobrą chwilę, zanim wyzwolę się spod stylu i zawartości starej i na dobre wejdę w nową. To taki okres bezkrólewia, zamieszania i zawieszenia. Właśnie zacząłem czytać "White Noise" Dona DeLillo i pierwsze strony idą mi wyjątkowo pod górkę, mimo że to świetny pisarz i reprezentuje tradycję, do której mam nieograniczoną słabość. Przekonamy się, czy porwie mnie tak jak Paul Auser albo Philip Roth.
Sunday 19 July 2009
Blame it on Weather
I know it's silly to blame anything on weather, but I decided not to go to Jarocin for the Animal Collective concert because it's cold today and it may rain. Also, just the thought of coming back to Poznań in an overcrowded train at 3 at night only solidifies my weather-based reluctance, even more so when I think of teaching a class at 1.30 tomorrow.
I watched "Coffee and Cigarettes" by Jim Jarmusch last night. A friend of mine couldn't stand it and went to bed after one or two episodes. I understand him. Jarmusch is the kind of director you have to get used to first, with his gritty realism, awkward dialogues and action which is running in place or, at best, moving on at its own leisurely pace.
I remember first seeing "Night on Earth" years ago as a teenager in a TV programme "Kocham kino" on Polish television, where two film experts, Grażyna Torbicka and Tadeusz Sobolewski, presented what they regarded as the classics of the international cinematography. Just the memory of two episodes, one with the spectacular Roberto Benigni, who also stars in "Coffee and Cigarettes", as a taxi driver confiding his sexual adventures to a priest, and the Helsinki episode, which shaped my idea of what Finland was like, with its heavy drinking and the northern melancholy, makes me light at heart.
What will I remember "Coffee and Cigarettes" for? Definitely for the episode with Steve Coogan, a British celebrity comedian famous for his (unamusing for me) character Alan Partridge, seeing his fortunes reverse in a talk over tea with another actor, Alfred Molina, a great role by the way, who discovers, to Coogan's disinterest, that they are related. Other than that, I enjoyed watching Iggy Pop make polite, if clumsy, conversation with Tom Waits in a cheap diner, with Iggy visibly in the defensive as Tom takes control of the exchange and is plainly more self-confident and outspoken. And finally, two grumpy, old farts of Italian descent arguing about how bad smoking and drinking coffee are were a good laugh, too.
Not a bad flick at all.
I watched "Coffee and Cigarettes" by Jim Jarmusch last night. A friend of mine couldn't stand it and went to bed after one or two episodes. I understand him. Jarmusch is the kind of director you have to get used to first, with his gritty realism, awkward dialogues and action which is running in place or, at best, moving on at its own leisurely pace.
I remember first seeing "Night on Earth" years ago as a teenager in a TV programme "Kocham kino" on Polish television, where two film experts, Grażyna Torbicka and Tadeusz Sobolewski, presented what they regarded as the classics of the international cinematography. Just the memory of two episodes, one with the spectacular Roberto Benigni, who also stars in "Coffee and Cigarettes", as a taxi driver confiding his sexual adventures to a priest, and the Helsinki episode, which shaped my idea of what Finland was like, with its heavy drinking and the northern melancholy, makes me light at heart.
What will I remember "Coffee and Cigarettes" for? Definitely for the episode with Steve Coogan, a British celebrity comedian famous for his (unamusing for me) character Alan Partridge, seeing his fortunes reverse in a talk over tea with another actor, Alfred Molina, a great role by the way, who discovers, to Coogan's disinterest, that they are related. Other than that, I enjoyed watching Iggy Pop make polite, if clumsy, conversation with Tom Waits in a cheap diner, with Iggy visibly in the defensive as Tom takes control of the exchange and is plainly more self-confident and outspoken. And finally, two grumpy, old farts of Italian descent arguing about how bad smoking and drinking coffee are were a good laugh, too.
Not a bad flick at all.
Saturday 18 July 2009
Gigantic Iceland
The tiny, isolated Iceland has mysteriously managed to put loads of its offspring on the international cultural scene. There's barely anyone who isn't familiar with Björk's shrilling voice and her temperament or the otherwordly sound of Sigur Rós. Other acts, like the experimental múm or the recent solo sensation Ólafur Arnalds, might not have yet reached the mainstream, but are well on their way to wider recognition and appreciation.
"Heima", an intimate documentary (here in parts on youtube) picturing the thank-you tour around Iceland by Sigur Rós, lends an insight into the northern magic that seems to shape Icelandic artists's unique sensibility and imagination. It's disarming to see the band members revisit their childhood, wax sentimental about their local communities and try to make music from pebbles or other unlikely instruments that lie or hang aroung their homes. Breathtaking landscapes and explosions of stupendous colours, so nicely captured in the film, complete the recipe for the Icelandic heavenly artistic talent. One last ingredient may well be the language, intriguing on its own and blending just fine with the fabulous music. By the way, Icelandic English, spoken a lot in "Heima", also never fails to seduce with its distinct northern roughness and unwillingness to imitate the British or the Americans.
Sjón, whose poems Björk embraced as her lyrics, in one interview quotes Icelanders' secret relationship with the surrounding nature as a key to understanding their extraordinary art. On top of that, speaking of his novel "Skugga Baldur", reviewed here by AS Byatt, which is about to be published in the Polish translation, Sjón traces his creative instincts back to Icelandic mythology, rich, fascinating and separate from its continental siblings.
It's interesting to see if he's going to join the growing team of Icelandic artists of global renown with his books.
"Heima", an intimate documentary (here in parts on youtube) picturing the thank-you tour around Iceland by Sigur Rós, lends an insight into the northern magic that seems to shape Icelandic artists's unique sensibility and imagination. It's disarming to see the band members revisit their childhood, wax sentimental about their local communities and try to make music from pebbles or other unlikely instruments that lie or hang aroung their homes. Breathtaking landscapes and explosions of stupendous colours, so nicely captured in the film, complete the recipe for the Icelandic heavenly artistic talent. One last ingredient may well be the language, intriguing on its own and blending just fine with the fabulous music. By the way, Icelandic English, spoken a lot in "Heima", also never fails to seduce with its distinct northern roughness and unwillingness to imitate the British or the Americans.
Sjón, whose poems Björk embraced as her lyrics, in one interview quotes Icelanders' secret relationship with the surrounding nature as a key to understanding their extraordinary art. On top of that, speaking of his novel "Skugga Baldur", reviewed here by AS Byatt, which is about to be published in the Polish translation, Sjón traces his creative instincts back to Icelandic mythology, rich, fascinating and separate from its continental siblings.
It's interesting to see if he's going to join the growing team of Icelandic artists of global renown with his books.
Friday 17 July 2009
Day One, Entry One
Just finished configuring my new Acer Aspire, which took over the old Asus. I finally plucked up the courage to buy this jewel of Taiwan, against a wave of discouragement from my brother, an IT man, and others. I don't really want it to work wonders for me, just be reliable enough to last 2-3 years. Is this too much to ask?
"Duży Format" dominuje moje czwartki, odkąd przeniósł się z poniedziałków. Mógłbym czytać ich reportaże i wywiady każdego dnia, przez cały dzień. Z wczorajszego wydania, które kończyłem z braku czasu dzisiaj, warto zapamniętać:
1) "Communism Tour" o wycieczkach po Nowej Hucie ze zdjęciami dokumentatora budowy Wiktora Pentala. The Guardian sprawił im entuzjastyczną recenzję. A propos, nie wiedziałem, że krakowskie Sukiennice to po angielsku the Cloth Hall.
2) Do obejrzenia: "Epilog norymberski" Jerzego Antczaka, reżysera "Nocy i Dnii", który jest profesorem reżyserii na UCLA.
3) Do przeczytania: "Mesjasze" węgierskiego historyka Gyorgy Spiro o polskiej naturze przez pryzmat historii i powieści Austriaka Thomasa Bernharda, reprezentującego ten sam krytyczny nurt wobec społeczeństwa austriackiego co Elfride Jelinek.
4) Do przejrzenia: Sesja zdjęciowa dla magazynu Exclusive "Tuż po" ze zdjęciami zrobionymi po seksie.
Krystian Lupa: "To ciekawe, że ludzie nigdy nie zajmowali się prawdziwą kobietą. Widocznie prawdziwy mężczyzna miał zawsze jakiś brak. Dlatego potrzebny był ten przymiotnik".
"Duży Format" dominuje moje czwartki, odkąd przeniósł się z poniedziałków. Mógłbym czytać ich reportaże i wywiady każdego dnia, przez cały dzień. Z wczorajszego wydania, które kończyłem z braku czasu dzisiaj, warto zapamniętać:
1) "Communism Tour" o wycieczkach po Nowej Hucie ze zdjęciami dokumentatora budowy Wiktora Pentala. The Guardian sprawił im entuzjastyczną recenzję. A propos, nie wiedziałem, że krakowskie Sukiennice to po angielsku the Cloth Hall.
2) Do obejrzenia: "Epilog norymberski" Jerzego Antczaka, reżysera "Nocy i Dnii", który jest profesorem reżyserii na UCLA.
3) Do przeczytania: "Mesjasze" węgierskiego historyka Gyorgy Spiro o polskiej naturze przez pryzmat historii i powieści Austriaka Thomasa Bernharda, reprezentującego ten sam krytyczny nurt wobec społeczeństwa austriackiego co Elfride Jelinek.
4) Do przejrzenia: Sesja zdjęciowa dla magazynu Exclusive "Tuż po" ze zdjęciami zrobionymi po seksie.
Krystian Lupa: "To ciekawe, że ludzie nigdy nie zajmowali się prawdziwą kobietą. Widocznie prawdziwy mężczyzna miał zawsze jakiś brak. Dlatego potrzebny był ten przymiotnik".
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