Saturday, February 27, 2016

Pitol readings

 Some things I read because I read The Art of Flight by Sergio Pitol (George Henson, Translation), with a few notes. Most of these are also listed in my monthly reading log with comments.

The Court of Charles IV: A Romance of the Escorial; Pérez Galdós, Benito; Clara Bell (translation)
Read online at the Internet Archive  

 p.13, p.43 I was surprised to find the term "greenroom" in relation to the theater. I wondered when the term was first used. Found some info online. around 1600 or earlier..
 p. 105- Luciano Francisco Comella (1751–1812) was a Spanish playwright. Author of more than two hundred plays, he was one of the most prolific dramatists of the late eighteenth century. 
   Joaquina Comella: Spanish writer who lived in the last years of the 18th century and, perhaps, in the early 19th. Daughter of the famous playwright was the Luciano Francisco Comella, It is believed that...Joaquina - of which there are hardly any us biographical data - could collaborate with him in the writing of some of his works. http://thebiography.us/en/comella-joaquina 
  Manuel Godoy y Álvarez de Faria (May 12, 1767 – October 4, 1851), was Prime Minister of Spain from 1792 to 1797 and from 1801 to 1808. He received many titles including "Prince of the Peace" (Príncipe de la Paz) by which he is widely known.

The Maidens' Consent (Spanish: El sí de las niñas) is a play by the Spanish playwright Leandro Fernández de Moratín. It was written in 1801 and first performed in 1806. The play is a satirical commentary on Spanish social norms of the time and has since become part of the repertoire
The Young Lady's Consent
Author: Christopher O. Kidder
Publication: University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations
  This translation is the only one I could find. It has problems, but at least it gave me an idea of what Pitol and Galdós are talking about. 

The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek
 While I was reading this I saw some pre-pub information for The Yid: A Novel  by Paul Goldberg which is recommended for people who like Catch-22  (that's me) which was inspired in part by Švejk. So I put in a request for the Goldberg book.

Dreams of Dreams and the Last Three Days of Fernando Pessoa ; Tabucchi, Antonio;  Nancy J. Peters (Translator) Pitol led me to Tabucchi. I checked the local library catalog and found three Tabucchi books. I decided to start with this one. It's delightful! Tabucchi creates dreams for twenty great minds (writers, artists, etc.).  
Pereira Declares: A Testimony; Tabucchi, Antonio; Patrick Creagh (Translator)
Set in Salazar's Portugal. Pereira unintentionally gets mixed up in some radical politics.
Letter from Casablanca  (more Tabucchi)  
Some short stories (translated by Janice M. Thresher). I really liked these and wish I owned this book--they call out for re-reading.

  Tabucchi inspired me to read some Pessoa (I read The Book of Disquiet some years ago)  I found this on Project Gutenberg:

  35 Sonnets; Pessoa, Fernando read online at Project Gutenberg
  The first sonnet concludes with the lines which fit nicely with Tabucchi's Dreams of Dreams:
      We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
      And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

 Can't wait to continue my Pitol reading with The Journey.



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