penwithlit

Grotto in the Gulf of Salerno – Joseph Wright of Derby (1774)

In my explorations of modern Greek literature, I was reading a novel called Drifting Cities by Stratis Tsirkas that is about exiled Greeks in Jerusalem, Cairo and Alexandria during the Second World War. It interweaves the personal story of the protagonist, Manos Simonidis, the group of Communist activists with which he’s involved and the political machinations of the factions in the Greek government in exile. To be honest, it’s a hard read. The detailed twists and turns of the political events are difficult to follow and not that interesting, and Simonidis is not an engaging or sympathetic character. His relationships with the various women he meets also strikes me as wish fulfilment on the part of the author and the women come across as rather characterless.

One the of the final sections of the novel sequence (it’s really…

Co-winner of the 2021 Viva La Novella Prize with Every Day is Gertie Day by Helen Meany (see my review), Christine Balint’s novella Water Music is an exquisite portrait of the way artistic ambition often comes with a hard price to pay.

Set in 18th century Venice, it’s the story of 16-year-old Lucietta, an orphan with an unknown benefactor who makes her education possible.  She grows up to be a talented violinist, and is given a place at the Derelitti Convent, the (real-life) musical orphanage for girls.

Unlike *yawn* many historical novels set in Venice, Water Music isn’t an homage to this most beautiful of Renaissance cities.  Lucietta has a limited life, and her horizons are limited by her gender and her social class.  For her there is only her waterside home, and the convent.  Place is superbly realised: the reader can smell the dank fishy air; she…

Überboten nur noch von der Orgel, das das Klavier das distanzierteste von allen Instrumenten. Das Verhältnis von körperlichem Impuls und dem Ton, der fern von einem schließlich erklingt, ist abstrakt. Es ist nicht mal dasselbe Instrument, mit dem man es jeweils zu tun hat. Wo immer man auftritt, hat man sich mit einem anderen Flügel zu arrangieren, dessen Anschlag und Intonation nicht unbedingt schlechter, aber doch anders als auf dem Instrument sind, mit dem man vertraut ist – und nie ganz vertraut werden kann, da es nicht das Instrument ist, auf dem man (von skurrilen Ausnahmen wie dem alten Horowitz abgesehen) konzertiert. Es gibt deswegen kein richtiges Zusammenwachsen meines Körpers mit dem Körper des Instruments zu einem einzigen Körper. Keine Erweiterung des Leibes, wie man es auf Fotos von Jimi Hendrix und Jacqueline du Pré sehen kann; keine groteske Ausstülpung des eigenen Atems, von der Mundharmonika bis zur Tuba; keine…

A random survey of self-portraits created by women through the centuries

French painter, designer, and illustrator Clémentine-Hélène Dufau (1869-1937)

Detail
Portrait de l’artiste, 1911 / Oil on canvas / Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France

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The publication history of this terrific novella by the Italian novelist and screenwriter Gianfranco Calligarich is almost as fascinating as the book itself. Written when Calligarich was in his twenties, the book struggled to find a publisher until it dropped into the hands of the renowned novelist and essayist Natalia Ginzburg – a writer currently enjoying something of a resurgence in popularity due to the recent reissues from Daunt Books and NRYB Classics. Ginzburg was so enthused by Calligarich’s novella that she persuaded an Italian publishing house to issue it in 1973, resulting in both critical and commercial success.

However, not long after, the book slipped out of print, taking on the status of a cult classic amongst those in the know. Following a couple of revivals in the 2010s, Last Summer in the City is now available to read in English for the first time, courtesy of the translator…