14 Setembro, 2015

Eduard

(originally published on my now defunct Medium page, sometime in late 2013)

 

Votiv Kirche, Wien
Votiv Kirche, Wien

 

I first met Eduard Kosmack by coincidence on a lazy Viennese afternoon.

While exploring my new surroundings I came across a museum of modern art, right next to where we lived. There was no merit or elevation in any of this, no thirst for art, no sublime sharpening of the inner vision. The truth is simply that I was out of cigarettes and the museum’s coffee-shop was the only establishment open on Sundays. As it turns out, it didn’t sell cigarettes either.

(mais…)

• • •

5 Abril, 2015

The Silent Sea

(or, my first true gesamterfahrung of the French language.)

Il fut précédé par un grand déploiement d’appareil militaire. D’abord deux troufions, tous deux très blonds, l’un dégingandé et maigre, l’autre carré, aux mains de carrier. Ils regardèrent la maison, sans entrer. Plus tard vint un sous-officier. Le troufion dégingandé l’accompa­gnait. Ils me parlèrent, dans ce qu’ils supposaient être du français. Je ne comprenais pas un mot. Pourtant je leur montrai les chambres libres. Ils parurent contents.

Vercors — Le Silence de la Mer

I did have some prior contact with French before, but not at the level of actually analyzing literary works. As a portuguese high-school student my experience of it had been a very formal and limited one, where many grammatical rules were taught, verb conjugations were reviewed with an iron resolve and vocabulary was an afterthought. It is little wonder that I consistently and predictably flunked the class, year after year after year.

(mais…)

• • •