Bryan Alistair Charles

You have perfectly articulated, in a way I never was able, why I have always had a block with her work...it's not just her, it's happened with me and tons of critical writing over the years, authoritative critical statements often make me feel out of my depth.

Ha. I didn't know he publicly criticized the other translators. You could write a strongly worded letter to C. Prendergast, who hired him! 😂

I like "LIFE!" shouted some seconds later.

Thank YOU, Charlotte! Talking with you was a highlight of my year!

On Translating Proust and the Art of Not Reading Ahead Le devoir et la tâche d’un écrivain sont ceux d’un traducteur. –Marcel Proust, Le Temps retrouvé * The duty and the task of a writer are those of a translator. –The Past Recaptured, tra…

I wrote about Proust in translation/the new IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME for @literaryhub.bsky.social.
Featuring a chat with @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social, whose stunning vol. 2 translation, IN THE SHADOW OF GIRLS IN BLOSSOM, is out now!
lithub.com/on-translati...
#proust
#booksky

Cool to see Beau Travail...that one's always haunted me.

you mean vocal key or mental state?

9–9 Notes on R.E.M.

Brief notes on the time I saw R.E.M., 9-9-89, Clarkston MI, one of the relatively few (?) truly euphoric nights of my life.

medium.com/@bryanalista...

Sharing a short piece I wrote about the one and I am sad to say only time I saw R.E.M., on 9-9-89, Clarkston MI, one of the greatest nights of my life. Cheers... @remhq.bsky.social

medium.com/@bryanalista...

Life changing.

A page from TIME REGAINED that references a poem by Charles Baudelaire.

In today's #Proust reading there was a reference to Baudelaire's "La Chevelure," which is exactly where I left off in Les Fleurs... yesterday!

I made a "website"...trying to gather all (or most of) my writing in one place including things I had almost forgotten about e.g. turn-of-the-century pieces on @mcsweeneys.net -- also essays, critical pieces, a couple of short stories etc.

www.bryanalistaircharles.com

I have been reading it too, on and off, the OWC edition!

The photo shows James Dean with his cousin Markie Winslow in Park Cemetery, Fairmount IN, on February 1955. The photo was taken by Dennis Stock.

James Dean with cousin Markie Winslow, Park Cemetery, Fairmount IN, February 1955, photo by Dennis Stock.

Note name Cal on headstone is same as Dean’s character in EAST OF EDEN. Dean himself would be laid to rest in Park Cemetery eight months later.

8 February 1931-
30 September 1955
#filmsky

And like an airman who hitherto has progressed laboriously along the ground, abruptly "taking off," I soared slowly towards the silent heights of memory.
trans. Mayor/Kilmartin/Enright

"Et, comme un aviateur qui a jusque-là péniblement roulé à terre 'décollant' brusquement, je m'élevais lentement vers les hauteurs silencieuses du souvenir."
Proust, Le Temps retrouvé

#proust
#proustsky

"Quant au bonheur, il n'a presque qu'une seule utilité, rendre le malheur possible."

As for happiness, that is really useful to us in one way only, by making unhappiness possible.
#proust
#proustsky

"...les vrais livres doivent être les enfants non du grand jour et de la causerie mais de l'obscurité et du silence."
Proust, Le Temps retrouvé

...real books should be the offspring not of daylight and casual talk but of darkness and silence.
trans. Mayor/Kilmartin/Enright
#proust
#proustsky

Giving a shout out here to @gracekrilanovich.bsky.social 's classic @twodollarradio.bsky.social debut THE ORANGE EATS CREEPS, one of my favorite writers and novels!

A hallmark of the Albertine cycle is pages of the narrator's tedious monomaniacal obsessions with her sex life, then...boom! out flies an observation or a passage that brings you to your knees.

The s/t record in general is a criminally overlooked classic.

I did a deep dive on CKSM recently.... new piece to follow shortly!

A cursory search turned this up:
www.ribbonsunlimited.com/category-s/1...
And I'm sure there are other places too.

Plastic spools, easy to drop into the machine.

Alas I do not use typewriter paper, just 24 lb. printer paper.

Hope this helps!

I'm lucky enough to live near a typewriter repair/sales shop. (there used to be 3 near me, now only Berkeley Typewriter remains.)

The 2000 takes a standard twin-spool ribbon, either all black or black and red. They are readily available online.

I learned a cool expression today from someone I follow on Bluesky @karinemdonelle.bsky.social -- Rouler dans la farine. Literally roll in flour... but also cheat, swindle, fool 😂

I just ordered this one, based on title alone. Looking forward....

William Greaves, director of SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM, in a still from the film.

Last week I watched the great SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXIPLASM, by William Greaves.
Not sure I had expectations per se, but whatever I had assumed the film might be like... it was not like that at all.
Amazing. Highly recommended.
#filmsky

I'm sure it's a ways off, but when is the English version pub date? I am very intrigued...

Oh yes! I have it as well! Gorgeous edition. Lovely, durable, easy-to-read volume.

A 1957 Hermes 2000 typewriter.

My newest machine. Late 1950s Hermes 2000. Has a really crisp, snappy touch, much different from the 3000, and a heavy carriage shift, similar to an Olympia SM3, maybe even a touch heavier. New platen as well!