Quando a rubare è la vita: i racconti di Gina Berriault. Recensione di Marco Camerini

Recensione di Marco Camerini 

A Gina Berriault (1926-1999) è, in qualche modo, toccata la sorte dell’umbratile J. Johnson (ci occupammo del suo unico libro Ora che è novembre, Bompiani 2017) piuttosto che quella del Nobel A. Munro, anch’essa straordinaria autrice di short stories, e questo nonostante gli apprezzamenti sinceri di alcuni fra i più autorevoli scrittori della sua generazione opportunamente riportati in quarta di copertina.

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All’editore Mattioli 1885 si deve la prima traduzione italiana dei suoi racconti, storie uniche per drammatica intensità d’ispirazione, capacità narrativa di costruire trame inquiete ed inquietanti su particolari solo apparentemente secondari, nitida eleganza formale: doveroso il tributo ad una scrittrice misconosciuta anche in America. I modelli vengono persino citati nel corso della raccolta (Gogol’ e Cechov più che Carver o Dubus, magari la Woolf, certo l’Achmatova, Whitman, Pound per la cifra poetica della sua prosa) e i piaceri sono quelli che la Vita ha rubato ad un’anonima folla di personaggi i quali solo raramente hanno saputo/voluto fare altrettanto con le opportunità di un destino assai poco generoso: la speranza in un futuro migliore (accade alla problematica Delia “dalla faccia piatta e minacciosa” e alla sorella Fleur, “riccioli color rame e aria da agnello sacrificale” de I piaceri rubati che, incapaci di “dimostrare quanto fossero preziose”, colmano un’esistenza frustrante con la reciproca e alla fine solidale confessione dei propri rimpianti),[2] il sogno della colta, fascinosa Claudia di incontrare Camus per le vie di Parigi e qualcuno “capace di spezzare le catene dei suoi sensi di colpa” (Morte di un uomo minore), le aspettative di successo del rancoroso Berger, solo “suonatore e non artista”, lui che “viveva la musica come un concentrato di tutti i desideri e le cose belle provate” (Notti nei giardini di Spagna).

Ancora ad essere sottratti senza scampo sono il recupero di un rapporto genitoriale difficile, mai rimosso né rinnegato (“colpa dello sguardo” quella di Arty che assiste, Spettatore inerte e passivo, al crollo di un padre tardivamente incontrato fra i pazienti di un ospedale psichiatrico e solo di un male inesorabile se Eli, con il suo gogoliano Cappotto “nero, poderoso e impenetrabile” non riesce a confessare al suo che dovrà sopravvivergli),[3] l’opportunità – per il cattivo/folle/solo razionale? Bambino di pietra Arnold (“Perché sei rimasto a raccogliere piselli per un’ora dopo che tuo fratello era morto?”) o la Bimba sublime Ruth, concupita dall’amante di sua madre – di vivere un’adolescenza serena, il senso ultimo della propria identità (Chi può dirmi chi sono? con la figura del bibliotecario Perera che rinvia al Tabucchi di Tutti i nomi prima che a Dickens o Dostoevskij…e non fosse per una “i”?!).

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Una foto di Gina Berriault. Fonte: https://wrongand.blogspot.com/2018/09/piaceri-rubati-di-gina-berriault.html 

Infine l’amore, il furto che scuote maggiormente e non si vorrebbe mai subire: non solo quello senile ed impossibile che nasce dalL’infinito potere delle aspettative di un anziano verso una giovane cui non serve il Kierkegaard de La pienezza del cuore per “alzare gli occhi e guardarsi intorno”, o di una donna che, per l’egoistico piacere di essere ancora desiderata (“terribile non vivere più nemmeno nei ricordi”) costringe gli altri a farlo anche se hanno 16 anni, ma l’Amore in sé, come empatico incontro di anime. Ne traccia un desolato referto la taciturna, sensibile, coscienziosa sessantatreenne de Il diario di K.W. kafkianamente ridotta alle sue sole iniziali, a parlare con un Dio che non risponde (“mi rispondo da sola e faccio tutto il lavoro al posto Suo”), a vergognarsi delle “piccole transazioni” esistenziali e sperimentare la forza rigenerante della pittura ma non quella della passione…tanto affine, in questo, alla dublinese Maria di Cenere. Accumunano le vicende di ognuno il rimpianto struggente di un passato (forse) felice, il costante senso di smarrimento e perdita, la lucida percezione del fallimento che generano rassegnazione più che rabbia, paralisi più che vitale, necessaria speranza, ripiegamento cinico ed esacerbato, mai solidale apertura alle ragioni dell’altro: amico, consorte, amante, genitore o figlio che sia.

Labili ma tenaci segnali di riscatto sembrano giungere dalla terapeutica pratica dell’esercizio artistico: non a caso due racconti vedono protagonisti degli scrittori – seppure in crisi – e la musica, in tutte le sue declinazioni, è una sorta di preziosa costante del libro. Così a Lang gli Scherzi dell’immaginazione consentono di sconfiggere “l’indifferenza per il miracolo della vita” – vera linfa dell’ispirazione creativa (e confessione di poetica) –  Kligspringer ritrova la propria dimensione di affabulatore alla Ricerca di Kruper, fantomatico, salingeriano Kurtz della narrativa e nel citato Piaceri rubati – ci limitiamo a questo riferimento – compare una bellissima definizione del jazz (oltre che…del pianoforte): “La melodia che esplode senza un vero inizio e non torna indietro per ricominciare, suonata da persone che pareva sapessero avrebbero ricevuto ciò che volevano e molto di più dalla vita” (p. 48).

L’apparente minimalismo tematico (sarebbe piaciuto a Flannery O’Connor) si traduce in uno stile mai semplicemente referenziale nella sua asciutta essenzialità (prevalgono l’indiretto – a volte libero – del personaggio o il punto di vista onnisciente del narratore sui dialoghi) con frequenti squarci lirici e splendidi finali “aperti” che raramente concludono l’esile intreccio, suggerendo intriganti perplessità/interrogativi nel lettore, sempre emotivamente coinvolto da una lettura appassionante. Gina Berriault va (ri)scoperta ed amata.

 MARCO CAMERINI

 

[2] Rimanda ad Espiazione di McEwan il rapporto di conflittualità/complicità fra le due ragazze.

[3] Questi ultimi due racconti ci sono parsi assoluti capolavori, fra i migliori della letteratura americana del secondo ‘900…ma eravamo sul punto di eliminare l’aggettivo.

 

L’autore del presente testo acconsente alla pubblicazione su questo spazio senza nulla pretendere all’atto della pubblicazione né in futuro. E’ severamente vietato copiare e diffondere il presente testo in formato integrale o parziale senza il permesso da parte del legittimo autore. Il curatore del blog è sollevato da qualsiasi pretesa o problematica possa nascere a seguito di riproduzioni e diffusioni non autorizzate, ricadendo sull’autore dello stesso ciascun tipo di responsabilità.

Il bando di partecipazione del Premio letterario “Eyelands Book Awards” per opere edite/inedite in lingua inglese

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EYELANDS BOOK AWARDS

Eyelands.gr literary magazine in collaboration with Strange Days Books  organize an annual international short story contest, and a flash fiction contest, the only international  story contests based in Greece. Every year, writers from all the continents of the world participate in them.

The short story contest has been running continuously for the past eight years, offering hundreds of writers the opportunity to see their short story printed in one of our collections, created through the contest entries. For many of these writers it is the first time that a story of theirs is printed in a book or featured online. The jury reads all submissions blind.

The English section of  the EISSC contest has been recognized as a truly reliable, fair and serious short story contest. Every year, many reputable websites, such as

https://duotrope.com/, https://www.booktrust.org.uk/, www.justacontest.com, www.londoncomedywriters.com, www.literarylightbox.com
https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/ virtualwritersinc.com,

www.prizemagic.co.uk, www.artsjobs.org.uk, https://www.inkitt.com, http://www.writermag.com, http://creativewriting.ie
http://www.zapmeta.ws, https://nothingintherulebook.com

http://www.allwritemoya.com, http://www.christopherfielden.com

http://www.writersreign.co.uk, https://ilpiacerediscrivere.it/

                                    

and many others all over the world post the announcement of our contest, which has earned its reputation year after year, by honoring all its promises, following the rules meticulously and meeting all criteria that allow a contest to gain respect and recognition on an international level.

The flash fiction contest made a very successful start this year and we are very proud of it but we try another project here, the Eyelands Book Awards

www.eyelands.gr

e-mail:  info@eyelands.gr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eyelands.portal

https://eyelandscontes.wordpress.com/

PRIZES

Grand prize (published books): Five-day holiday in Athens plus a special handmade ceramic designed especially for Eyelands Book Awards and publication (excerpts) online on our website.

Grand prize (unpublished books): Publication from Strange Days Books

Six more prizes one for each category of every section also win a a special handmade ceramic designed especially for Eyelands Book Awards

Certification document for every prize.
Final results are to be announced on December 20th 2018.

The award will be given in a special ceremony in Athens
Award Ceremony: 5th of May, 2019
Place: Polis Art café, Athens, Greece

Judges: Andriana Minou (poetry), Gregory Papadoyiannis (novels, novellas), Antonis Tsirikoudis (short stories)

Entry fee: $30

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES & DATES & DETAILS

Opening: Monday, July 2, 2018

Closing: Tuesday, October 20, 2018 at midnight PST.

Submit your book or manuscript online or via snail mail with a $30.00 entry fee

Eligible submissions include: poetry, novellas, short story collections, novels.

Multiple submissions allowed (with a separate fee for each submission).

Simultaneous submissions allowed, but please notify us if full manuscript is accepted elsewhere. 

Finalists for every category to be announced on November, 20, 2018

Final results are to be announced on December, 20, 2018.

There are no restrictions regarding nationality

Participants must be 18 years old otherwise we need parents’ consent to accept the submission.

Manuscripts must be written in English.

There is no restriction about the form or style of writing. We prefer the pages to be numbered. Files should be uploaded as an MS Word document or PDF. Fill the entry form, copy and paste it in the body of your email.

 

Submit your manuscript to:

eyelandsmag@gmail.com  [or]  strangedaysbooks@gmail.com

or send your book by post to:

Chimarras 6, 74100, Rethymno, Crete, Greece 

 

PRIZES & PUBLICITY

Section: Published books

Grand Prize: A five-day holiday in Athens plus a special handmade ceramic designed especially for Eyelands Book Awards and publication (excerpts) online on our website. Eyelands cover all accommodation costs for the award winner. Air tickets not included. The author must agree to participate in the EBA ceremony (which will be held in Athens at the time of his/her holidays) and the related publicity (interviews e.t.c.).

There will be five finalists for each category.

Three more prizes one for each category also win a special handmade ceramic designed especially for Eyelands Book Awards

Certification document for every prize.

Section: Unpublished books

Grand prize: Publication from Strange Days Books. Released via amazon.com (international release) & from Strange Days Books

Three more prizes one for each category also win a a special handmade ceramic designed especially for Eyelands Book Awards

There will be five finalists for each category.

Certification document for every prize.

For each entry, submit the book, entry form, and $30 fee (via paypal). Registration will be confirmed via email. In December, all entrants will be notified of winners. Please fill in, copy and paste the entry form in the body of your email

ENTRY FORM & PAYMENT

Pay via paypal – See the banner on this website

Click the «buy now» button. Fill the description with: EBA

Entry fee is 30.00 $

* After the payment is complete, you can send the email with your manuscript as an attachment and the entry form completed, copied and pasted in the body of your email

*An email confirmation that your entry has been received will be sent within three/four days

* We do accept simultaneous submissions

* Every writer can submit more books with the payment fee of $30 for every one of them

* Name and address of the author are to be submitted only in the body of the email

*There is no fee for the first prize winners of previous eyelands international short story contests

*Click here to download the entry form: ENTRY FORM_EBA

*All books must be published between September 20, 2016 and September 20, 2018.

 

ENTRY FORM (submit one entry form per book):

Book Title:

_______________________________________

Author:

_______________________________________

Category:

_______________________________________

Publisher: (for published books only)

_______________________________________

ISBN: (for published books only)

_______________________________________

 

Contact Information

 

Name:

_______________________________________

E-Mail:

_______________________________________

Phone:

_______________________________________

Address:

_______________________________________

AWARD CATEGORIES (select one per entry application):

The following are eligible:

1/Full-length books of fiction (novels or novellas)

2/ Collections of short stories by one author

3/Collected and selected poems by one author*                            

*any novel (up to 500 pages)  or book of poetry (up to 250 pages) written by a single author is eligible

EBA follows the CLMP Contest Code of Ethics.

If you have any questions, please contact us at
eyelandsmag@gmail.com  [or]  info@eyelands.gr   [or]  strangedaysbooks@gmail.com

 

LINKS
www.eyelands.gr
https://eyelands.gr/english-section/
https://eyelandscontes.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/eyelands.portal/
www.strangedaysbooks.gr
www.paraxenesmeres.gr

 

the Judges

ANDRIANA MINOY/ POETRY

Andriana Minou is a Greek writer and musician living in London since 2004. She holds an MA in Performing Arts and a PhD in Piano Performance. Her short story collection, Underage Noirs was published in 2013 by Strange Days Books. Her second book, Dream-mine, an experimental novel in the shape of a labyrinth, was published by the same publisher in 2017 while its English version has also been published by Verbivoracious Press in a Festschrift about the Oulipo Movement. Dream-mine was recently presented in the form of a performance and installation as part of UNESCO’s Athens 2018: World Book Capital. Her work as a writer has been included in several anthologies and literary journals in Greece such as Geometry of an invisible generation (Mandragoras), codepoetry (Athens plaython), Autumn Stories and Sandgraphs (Strange Days Books), entefktirio, poetix. Her texts have also featured in literary journals in the UK and the US, such as The Paper Nautilus, rattle journal, FIVE:2:ONE, typehouse magazine and in the anthology, A six-pack of stories (Story Brewhouse). Andriana also writes librettos, song lyrics and texts for performances that have been presented around the world (Athens, Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Zurich, New York and more). She has also translated Gregory Papadoyiannis’ novel, The Baby Jazz, published by Fomite Press. In 2017 she was one of the selected writers at the Young Writers’ Festival of Thessaloniki International Book Fair. For the past four years she has co-organised Sand Festival, the only literature festival on the Greek islands.
www.andrianaminou.com

 

ANTONIS TSIRIKOUDIS / SHORT STORIES

ΑntonisTsirikoudis was born in the mid-seventies on World Poetry Day, but stopped writing poetry when he was twelve, devoting his creative force to prose. Short stories of his have been included in various anthologies, and in 2016 Paraxenes Meres published his first book, “When you least expect it”, a collection of 33 short and very short stories. Since then, he is focused on his first novel. He has also participated in the writing of a novel with another 11 writers, and has translated literature from English, and Spanish. Before moving to Crete, he lived in Sydney Australia, and Tallinn Estonia. He has been living in Heraklion city for the past seven years, with his partner, two dogs and a cat, teaching literature and Greek language in a high school. Any opportunity given, he travels, mostly to places he hasn’t visited before, next one being India. He has a degree in Philosophy, and an MD in Special Education. He speaks English, Spanish and reads Portuguese and Russian. When not writing and teaching, he loves cooking and entertaining.  For the past four years he has co-organised Sand Festival, the only literature festival on the Greek islands.

GREGORY PAPADOYIANNIS / NOVELS

Gregory Papadoyiannis graduated from the Law and Journalism Schools, studied cinema direction and worked at newspapers, magazines, radio and television, initially as a sports editor and later as a columnist and editor.  At the same time, he worked as a translator of literature books in collaboration with several publishing houses and translated books by William Faulkner, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Jack London, Marc Twain etc. into Greek.

In 1991, he was awarded the national prize for young playwrights at the competition of the Ministry of Culture for his play The situations. He was awarded the second prize twice at the same competition, in 1995 and 1999. He has translated theatrical plays by authors such as David Mamet and Tennessee Williams for the purposes of performances in prestigious theatres of Athens. He has also worked as a director’s assistant at the National Theatre of Greece as well as the Theatre of Thessaly. He has been involved with the cinema as well; as a director of two short films that were screened in Greek film festivals and as a script-writer for feature and short films. He has also worked as a script-writer and director’s assistant in several television series.

Gregory is a co-founder, administrator and writer for the books & cinema section of the website http://www.eyelands.gr .  He is the curator for the only Greece-based international short story competition, run by http://www.eyelands.gr . He also co-ordinates and leads a series of workshops on creative and collaborative writing all over Greece. After living in Athens for several years, he now lives in the island of Crete. He currently works as a translator and editor for Strange Days Books Publishing (www.strangedaysbooks.gr ) He is co-founder and has co-organised Sand Festival, from 2015 among with Andriana Minou and Antonis Tsirikoudis.

PUBLICATIONS IN GREEK
– To the Almighty, hereunto, comic album, 1988
– The situations, play, 1992
– The Philadelphus case, science fiction novelette, 1999
– Sniff, novel, 2008 (first edition: Empiria Ekdotiki (2008) third edition: Strange Days Books 2014)
– The city beyond the river, short story collection, 2011
From this collection: The short story The Whole Family won the third prize in the literary contest of the Greek online magazine “Stella’s Literary bistro” (2011) and was shortlisted at the International Annual Fish Short Story Competition.  The short story The city beyond the river was shortlisted and Highly Recommended at the Tom Howard Short Story Contest (2009).

PUBLICATIONS IN ENGLISH
– 52 eyelands, a sentimental guide through the Greek islands (2013, Strange Days Books)
– Greece: The child that never grew up, short story included in Stories for our Time, an Interactive Exhibition from LibArts London (London School of Liberal Arts, 1 May – 31 July 2013)
-The city beyond the river, short story included in the anthology Future eyes of PaleHouse Magazine (2012, Los Angeles, California, http://www.palehouse.com/FE-Papadoyiann.html)
The Whole Family, short story included in Jakes Monthly anthology of Magic Realism
In the Majestic’s nest, short story published in Foxing Quarterly (2013, print-only literary and arts journal published in Austin, Texas)
– An excerpt from his novel “Sniff” was posted to the European Literature Network (June 2017)  http://www.eurolitnetwork.com/authors-pitch-sniff-by-gregory-papadoyannis/
– His novel «The baby Jazz» released in USA from Fomite books in February 2017
– His comic album Ephemera/Life is short released in Greece on December, 2016. Two of the stories from the album published in Porcupine, an anthology of poetry, art, and short stories from 23 contributors across the globe, on November 2017.

papado374@gmail.com
https://gregorypapadoyiannis.wordpress.com/

the Artist

Costis Malousaris was born in 1972 in Athens. There he studied photolithography and graphic arts. In 1997, along with friend Margarita Leousi, they made the fanzine “walk in the Park”. From then until 2009, he did not stop writing texts, but did not consider it necessary to publish them. He worked for two years at the publishing house ‘Astir’. He was a key contributor to the literary magazine “Fortezza”. He participates as a publishing consultant in the publishing group “Strange Days”. Fifteen years ago he decided to live in Rethymno, Crete.  A series of unrelated at first glance events, people and situations led him to earn his living through creating and selling of ceramic objects.

He studied for more than two years next to the pottery makers Giorgos and Natassa Vardaxi in Rethymnon, who taught him a lot but mainly to dare to become a “self-taught”, to experiment with techniques, search for his own ways and not to be afraid to narrate stories he wanted to tell using instead of words his own hand-made ceramics .

He manufactures objects mainly from stoneware clay and combines clay, oxides, paint and glass techniques to create pleasant, face-to-face, use-and-touch objects. The electric furnace and the high temperatures allow for results that he likes to call space therapy objects, always with the challenge of being able to do what inspires you your imagination within the strict discipline required by pottery art.

-/

the Trees

With Kafka’s “Art needs craft more than craft needs art” as a basic principle, I strive to find the balance between pleasure and the therapeutic quality of making, creating objects and the additional achievement of making a living and acquiring recognition through it.

Everyday objects and familiar forms giving the sense of security and familiarity offer a chance for me to present my perspective, my emotion, even my compulsion accompanying the merchant’s and artist’s worries.

Trees, a symbol of power and tranquillity, of a life intense yet discreet, have always been a reference point in my journeys, real and mental – spiritual and material. Especially the olive tree, the most prominent tree of Crete, a symbol of the struggle for endurance as well as prosperity in Cretan culture, has been a source of inspiration and a bright spot. I therefore consider trees and the olive tree in particular, a symbol equal to an author’s endeavour, inspiration and labour.

Costis Malousaris

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