riters WUC
Orhan Pamuk Date of birth: 07-06-1952 Birthplace: Istanbul (Turkey) Nationality: Turkish Job: novelist and screenwriter Works (some examples): The White Castle (1985) The New Life (1995) Snow (2002) Prize: Literature Nobel (2006)
Curiosities: Nobel prize-winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk fulfilled his dream of opening the Museum of Innocence as portrayed in his 2008 novel of the same name in the Çukurcuma neighborhood in Istanbul. The museum displays real and fabricated artifacts from everyday Turkish life between 1950 and 2000, in homage both to the novel and to Pamuk’s beloved native city.
Excerpt: “When you look into the faces of these quiet creatures who don't know how to tell stories-who are mute, who can't make themselves heard, who fade into the woodwork, who only think of the perfect answer after the fact, after they're back at home, who can never think of a story that anyone else will find interesting--is there not more depth and more meaning in them? You can see every letter of every untold story swimming on their faces, and all the signs of silence, dejection, and even defeat. You can even imagine your own face in those faces, can't you?”
Summary: The protagonist, an Istanbul lawyer named Galip, finds one day that his wife Rüya (the name means "dream" in Turkish) has mysteriously left him with very little explanation. He wanders around the city looking for his clues to her whereabouts. He suspects that his wife has taken up with her half-brother, a columnist for Milliyet named Celal, and it happens that he is also missing. The story of Galip's search is interspersed with reprints of Celal's columns, which are lengthy, highly literate meditations on the city and its history. Galip thinks that by living as Celal he can figure out how Celal thinks and locate both him and his wife, so he takes up residence in Celal's apartment, wearing his clothes and eventually writing his column.
Antonio Tabucchi Date of birth: 24-09-1943 Date of death: 25-03-2012 Birthplace: Italy Nationality: Italian Job: writer, Language and Literature Portuguese teacher Works (some examples): The dark angel (1991) Night Indian (1984) Porto Pim Wife’s (1983) Prizes: French Prize “Medicis etran-
Excerpt: "That day, Pereira had not brought in preparing his bread and omelette, on the one hand trying to skip lunch every now and then, as he had advised his cardiologist, on the other hand because if he did not resist the hunger, he would always could eat an omelet at Cafe OrquĂŹddea. "
Summary: Pereira is a Portuguese journalist who, after years spent writing news, starts to dedicate himself with great passion to the literary section of the "Lisboa". Pereira lives a monotonous life, but not boring, divided between the newspaper, a diet, long talks with the framed photograph of his dead wife, and the obsessive thought of death. It does not matter that Portugal, the country in which he lives, is in the midst of the Salazar dictatorship, which applies a strict restriction on freedom, especially for printing. Pereira continues his life, taking care only of French literature, , and seems to have no interest in the fortunes of the world that has unconsciously cut out of his life.
Curiosities: Tabucchi has always been very passionate about Portugal, and he was one of the best connoisseurs, critic and translator of Italian - Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa. He had the first contact with the works of Fernando Pessoa in the sixties. He became fascinated by the poet and when he returned to Italy, he attended Portuguese classes in order to better understand the poems of Fernando Pessoa.
Juozas Aputis Date of Birth: 08-12-1936 Date of Death: 28-02-2010 Birthplace: Lithuania Nationality: Lithuanian Job: prose writer, translator Works (some examples): Flowering bee bread (1963) Hogs running the horizon (1970) Body Voice of clothing stories (1991) Prize:National Culture and ArtPrize in 2005
It is a book containing short stories. each one offers different environments and characters.
Excerpt: Every life is like na overloaded ship: even the smallest disturbance will make it overturn.
Curiosities: All characters of J. Aputis, regardless of their age, background and profession, are being led by mystery of existence, laws of universality of the living completeness and the existential disquiet.
Jose Saramago Date of birth: 16-11-1922. Date of death: 18-06-2010 Birthplace: Azinhaga (Portugal) Nationality: Portuguese Job: novelist, storyteller, playwright, poet Works (some examples): The Gospel according to Jesus Christ (1991) Blindness (1995) Convent Memorial (1982) Prize: Literature Nobel (1998)
Excerpt:
“The rain falls, the wind cutting trees defoliated, and the past comes an image, that of a tall, thin old man, now that is closer, by a flooded trail. (...) The man who is thus approached, vacant between strings of rain, is my grandfather. Come tired, old. Drags with seventy years of hard life of deprivation, ignorance. And yet it is a wise man, silent, which only opens his mouth to say indispensable. Speaks so little that we all remain silent to hear when you face lights up something like a warning light. It has a strange way to look away, even if that is just far wall with the front. His face seems to have been carved adze, fixed but expressive (...) Is a man like so many others in the land (...) a philosopher, a great writer illiterate. "
Summary:
Throughout the book the author recall the first fifteen years of his life, which include his childhood and also his teens. In this book the author portrays the adventures who lived in Azinhaga and also in Lisbon. Although he repeatedly changed residence is their homeland which holds the best memories. These memories that were lived mostly alongside parents and maternal grandparents.
Curiosities:
When José Saramago fathers adressed to official birth registration declare his successor the functionary was drunk and without anyone noticed, he had decided to add to the laconic José de Sousa Saramago(name that should have been attributed to José Saramago). When his father enrolled him in primary school, he was asked why his son was called José de Sousa Saramago while the father was named José de Sousa. Everything to stay clear and not needed a new enrollment of his name ... father changed his name to José de Sousa Saramago. And as the author said "I guess this must have been the only case in the history of mankind, in which the son was to name the father".
Franz Kafka Date of Birth: 03-07-1883 Date of death: 03-06-1924 Birthplace: Prague Nationality: Czech Job: Insurance officer, factory manager, novelist, short story writer Works (some examples): The Trial The Castle The Metamorphosis
Summary: The book was translated from German language by Vladimir Kafka. Illustrations by Jiří Anderle. German original title: Erzählungen Published by Odeon, 1990, Prague. This collection of short stories written by Prague Jewish writer Franz Kafka (who was writing in German language) was the only work published during his life. He prepared this book for edition. The other works (The Trial, America, The Castle) were published after Kafka´s death. All the stories represent very collorful artistic scale of his work. These short stories are typical for Kafka´s view of the world and life. The book consists of 40 short stories, e. g. The Contemplation, The Rural Doctor, The Metamorphosis, Eleven sons, Neighbouring village, The Trees, The Dress etc.
Excerpt: „I don´t know,“ said I calmly. „I don´t know. If anybody won´t come, so anybody won´t come. I did not do anything bad to anybody, nobody did anything bad to me, but nobody wants to help me. Always nobody. But things go still differently. Except for the thing that nobody will help me – otherwise it would be nice – only Nobodies. I would like – why not? – to go for a trip accompanied only by Nobodies. Of course, for a trip to the mountains, what else? How the Nobodies press to each other, so many arms holding one another, so many legs for little steps so far from one another! It is clear that all of them are wearing dress coat. We are just walking slowly, the wind is blowing between our bodies. The troats get released in the mountains. It is strange that we are not singing.“
Curiosities: He was recognized as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. While he was alive his works were virtually unknown and it was one of his friends that published, contrary to Kafka’s halfhearted instruction, his works after his dead.
Federico Garcia Date of birth: 05-06-1898 Date of death: 19-08-1936 Birthplace: Fuente Vaqueros, Andaluzia Nationality: Spanish Job: A Spanish poet, drama playwright and theatre director Works (some examples):
Quimera – 1930 (theatre) Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) in 1933 Canciones(Songs), published in 1927 Yerma in 1934 Ode a Salvador Dalí – 1926 (Poetry)
Curiosities: Lorca, was accused of being “a spy” of the Russians and an “homosexual". In 1936 the poet escaped to Granada because of the totalitarian regime they lived at the time, and the feeling that a war was coming.
In this book, “Romancero Gitano”, Lorca shows Andalusia´s soul.
Excerpt: The moon came to the forge with her skirt of white, fragrant flowers. The young boy watches her, watches. The boy is watching her. In the electrified air the moon moves her arms and points out, lecherous and pure, her breasts of hard tin. Flee, moon, moon, moon. If the gypsies were to come, they would make with your heart white necklaces and rings
Stanislaw Lem Date of birth: 12-09-1921 Date of death: 27-03-2006 Birthplace: Krakow (Poland) Nationality: Polish Job: essayist, philosopher, scientific fiction writer Works: Solaris (1961) His Master’s Voice (1968) Fiasco (1987) Prize: Literary Prize (1973)
Quotes from Stanislaw Lem: If man had more sense of humor, things might have been different.
The book tells the story of a planet called Solaris in witch exists a space station that hosts several astronauts and researchers. In this planet occur a serie of strange phenomena and suspects that the cause of these events is related to the existence of a kind of intelligence that comes from the unknown planet . Among these strange phenomena highlight the fact that the reappearances of members of the space station already dead., and the materialization of human thoughts.
To torture a man you have to know its pleasures. A dream can only triumph over reality if given the chance
Curiosities: He began his medical studies but he didn’t was capable to finished it because of the coming of the 2nd world war. He begins to write poetry and science fiction, however, his first novel was censored by the Polish government and was only published when freedom of speech was earned after the “Polish October” popular uprising.