tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post6915074625981212739..comments2023-12-24T17:41:42.989-08:00Comments on seraillon: Miklós Bánffy: To the Moonseraillonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-52047059856108311952013-05-11T09:43:23.880-07:002013-05-11T09:43:23.880-07:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.scott davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07185110800919351863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-61659911240038315732013-02-01T14:57:13.909-08:002013-02-01T14:57:13.909-08:00Thanks, orderedThanks, orderedGuy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-42960298757733779192013-01-28T17:54:29.527-08:002013-01-28T17:54:29.527-08:00Guy - yes, it will be the same translation. Guy - yes, it will be the same translation. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-40722386392749007562013-01-25T07:12:05.860-08:002013-01-25T07:12:05.860-08:00Do you know if it's going to be the same trans...Do you know if it's going to be the same translation?Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-47501452389730851502013-01-24T21:38:54.113-08:002013-01-24T21:38:54.113-08:00Good news.I even e-mailed the publisher about the ...Good news.I even e-mailed the publisher about the one volume that is so much pricier than the others. Never got a response. I'll wait for the EVERYMAN edition. Guy Savagehttp://www.swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-68151785249875752132013-01-14T08:38:28.938-08:002013-01-14T08:38:28.938-08:00Will do, but it will be a while before I finish it...Will do, but it will be a while before I finish it, but I'm enjoying the slow ride...err, read!Dwighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688525659034403580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-60198391270664908462013-01-12T17:42:12.718-08:002013-01-12T17:42:12.718-08:00Dwight - I greatly look forward to reading whateve...Dwight - I greatly look forward to reading whatever you may write about the trilogy. Keep me posted!seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-49272288314656188282013-01-12T03:40:17.333-08:002013-01-12T03:40:17.333-08:00A book is the BOOK which will book each heart with...A book is the BOOK which will book each heart with a different feeling during reading. No e-books could replace the thoughts attached since history. I agree with the long tales that are lengthened with each one but there are also several others which simply could make us silent…daring not to go further.<br />I am too eager to know what’s the trilogy is about ?<br /><a href="http://www.speechtrans.com/" rel="nofollow">Offline Translator</a>Speechtranshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16542142116450161528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-59205691990250979472013-01-11T20:58:37.546-08:002013-01-11T20:58:37.546-08:00Believe it or not I completely started Banffy'...Believe it or not I completely started Banffy's trilogy without knowing about your posts (coincidental because of my focus as I've been on certain areas; ignorance because...well, I can't help that). And I love what I've read so far. Will be a while before I post on it but I'm so glad to see your comments on it, and hope that your influence does carry over into the baying at the moon list!<br /><br />For what it's worth, some ebook versions are currently easily (and relatively cheaply, I think) available on the trilogy. Looking forward to reading more of this!Dwighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13688525659034403580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-10052997543139476662013-01-11T14:30:07.242-08:002013-01-11T14:30:07.242-08:00Sorry, no blog. I try to review what I read on Am...Sorry, no blog. I try to review what I read on Amazon US but I'm way behind.<br />-lascosasAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-47920341543843819492013-01-10T12:06:40.325-08:002013-01-10T12:06:40.325-08:00lascosas - Many thanks for the visit and for the r...lascosas - Many thanks for the visit and for the recommendation, which makes me again regret that I don't read Spanish (I'm going to have to correct that one of these days). I'm delighted to find someone else who's read Bánffy.<br /><br />Do you have a blog? I loved your "Best of 2012" list in the comment you left at Trevor's site. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-33108281899773095872013-01-10T11:33:21.923-08:002013-01-10T11:33:21.923-08:00Followed you over to this site from your comments ...Followed you over to this site from your comments on Trevor's blog, and the first thing I see is a reference to Bannfy's trilogy. My gosh, I LOVED reading them (Kindle format) and you are the first person I've come across who has read them. Wow. <br /><br />On books that should be available in translation, I would recommend almost anything Editorial Anagrama publishes. For serious literature in Spanish, they've got a lock on much of what is unusual and exciting. The main problem is that their pricing is insanely high. Here in Mexico each of their books cost almost a week's minimum wage salary.<br /><br />-lascosasAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-12030904275854420392013-01-09T11:05:36.411-08:002013-01-09T11:05:36.411-08:00Thanks, Brian - I doubt that my efforts had an imp...Thanks, Brian - I doubt that my efforts had an impact, but as I don't know, I'll keep making them for whatever else I'd like to see published/re-published. As Sophie Calle allegedly added about her Eiffel Tower trick, "You'd be amazed what you can get just by asking." seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-411388706544914302013-01-09T11:02:29.244-08:002013-01-09T11:02:29.244-08:00Richard - good suggestions, and since I was able t...Richard - good suggestions, and since I was able to obtain a copy of the Guimarães Rosa in French, count me in for the group read. <br /><br />I may have suggested this before, but I'd urge you to try the Bánffy in English, since it's a Weidenfeld-award-winning translation and a great example of one that violates a lot of translation "rules" I see touted here and there. Plus the story of how it came to be translated is something of a minor miracle of chance. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-27870216706200750762013-01-09T10:51:10.668-08:002013-01-09T10:51:10.668-08:00Miguel: After having responded at interminable len...Miguel: After having responded at interminable length to Amateur Reader's challenging question, I'm tempted to just go with cartoonist Lynda Barry's sample of a brief (but "too fakey") book report:<br /><br />"It is a mordant criticism of man and morals, and I really liked the part where the house burned down." <br /><br />Instead, here's my interminable original post on Bánffy (or just click on the "BÁNFFY Miklós" label to the right):<br /><br />http://seraillon.blogspot.com/search/label/BÁNFFY%20Miklós<br /><br /><br />seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-54150784853327390842013-01-09T01:59:26.797-08:002013-01-09T01:59:26.797-08:00It is really neat how you made some an effort to g...It is really neat how you made some an effort to get the trilogy re — released and it happened. Perhaps it did have something to do with your efforts.<br /><br />This is such an intriguing list of books. In our digital age hopefully translations will come out soon! Of course if they do it would mean more books on my list of things to read!Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-32944185809250870292013-01-08T20:55:47.230-08:002013-01-08T20:55:47.230-08:00Since I didn't get to my Spanish translations ...Since I didn't get to my Spanish translations of Bánffy last year, Scott, I've been thinking about him a lot lately. However, this news about a new edition in English is wonderful. Rise has agreed to cohost a group read of the Guimarães Rosa with me sometime this year (he's already read it, but I haven't other than the beginning), by the way, but Miguel said that book's hard to find for him even in Portuguese in Portugal. Weird, no? Of course, I found a copy in Portuguese at my local foreign language bookshop no problem...but for something like $55 or $65! My Spanish version only cost $20-$25 as I recall. Underrepresented in English: Juan Benet, Miguel Delibes, and Juan Marsé from Spain (I believe the few translations that are available by them in English are almost all out of print). Döblin's <em>Berlin Alexanderplatz</em> needs a new translation also.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-3226514419037721212013-01-08T15:19:30.700-08:002013-01-08T15:19:30.700-08:00But what's the trilogy about?But what's the trilogy about?LMRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538873868140070018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-76102794251842568982013-01-08T14:19:15.745-08:002013-01-08T14:19:15.745-08:00Wow, I am glad I asked. Your response would make ...Wow, I am glad I asked. Your response would make a nice Part II to your original post.<br /><br />I guess I'll just have to get the book and see for myself.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-39518871591274576582013-01-08T11:59:20.536-08:002013-01-08T11:59:20.536-08:00You may be right, Caroline (about editors). And th...You may be right, Caroline (about editors). And though the Bánffy trilogy is indeed long, I have only fond memories of the time I spent reading them. Besides, once you get past the first book, the second is shorter, and the third shorter than the second.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-21940526522442764602013-01-08T11:56:32.957-08:002013-01-08T11:56:32.957-08:00Rise - thanks for the recommendations. I'm off...Rise - thanks for the recommendations. I'm off to look up volume one of Weiss now.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-14078952256086009012013-01-08T11:55:24.752-08:002013-01-08T11:55:24.752-08:00Tom - I sympathize but am unable to throw up my ha...Tom - I sympathize but am unable to throw up my hands; they now hold four books - totaling over 4,700 pages - that I'm "planning" to read in 2013 (everything else may have to wait until 2014).<br /><br />What a challenge you've presented! To provide even a minimally authoritative response I'd have to possess <i>your</i> expertise in 19th <i>and</i> 20th century literature - and why you'd trust an answer from someone who hasn't yet read Balzac, for example, is beyond me. <br /><br />Nor have I read Musil. Between Roth and Bánffy I easily prefer the latter. Of course, one has to be careful about trumpeting the works one cherishes - some book are not for some people - and so I'll say that this is certainly in part a matter of personal taste.<br /><br />Who is Bánffy <i>like</i>? "No one" is the right answer, of course, Among other works I've read that address the fate of a nation or depict a crumbling empire, de Lampedusa's <i>The Leopard</i> comes to mind. Tolstoy, in combining a vast panorama with deep empathy and a strong moral vision (albeit minus Tolstoy's religiosity and aversion to sex). Stendhal. Thomas Mann's <i>Buddenbrooks</i> in its depiction of a society walking backwards into the future. My cute, pet characterization of the trilogy is that it's maybe the best 19th century novel of the 20th century, since it calls to mind those sprawling 19th works more than it does its contemporaries (but is still unmistakably 20th century). <br /><br />A few things that stand out for me in Bánffy: the breadth and depth of his empathy; the consistent exceptional limpidity of his writing (hats off to the translators); Bánffy's diplomat's perspective - I've never read another novel with a more fascinating treatment of legislative processes; a splendid sense of how to organize and present events, perhaps from Bánffy's long involvement in theater and in orchestrating political pageantry; a long view of history, especially given that the work - though set between 1904 & 1914 - deals nonetheless with the transition from an almost feudal society to the convulsions of the 20th century. <br /><br />This last aspect is linked to the starring role played by Transylvania itself, which also sets the work apart for me. I'm not sure there was a real parallel elsewhere in Europe. There's a rhapsodic element in Bánffy's writing about his unusual homeland that gives his realist narrative a romanticism bordering on exoticism (or maybe the other way around) <br /><br />Anyway, this comment is becoming longer than a post. Read what you like, and I hope what you'll like is Bánffy. I would love to read what you'd have to say about him, whether favorable or otherwise.seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-42210022937071492182013-01-08T00:45:14.545-08:002013-01-08T00:45:14.545-08:00I've had my eyes on Banffy's books but the...I've had my eyes on Banffy's books but they are indeed long.<br />The list is interesting and once more I'm glad I read different languages as I have many of the titles on my shelves. <br />I suppose instead of not writing about them because they are not translated, i should really start doing the opposite. I think editors are more attentive than we think.Carolinehttp://beautyisasleepingcat.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-57552340272051856132013-01-07T20:18:55.566-08:002013-01-07T20:18:55.566-08:00I have They Were Counted for some time now. I shou...I have <i>They Were Counted</i> for some time now. I should take a look.<br /><br />I'd add the 2nd and 3rd volumes of <i>The Aesthetics of Resistance</i> by Peter Weiss and the seven novellas of Guimarães Rosa in <i>Corpo de baile</i>.Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2609668304633418767.post-31838616987004175802013-01-07T14:50:45.101-08:002013-01-07T14:50:45.101-08:00These books sound vaguely related to some other bo...These books sound vaguely related to some other books I have been thinking about lately. How irritating. They are so long.<br /><br />Should I just throw up my hands - Musil, Roth, Bánffy, just read 'em all?<br /><br />Who do you think Bánffy is <i>like</i> - in his prose or interests or what have you? Maybe that question is no good. Maybe he is not like anyone. Or not like anyone I have heard of.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.com