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Bryan Alistair Charles

@bryanacharles.bsky.social

180 followers 53 following 340 posts

Writer in midst of disorienting midlife free fall / Author of a novel, a memoir, and a book about Pavement written for 33 1/3 / Broken Hearts Are Blue guitarist / Amateur Proust scholar bryanalistaircharles.com

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

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

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…

lithub.com

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Reposted by Bryan Alistair Charles

France Culture @franceculture.fr · 20h

"Je n'ai plus de passion, alors rappelez-vous : il vaut mieux brûler franchement que s'éteindre à petit feu. Paix, amour, compassion. Kurt Cobain."
Sa lettre d’adieu, datée du 5 avril 1994, le jour de son suicide et adressée à un ami imaginaire. Une claque.
➡️ https://l.franceculture.fr/CaC

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 21h

😂 agree!

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 21h

He was! And I didn't know any of it. I was working in a bookstore when that bio came out and remember thinking...a translator? why? But he packed so much into his brief time.

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 21h

Oh yes, I love the notes in Carter! And having them on the same page. For contrast, right now I am reading the Modern Library TIME REGAINED, in which there are a mere 10 (!!) brief notes at the end.

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 22h

Yes--and also funny! Proust's range is stunning. Obsessive love, childhood, politics, philosophy, sexuality, food, music, reading...on and on. And the many (many!) characters he introduces all have individual voices. One need not wait for a "let's read Proust together" group-- Dive in!

Jane Maylin🍇🍷 @janetrad.bsky.social · 1d

"Neurotic, sickly, gay, cork-lined room, guy tastes a bit of cake and thinks up an endless book filled with interminable sentences, etc.—" On translating Proust

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…

lithub.com

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

Cheers! Thank you! And yes, Charlotte's SHADOW slayed me. One of the great reading experiences I've had this year.

Frank Beck @diehoren.bsky.social · 1d

A wonderful piece by B.A. Charles, focusing on Charlotte Mandel's new translation of the second volume of 'In Search of Lost Time': 'In the Shadow of Girls in Blossom', which I warmly recommend. I don't think any English translator has brought us closer to Proust's own diction and tone.

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…

lithub.com

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

Quel temps fait-il ? 😂

TomSQC @thomassqc.bsky.social · 1d

"Around the time I was learning to ask what the weather was like in French, Charlotte Mandell was named a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government."

Charlotte Mandell @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social · 1d

lithub.com/on-translati...

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you, Grace!!

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

Such a pleasure talking to Charlotte Mandell @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social for this piece! I had just read her IN THE SHADOW OF GIRLS IN BLOSSOM, a book I absolutely cherish, and was frankly in awe. #proust #proustsky

Charlotte Mandell @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social · 1d

lithub.com/on-translati...

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…

lithub.com

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

Dang! Bet they all loved working with this guy... 😂

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

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.

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

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

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

I like "LIFE!" shouted some seconds later.

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

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

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 1d

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…

lithub.com

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 5d

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

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 5d

you mean vocal key or mental state?

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 5d

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...

9–9

Notes on R.E.M.

medium.com

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 5d

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...

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 5d

Life changing.

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 7d

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!

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

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 7d

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

Bryan Alistair Charles

www.bryanalistaircharles.com

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 7d

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

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Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 8d

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

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.

Bryan Alistair Charles @bryanacharles.bsky.social · 9d

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