First Translation of Celine's *Journey to the End of the Night* was to Czech

Here's an great tidbit on Celine and translation, reported by Eurozine as featured content of Revolver Review #70, the contents of which are unfortunately not available in English (though the excerpt is). I've been trying to learn Czech (and Slovak) for two years, partly so I can read stuff like this, as well as a plethora of Czecho-Slovak underground literature known as Samizdat.

• The very first translation of Louis-Ferdinand Céline's Journey to the End of the Night was into Czech, reveals Anna Kareninová in Revolver Revue. Exactly 75 years ago, Céline happened to come to Prague for the first time. There he met the German filmmaker Karl Junghans, who had directed German and Czech films, including Takovy je zivot / Such is Life. Having seen the film in France and admired it greatly, Céline had a spontaneous idea for collaboration: "Although I do not understand [film] and am not sure whether a film could be made of it, I know that you are the only director in the world who could film Journey to the End of the Night according to my conception." Like many of the best ideas, it never came to fruition.

It's interesting to note that Celine himself wished for a Czech or German film version of the novel, if one was to ever be made. I can't help but wonder what Milos Forman or Jan Svankmajer would do if they had a go at it.

U.S. Occupation of Czech Republic -- Can it Be Stopped?

"Czech Senate ratified today the two radar treaties signed in July [2007] by Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. By doing so it openly positioned itself against the will of the majority of Czechs as polls have been showing for the last two years that most Czechs disagree with the plan.

“From the point of view of democracy in our country this is a major setback. The government-controlled senate clearly showed that it does not care about the will of the Czech people and that’s simply unacceptable,” said Jan Tamas[...] / Read entire article.

_________________

A Few Reasons Why I Am Against a U.S. Radar Station in Czech Republic:

1. The U.S. already spends far more on its military than all of its "enemies" combined. Conversely, its education system is in ruins, the population increasingly illiterate (evident by the number of people who voted for Geezer/Dingbat (McCain/Palin), against their own interests, in the 2007 elections).

2. Czechs were occupied by Russian military for several decades. During this time, they began to love anything "American." Those who actually support the radar (and subsequent U.S. military bases) are still under this spell (caused mostly by Hollywood films - for example, they don't believe there are homeless people in the USA). The powerful minority of radar supporters have not yet realized that they'll be trading Russian occupation for American occupation.

3. It makes the Czech Republic, and especially Prague, a target.

4. It serves no strategic purpose that could not be better placed in already-occupied countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

5. The U.S. went nuts when Russia put similar weapons in Cuba, yet expects Russia not to mind it doing the same thing - putting missiles and radar bases on Russia's doorstep. How would the U.S. react if Russia installed a similar setup in Cancun or Montreal?

6. The majority of Czechs don't want it (apparently, Czech Republic is not a real democracy).

7. Iran, a formidable country, is surrounded by U.S. military (Afghanistan/Iraq)... Russia is being threatened by radar and missile bases on its doorstep... America needs to relax a bit, get its own problems taken care of (education system, economy, unemployment, etc.), and not be so globally self-important.





See the chain of events that have led to this point, or sign an online petition to stop American (U.S.) military occupation of the Czech Republic.

Join the official facebook group "No US military base on Czech Republic territory."

And here's a larger Euro-wide movement called Europe for Peace: Europe free from nuclear weapons.

Tribe.net to be Revamped

I received the following email today from Tribe.net, which I discovered (and liked) long before I found Myspace, and later Facebook and LinkedIn. It appears that Tribe.net is back in the game.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) November 11, 2008 -- Utah Street Networks and New Systems Associates today entered into an operating agreement to manage Tribe.net, one of the first social networking sites, add competitive social networking features to the site, and revitalize the Tribe community.

The first priorities for New Systems Associates are to stabilize the platform and improve the site's performance. To accomplish these goals, the company is committing substantial resources to upgrade Tribe's hardware and application. The hardware migration will begin immediately, resulting in better performance and stability users expect from a world-class social network. New Systems Associates will also add new features to improve connections within the Tribe community and to other social networks and widgets.

In the longer term, New Systems Associates will grow the Tribe community by developing features including advanced privacy features, profile control, regional relevancy, personal discovery, and free-range connectivity. The company is committed to strengthening Tribe's alternative community and the unique ways in which users interact.

Utah Street Networks, Inc. is the owner of Tribe.net, one of the oldest social networking sites on the Internet and pioneers of social graphing.

New Systems Associates is an LLC formed by long-time Tribe members who believe in protecting and expanding Tribe's unique culture.

For more information please email info @ tribe.net.

De Profundis in Your Pocket

Etsy.com, "your place to buy & sell all things handmade" (and support hard-working artisans instead of corporations), offers an Oscar Wilde De Profundis Pocket Mirror.

Artist Tiffini Elektra X makes other mirrors, as well, featuring collages based on themes ranging from Buddha to Alice in Wonderland to Shakespeare to the Muses. At her own site, tartx.com, you'll find a range of her other handmade items that include jewelry, magnets, and bookmarks.

Central / East European Literary Anthology - Free PDF Download

Slovakia's Centre for Information on Literature (Literárne a informačné centrum) has done a great thing for literature and language: They have placed a downloadable PDF of an anthology of Czech, Slovak, Polish, and Hungarian literature, called Visegrad 4 Countries, on their website. Additionally, and most important for folks like me (linguistically challenged), there's a translation of the anthology text in English.

Pal Bekes (Hungary), the anthology's editor-in-chief, headed the project that received support by the following country editors: Ivory Rodriguez (Czech Republic), Ina Martinova (Slovakia), and Piotr Marciszuk (Poland).

Authors include: Jan Balaban, Stanislav Beran, and Jachym Topol (Czech Republic); Karol D. Horvath, Marius Kopcsay, and Ursula Kovalyk (Slovakia); Pawel Huelle, Olga Tokarczukova, and Daniel Odija (Poland); and Lajos Parti Nagy, Szilard Podmaniczky, Margit Halaszova, and Gyorgy Spiro (Hungary).

*

As I have only read Jachym Topol from the above list of Central/East European writers, I'm looking forward to reading my own downloaded copy over the holidays.