Reading Poetry: Sergei Yesenin

Another day, another poetry immersion. This time, I decided to busy myself with some translations of Sergei Yesenin poetry. 

Yesenin had a short yet adventurous life and a prolific poetry writing activity: he died at 30, but at the time, he had 4 wives already - among which the American dancer Isadora Duncan, 20 years his senior whose life was also marked by tragic - and took part actively to the events during the Soviet Revolution. He died by suicide in his hotel room in the then Leningrad, creating a wave of suicide among his admirers.

I may confess that the poems dedicated to the Big Campaign sounded the least appealing to me, as I´ve found highly stereotypical, sounding like they were written just to maintain the writing flow alive, but most probably the poet was busy at the time with the direct interventions and military actions.

The other ones, talking about village life, the animals - dogs and cows among others - and the people living there, are his anchor. Every time he is writing about the present or the future, there is the past reference who matters. As Romantics do, childhood is represented as a time of innocence, followed by the troubled youth, that Yesenin would never go beyond it. A rebel, a bit dead inside.

The erotic imaginary belongs to his poetic realm, as it belongs the drinking. Alcohol is both a source of inspiration and helps to forget the existential pain.

Yesenin poetry is timeless - except the ´revolutionary´ part that needs context to be understood - and is both individual and universal: it is the manifesto of a troubled soul in troubled times.

Reading Yesenin is a window towards those times, but also of a way of being of a soul who cannot find its peace.

Orenda Books Book Tour: Blackwater by Sarah Sultoon

 I´ve read and reviewed all books by Sarah Sultoon to date, and it´s only gets better. Published on the 4th of December by Orenda Books, her latest, Blackwater, is a gripping page turning political thriller set on the eve between two centuries. 

Sultoon´s construction of the story is remarkably flawless given the complex plot with many layers that intertwin slowly towards the end. Journalist Jonny Murphy is about to investigate the mysterious death of a child found on Blackwater Island. No traces leading to the corpse, no clear reason and cause of the death. Meanwhile, as the action is set in 1999, the world is taken over by the hysteria of Y2K virus that threaten to shut down the whole world. And between the two separate occurrences there may be a red thread with dramatic implications.

From the prologue until the end, there is no break for the reader: tensed nerves, suppositions after suppositions denied by new facts and details. The descriptions, especially when it comes to Blackwater island, do play an important role in creating a specific ambiance for individual episodes.

The mix between mystery and technology do amplify the feeling of incertainty and kept me hooked at maximum until the end.

May I confess that I actually read the book in one long sitting because for that day it was nothing more important than this story?

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Random Things Tours: Painting over the Cracks by Sophie Buchaillard

An emotional poetry debut by the author of the equally beautiful Assimilation, Painting over the Cracks by Sophie Buchaillard is built around topics like migration, ´translated lives´, survival, healing and loss.

It is a short collection but I´ve read most of the poems at least twice, trying to delve into the atmosphere and ideas of the poetry. Most probably will re-read some of the poems again soon, as I still need to figure out some relevant details and correspondences, especially of the colours and other elements that reminded me of the Symbolism literary mainstream. 

Many of the poems were inspired by the author´s work with survivors of abuse, hence the emotional weight of some of the works, but there is also the light, that may emerge from the cracks, once the weight is shifted towards community and solidarity.

Poetry is so much suited for such topics, particularly as an alternative to a fictional or non-fictional narrative, as it can better create deep emotional connections. 

A recommended read for any poetry lover.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Police People by Sophie Hénaff

In the midst of a wave of burglaries targetting various online personalities, Cathy Martini is tasked with tracing the disappearing of a famous tv actress. The same actress who had an affair with her late husband, hence her dilemma: she may not be so keen to find her and especially to see her again, but she is on duty. A dilemma known among her colleagues, but also raised in the yellow media following the next developments in this case.

Police People by Sophie Hénaff has a dense cast of characters, of the most famous type, but the pace is rather slow and moderately eventful. However, it follows its own logic, with an unexpected turn of events that woke me up from what was rather a quite slow unsurprising read. The ingenious solution to the crime riddle just increased my appreciation for this book.

From the language point of view, I´ve found the dialogues very entertaining and full of humour, which matches very well the ironic tone of the book. Ironic because it has to do a lot with vain people, huge contrasts between reality and the fancy show off under the limelights.

Police People was a funny short weekend read that reminded me that humour may work very well with some types of crime novels.

Rating: 3 stars

Mein Name ist Ausländer/Benim Adım Yabancı: Gedichte | Şiirler by Semra Ertan

 

Semra Ertan was born in Turkey and arrived to Germany in 1972, to join her parents who worked as ´Gastarbeiter´ in Western Germany. Just a short word about ´Gastarbeiter´ though: In the 1960s, West Germany needed (cheap) workforce to rebuilt the country who remained a ruin after WWII bombings. There was not too much available workforce with men in prison, dead or incapacitated and many households managed mostly be women. The state found a solution: bringing (cheap, again) worforce from countries facing economic difficulties - like Turkey, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, among others - pay them for a short to medium term projects mostly in mining, construction work and when the job is done, sending them home. They were ´guests´/´Gast´, and both countries were happy: Germany for the work, their home countries for the money they sent home. There was no pressure to integrate them, to support their families or children as their stay was anyway supposed to be temporary. 

But fate decided differently, and many of them decided to remain, either marrying local women or just integrating themselves by learning the language, bringing their families, even developing their own business. The testimonies of people who arrived in Germany at the time, outline the racism they were facing with, as well as the lack of local support, particularly in their mother tongue.

Semra Ertan belonged to this category. She arrived to Germany as a teenager, learned the language and grew up as a poet and translator. Her poems, collected in a Turkish-German collection: Mein Name is Ausländer/Benim Adım Yabancı: Gedichte | Şiirler are documenting, among others, the broken heart of an immigrant, the feeling of being split between two worlds, the racism and the cynical reasons of the presence of immigrants in Germany.

Nowadays, we are used with the discussion about rights and xenophobia and the need of building up support networks among immigrants. But at the time, Semra Ertan was pioneering both in terms of literary attempts and civic activism. Her poem Mein Name ist Ausländer - translated into English as My Name is Foreigner -, who gives the name of the collection, is the anthem of more than a generation of immigrant workers who arrived in Germany. I´ve read it over and over again over the weekend realizing each and every time the deep wounds the truth of her words leaves in the acknowledgment those ´Gastarbeiter´ deserve.

Ertan was also a dedicated human rights and anti-racism activist, raising awareness about the xenophobia in Germany. Her ultimate act, self-immolation in Hamburg, shortly before her 26th birthday, was prompted by a situation she considered hopeless.

Here is the poem, for the reflection of my German-speaking readers:

Mein Name ist Ausländer

Mein Name ist Ausländer,
Ich arbeite hier,
Ich weiß, wie ich arbeite,
Ob die Deutschen es auch wissen?
Meine Arbeit ist schwer,
Meine Arbeit ist schmutzig.
Das gefällt mir nicht, sage ich.
„Wenn dir die Arbeit nicht gefällt,
geh in deine Heimat“, sagen sie.
Meine Arbeit ist schwer,
Meine Arbeit ist schmutzig,
Mein Lohn ist niedrig.
Auch ich zahle Steuern, sage ich.
Ich werde es immer wieder sagen,
Wenn ich immer wieder hören muss:
„Suche dir eine andere Arbeit.“
Aber die Schuld liegt nicht bei den Deutschen,
liegt nicht bei den Türken.
Die Türkei braucht Devisen,
Deutschland braucht Arbeitskräfte.
Mein Land hat uns nach Deutschland verkauft,
Wie Stiefkinder,
Wie unbrauchbare Menschen.
Aber dennoch braucht sie Devisen,
Braucht sie Ruhe.
Mein Land hat mich nach Deutschland verkauft.
Mein Name ist Ausländer.

Semra Ertan, 7. November 1981