Monthly Archives: September 2017

fünf gedichte / пет стихотворения

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In die Septemberausgabe der bulgarischen Literaturzeitschrift “Нова социална поезия”(Neue Soziale Poesie) wurden fünf meiner Gedichte aufgenommen, in der ausgezeichneten Übersetzung des Dichters und Literaturwissenschaftlers Vladimir Sabourin, der für diese Ausgabe auch Texte von Heiner Müller übersetzt hat. Herzlichen Dank, lieber Vladimir!

В Септемврийския брой на сп. “Нова социална поезия” има пет стихотворения от мен, в превод на Vladimir Sabourin на кого съм много благодарен за публикуването и отличния превод. 

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

My personal Edith Wharton reading challenge

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A phenomenon with which every reader is familiar: no matter how much you read, there will be nevertheless always important books and authors that you will miss. A reader’s life is too short even for compulsive readers like me to have a complete overview regarding all important books and authors.

Despite this biological limitation, I am making an effort from time to time to fill in a few gaps; authors whose names are well-known to me and considered as important by authorities I usually trust; books that are on my personal TBR pile since a long time but which have constantly evaded my attention in the last moment. 

One such author is Edith Wharton, and since I have no less than five books by her on my shelves, I will read and review these books in the next weeks, and form my own opinion of this generally very well-reviewed author.

Have you read any of Edith Wharton’s books? Or are you willing to join this personal reading challenge of mine? If so, drop me a line here, or in the next weeks under one of my upcoming Edith Wharton blog posts. 

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

A new Bulgarian movie: Voevoda

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Voevoda. This movie is better than Vasil Levski (the film) – but that’s not difficult, almost all movies are better than the chalga version of the Apostle’s life. Is Voevoda a good movie? No, it’s full of cliches, and visually the film is rather weak in my opinion. I doubt that I will remember a single scene after a few days. I didn’t fall asleep, as I did while watching Gasoline, the most boring Bulgarian movie I watched since a long time. So it was kind of entertaining, but it is not that you really have to see it. 2.5 out of 5 stars IMHO.

Voevoda, Bulgaria 2017, 126′, directed by Zornitsa Sophia, written by Zornitsa Sophia (based on a story by Nikolay Haytov), with Zornitsa Sophia, Valeri Yordanov, Goran Gunchev, Dimitar Trokanov, Leart Dokle, Dimitar Selenski, Yordan Bikov, Vladimir Zombori

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

“либерализм” vs. “либертарианство”

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Фактът, че либерализм и либертарианство са две напълно различни политически понятия, все още не се разпространил в България – поне не сред политическите партии, които се наричат “либерални” …

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

A new Bulgarian movie: Gasoline (Бензин)

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No, I will not become a customer of Bulbank, no I will not drink Spetema coffee, no I will never ever eat at McDonald’s. And no, I am not recommending the movie Gasoline (Бензин).

Benzin, Bulgaria 2017, 110′, directed by Assen Blatechki and Katerina Goranova, written by Alexey Kozhuharov, with Assen Blatechki, Snejana Makaveeva, Veselin Kalanovski, Kalin Vrachanski, Liliana Stanailova, Plamen Manassiev, Vasil Banov, Michael Madsen

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Wie man in Berlin mit dem Poetik-Preisträger Eugen Gomringer umgeht

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Berlin ist eine bemerkenswerte Stadt. Eine Stadt, in der man seit vielen Jahren unter Vernichtung von Milliarden an Steuermitteln vergeblich versucht, einen Flughafen zu bauen. Eine Stadt auch, in der es eine Hochschule gibt, die den Dichter Eugen Gomringer erst mit einem Poetik-Preis auszeichnet und die danach das so ausgezeichnete Gedicht von der Fassade der Hochschulfassade, wo es zu lesen war, wieder entfernen lässt, und zwar mit einer geradezu absurden, den Preisträger und sein Werk verhöhnenden Begründung.

Wenn die Leute vom Asta der Alice-Salomon-Hochschule repräsentativ für ihre Kommilitonen sind, muss man leider befürchten, dass da eine Generation verklemmter und bornierter Spiessbürger an deutschen Unis heranwächst, die sich in ihrer Dummheit und Selbstgefälligkeit nur schwer ertragen lässt. Hauptqualifikation: Unfähigkeit, verständig lesen zu können in Kombination mit pseudomoralischer Überheblichkeit. Früher hiess das “gesundes Volksempfinden”, und es war nichts anderes als die Diktatur derjenigen, die sich immer und überall beleidigt und provoziert fühlten – durch die Intelligenteren, besser Ausgebildeten, Erfolgreicheren, Schöneren, Weltgewandteren, Begabteren. 

“Nichts gibt so sehr das Gefühl der Unendlichkeit als wie Dummheit.” (Ödön von Horvath) 

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

An important improvement

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While the quality of the coffee in most restaurants and coffee shops in Sofia is improving only very slowly according to my impression, there is a considerable improvement to be felt recently in another coffee-related issue. The quality of the късметче, those small rolled paper clips that are supposed to bring good luck and frequently contain a piece of folk wisdom or a supposedly thoughtful quote by a famous person has definitely changed to the better in a short time. Today I got “любов” (love), “здраве” (health), and “време ви е за купон” (it’s time for a party), while a few months ago chances would have been very high that I would have had quotes by authors that regularly made me spill my coffee in anger all over the place, such as Hitler, Ayn Rand, and Paulo Coelho…

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The world, a village

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I am having a coffee in Sofia. At the next table, three elderly ladies in animated discussion about the family of my Gorani landlord in Tirana (2004-2007), now living in Sofia.

The world has become a village.

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Snowy landscape with R.W.

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Snowy landscape with R.W.
 
The photo, black and white
At first glance apparently nothing special on it
For a Christmas day in the mountains
A snow landscape
Which you probably crossed despite your age
With powerful space-grabbing steps
The railing
To which you probably did not hold on
The firm and secure imprints of your winter boots
Which were the only luxury you have ever had
Well-earned after years of work
While washing the tables in the asylum for the insane 
And while sticking bags
A more useful occupation than writing books
(Your last one found exactly seventeen buyers)
Like the characters from your works
You had the madness already left behind
And you had been healed
As the hat was rolling from your head
And came to lie next to your body
In the snow 
(My translation of a poem originally published in German)
© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

A cat person

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When you come home at 5 a.m. after almost five months absence, and the usually very shy cat of the neighbors is welcoming you at the entrance door and wants to sneak into your flat – then you realize that you are obviously really a cat person…

© Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com, 2014-7. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without expressed and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Thomas Hübner and mytwostotinki.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.