
Postings from Godot
The Five Wounds
The last novel in our series of seven, The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade, features an unusual background.
winter
One thing about winter, it seems to me, is that the forward motion we so normally enjoy is not really what we experience during this time.
solstice d’hiver
Instead of our usual chatty musings, I though it might be nice to pause.
enfin bref (in short)
We are in the thick of the World Cup finale. So just a few words from yours truly on the subject.
Coupe du Monde 2022
The Beautiful Game.
charles mingus
Many great jazz musicians have enjoyed fame and success in Paris. Charles Mingus, the great bass player and jazz composer, was one of them.
happy thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving!
terminale
This is the time of year when high school seniors are madly preparing their applications to go to college. Did you ever wonder what this might be like in a foreign country?
un mot
One day, before school correspondence between teacher and parent had gone on-line, my daughter came home with un mot from her teacher.
pétanque II
In last week’s post we learned (more or less) how to play pétanque, or should I say we learned how pétanque is played.
pétanque
Pétanque is a game which originated in the south of France, played on a dirt or gravel surface.
brood
The word “brood” is a double entendre, meaning a brood of chickens or even a brood of children, and also “to brood,” which brings to mind someone like Heathcliff in Emily Brontē’s novel, Wuthering Heights.
i wait, therefore I am
What is waiting, anyway? Actually, we all know how to do that well, right? But let’s see what a couple of artists have to say.
foreign banking
In a word, don’t do it! I would like to take you on an imaginary, virtual trip to two different banks to change your home address.
a Godot moment
Everybody is enamored of the ending of Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot.
les numéros
The other day I looked at the expiration dare for some tofu. 11/7/22, I read. July 11? What kind of fool does that Food Co-op take me for? This is September!
Build Your House Around My Body
This novel by Violet Kupersmith is the fifth in the series of seven debut novels selected last year by Brooklyn’s Center for Literary Fiction.
la rentrée
Welcome back to September, whatever that means for you.
summer reads: the sequel (réprise 2 ) + math
I strolled into a used bookstore in Versailles France. It’s true.
saying hello in France
Recently one morning, a friend said to me, “Bonjour. Comment allez-vous?” This is a picture perfect greeting in some cases, but there are a few exceptions.
Bastille Day
When we hear the phrase, “The Storming of the Bastille,” we fell it’s a rousing moment in French history.
The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois
Who was W. E. B. Du Bois? First, to pronounce his name. Du Bois rhymes with “Du Choice.”
summer reads à la française: une reprise
It’s the season for summer book lists to begin to appear. And I thought, how about some books translated from French that are fun to read?
bloomsday
Bloomsday has come and gone, although James Joyce’s novel Ulysses will still be 100 years old throughout 2022!
happy birthday to writing4godot
REETINGS ! Happy two year anniversary to the blog! And thanks to you who read it avidly or from time to time or even once in a while. Much appreciated! The following post is from June 16, 2020. The 16th of June is the day in the year 1904 that Joyce set his famous...
big extravaganza x 2
Bloomsday is a comin’.
la FNAC plays jazz
I once read that someone would so rather read what it is like to live in a country, say France, than to hear about the tourist highlights. Now, some of the tourist highlights are very important …
merci
In spite of it all, we have to have a laugh.
do readers have an age?
I’d like to begin with by brainy, fun cousin’s remarks about readers of a certain age.
no one is talking about this
This is the third in our series of novels, which, when we have read the seven contestants for the debut novelist prize, we will present the people’s vote. But what if you are not reading these?
waiting4
I’ve been thinking about what it must be like to be waiting for Godot. What are we waiting for again?
awol
Last week you may (or may not) have gleaned that your dedicated blogist had moved that day from Webster, NY, to Rochester, NY, about a half an hour drive away.
reading4godot
Gogo: Hey, Didi, did you hear? We’re the heroes of a literary blog.
field notes on a presidential election
One feature of living in a foreign country is that you get a glimpse not only of the current political issues but also the larger trends floating around.
the novel and the nightingale
Not long ago on the radio I head a solo piano piece called, I thought,” Le Rossignol a disparu.” Ah, just like Milan Kundera’s nightingale, I thought, who has also disappeared.
politics en France
It is no wonder that Samuel Beckett set his play, “Waiting for Godot,” in the French countryside with a leafless tree and a moon for company.
le Petit Prince
I recently listened to a podcast by writer and teacher Maryama Antoine, called, “Toni Morrison, on the pursuit of goodness.” Ah, that word, “goodness.”
The City of Good Death
The title of the novel The City of Good Death by Priyanka Champaneri, already contains an interesting premise to think about.
Ukraine2
The haunting image of a musician playing farewell on her piano to her home that had been by the Russians has chased many other thoughts away.
breaking the bank
As the world watches the financial sanctions among other penalties imposed upon Russia and Mr. Putin, the world may be tempted to think that banking problems would be the least of Mr. Putin’s worries.
ukraine
Last night I listened to historian Timothy Snyder talk about the invasion of Ukraine with American author and social critic Ta-Nehisi Coates.
the people’s voice
Today’s post features two books. First, a final reflection on the notion of the outcast, prompted by Camus’ book L’Etranger.
L ‘Etranger
Translation is a funny thing. Because I speak two languages, I am intrigued by how we manage to get from one to another.
live a little, read a little: novel 1
Dear Reader, We interrupt our regular programming to talk about the first book in our series of seven. For those of you who don’t know, The Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, NY, presented a contest for debut novelists last December.
Happy birthday, Ulysses!
Dear Readers,
Our whole writing4godot began really with a celebration of June 16, the day in 1904 on which James Joyce’s book Ulysses takes place.
alors
Sometimes there’s a short word of interest, a short blog post, a short short story.
women of paris 2
The women are still walking! Our tour guide extraordinaire, Chris Friendly, a teacher and historian who lies in Paris, has created walking tours unlike the usual ones found in the usual guidebooks.
women of paris I
Highlights of a walking tour set us firmly on Paris ground, courtesy of historian, teacher and modern-day wit, Chris Friendly.
northern lights
I once held a session in a computer lab for students learning English. It was a poetry lesson, and we called up pictures of the northern lights for inspiration.
les restos du coeur
Some French friends and I were recently discussing the idea of the commonwealth of a country. France thinks differently about the common good . . .