
Postings from Godot
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 . . .
Stuttgart, the long way around
Christmas markets, ah, one of the great pleasures of living in Europe.
village voice, paris
Today we have a guest blogger, The New Yorker, of all “people.”
found Godot (maybe)
Today on my front steps I found a peanut.
Irish postscript
And let me say, a postscript is a lovely addition to a letter, or, in this case, a blog.
cheating
The value of cheating. First, cheating is fun. It is more fun to do than to read about, I’m guessing.
where’s godot
“What!” you say, upon opening this post. “Where’s Godot?”
la toussaint
Someone asked me what I miss about France in October, and the answer was la Toussaint
mix it up
Today I’d like to showcase a book called A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.
Mavis Gallant
One of Canada’s finest short story writers, Mavis Gallant, was an expat writer who lived in Paris for much of her writing life.
violin lessons
Driving. I have refrained from the litany of driving anxiety experiences, only because, well, even I didn’t want to dwell on them.
art is in the air
Art is in the air, literally and figuratively.
take an artist to lunch
It has been sobering and at the same time exhilarating to contemplate the sacrifice of a person who offered her life to fight against the Nazis, pledging herself to freedom.
Arthur Magida on Noor Inayat Khan
In his fascinating book, Arthur J. Magida presents the story of Noor Inayat Khan against the backdrop of WW II.
Noor Inayat Khan
The first thing you notice when standing in front of the gate surrounding Fazil Manzil, Noor’s family home, is the plaque commemorating her deportation.
homage to the cello
As I was organizing my papers to begin a part-time teaching position at a small liberal arts college, here in Rochester, I found the prettiest collages French students had made of instruments.
mayors and cellos
Last week’s post was titled, “Why Godot?” So, applying logic, this one could be, “Why France?”
why Godot?
It’s time for a new season of writing4godot. I’d like to begin by talking about why I’ve chosen “Waiting for Godot” for my patron saint.
where’s Godot?
Summer fun!
bits and bobs
“It’s a very bits and bobs piece of writing.” This is how, apparently, you use the phrase “bits and bobs” in a sentence, according to the all-knowing Internet.
Lafayette
As we approach the Fourth of July in the States, my thoughts naturally turn to Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
to wait
to wait
juneteenth 2.0
uneteenth is about to become a national holiday! I thought I would do something interesting, which is leave the post for last Juneteenth as it is, and give an intro for the following couple of reasons. When I re-read this post, I noticed that I said something about...
books à la française: the sequel
I strolled into a used bookstore in Versailles, France. It’s true. On the one hand, you’ve got the beautiful gardens of the Versailles Palace, not to mention the Palace itself. And then there’s a used bookstore.
summer reads à la française
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?
afficky
Lo and behold, we recently celebrated Africa Day on 25 May. An Irish friend reacted to my surprise that there was an Africa Day in Dublin.
the teenage philanthropist
The common good is something we look at differently in the States and in France. The word, “common,” is an unglamorous word on its own, but linked with “good,” it has a whole different meaning.
the world draws near
African women wear such beautiful garments. I would admire the colorful, patterned material they wrapped around their hair to match their African dress when, in their role as nannies, they’d drop their young charges off at my daughter’s French school.
welcome to the eighth grade
What is it like to teach English literature in a French school? How fond of stairs are you?
la FNAC plays jazz
I once read that someone would so rather read what it’s like to live in a country, say, France, than to hear about the tourist highlights. Now, some of the tourist highlights are very important to a city such as Paris, but if you do live in France, you will certainly encounter La FNAC.
bones and bones
One of the best names for a bus stop in France is called Puits Sans Vin. This means a well without wine. I thought, wow! Some wells have wine?
the lost art of ironing
Ah, housework. I had a friend in France, an English fried, refer to it as “mind numbing housework.”
poetry and politics
Toni Morrison tells a story about a wise old woman who was blind. Her reputation flowers and extends even as far as the city where, as Morrison puts it, “the intelligence of rural prophets is the source of much amusement.
it was a cold and snowy night
It was a cold and snowy night in December when I stood at the podium in front of hard souls at the American Library in Paris about to give a presentation on a novel called in French, La Vie Devant Soi by Romain Gary.
journey of the mind
It is unusual to see the song “Swanee River” in the same sentence with William Blake’s poem, “The Little Black Boy.” But these two pieces