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Entries Tagged as 'OPINION'

“Continental Drift: Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures” – Review by Prof. Thomas G. Gallagher

May 3rd, 2016 · Comments Off on “Continental Drift: Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures” – Review by Prof. Thomas G. Gallagher · Books, Diary, Diaspora, Education, Famous People, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, quotations, Science

Constantin Roman writes with candour, wit, and humility. His remarkable life story unfolds with effortless simplicity thanks to his ability to write mellifluous English influenced by Romanian cadences. It is clear that he wishes to do service for the country he never lost touch with during 25 years in exile. Perhaps one way is to motivate and instruct young people with similar talents and ambitions to the ones he possessed in the 1960s.
The need for Romanians to rediscover the characteristic of group solidarity which Roman encountered in the British university world but which disappeared in communist Romania is a pressing one. That is why his story deserves to be better-known in Romania.

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Constantin ROMAN – Book Review: Orwell behind the Iron Curtain

February 26th, 2016 · Comments Off on Constantin ROMAN – Book Review: Orwell behind the Iron Curtain · Books, Communist Prisons, Diary, Famous People, History, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews

Orwell behind the Iron Curtain
Margot Eftimiu,, my private French language teacher in Buchrest, was educated in Vevay, Switzerland and fell on hard times after being expropriated by the Communist regime. She borrowed these magazines and transcribed by hand the whole of Orwell’s 1984 novel- no mean feat and a labor of love. I had the privilege of being lent these notebooks when I was just 15 years of age, and found the reading fascinating.
As a teenager, during the dire Stalinist years I identified myself perfectly well with the character of Orwell’s book and with the whole atmosphere described by the author, as one which we were experiencing in Romania under a communist dictatorship.

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Constantin ROMAN’s Book Review: “Bread, Salt & Plum Brandy” by Lisa Fisher Cazacu

February 26th, 2016 · Comments Off on Constantin ROMAN’s Book Review: “Bread, Salt & Plum Brandy” by Lisa Fisher Cazacu · Books, Diaspora, OPINION, PEOPLE, Reviews

FIRSTLY she comes to realize the true blessing of being born in a country where public services function properly and are taken for granted:
– “what, no bus service to take children to school? What, no compulsion by RomTelecom the national telephone company to fix the fault on Lisa’s line at a weekend?”
– Who needs a phone, anyway?
The list of Ubuesque mishaps is endless and a great eye-opener both for the reader who could not imagine it and for the natives who got used to and put up with it for far too long!

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Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba, „Rinocerizarea” criteriului biografic la un istoric dilematic

February 23rd, 2016 · Comments Off on Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba, „Rinocerizarea” criteriului biografic la un istoric dilematic · Communist Prisons, Diary, Famous People, History, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, POLITICAL DETENTION / DISSENT, quotations

Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba, „Rinocerizarea” criteriului biografic la un istoric dilematic  Motto: „Gnosticism is a type of thinking that claims absolute cognitive mastery of reality […]. In marxism (its immanentizing form) gnosticism considers its knowledge not subject of criticism, relying (as it does) on a claim to gnosis, a special gift of a spiritual and cognitive elite”. […]

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Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXIII), ROMANIA, Adrian MUNTEANU (b. 1948, Brasov, Romania): “Sonet”, “Sonnet”

January 19th, 2016 · 1 Comment · Books, Famous People, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

My heart is melting, by the candlelight,
I’m just a pitiful, stray dog, without repose…
My body, torn to pieces, couldn’t fight.

My sins, which are untold, are worthless dross…
I’m loath and fearful of the coming spite:
You are my only Hope, my Holy Cross.

Rendered in English by Constantin ROMAN, London, 2016
© 2016 Copyright Constantin ROMAN, London

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Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba: Receptarea românească A PRIMULUI SCRIITOR STRĂIN LAUREAT AL PREMIULUI GONCOURT

January 15th, 2016 · Comments Off on Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba: Receptarea românească A PRIMULUI SCRIITOR STRĂIN LAUREAT AL PREMIULUI GONCOURT · Books, Communist Prisons, Diaspora, Famous People, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, POLITICAL DETENTION / DISSENT, quotations, Reviews, Translations

Prin anii cincizeci Vintilă Horia reținea cu mai multă subtilitate un fapt caracteristic lumii desacralizate în care mulți sunt creștini doar cu numele: Anume că păgânismul care „controlează toate mijloacele eficace de propagandă” îndreaptă „voința de a aparține” nutrită de omul societății de azi către partide, secte, grupări totalitare” (Vintilă Horia, Speranța socialismului tragic, text publicat de Uscătescu în revista „Destin” nr. 8-9/ 1954, republicat în vol. Mihaela Albu & Dan Anghelescu, Eseistica lui Vintilă Horia – deschideri către transdisciplinaritate, Ed. Aius, Craiova, 2015, p.199). – See more at: http://www.romanianstudies.org/content/2016/01/isabela-vasiliu-scraba-receptarea-romaneasca-a-primului-scriitor-strain-laureat-al-premiului-goncourt/?preview_id=7030&preview_nonce=6b04855292&preview=true#sthash.SUZLPqIt.dpuf

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Thirty five Years ago: Oriana Falacci interrogates Ayatollah Khomeini (1979)

December 31st, 2015 · Comments Off on Thirty five Years ago: Oriana Falacci interrogates Ayatollah Khomeini (1979) · Books, Diary, Famous People, History, OPINION, PEOPLE, quotations

Perhaps only one Western journalist ever managed to interview Ayatollah Khomeini twice. And from those long discussions we learned an enormous amount about the nature of the adamant theocracy that he was bent upon instituting. The second session was an achievement in itself, since Oriana had terminated the first one by wrenching off the all-enveloping chador she had been compelled to wear and calling it a:
“stupid, medieval rag.”
She told me that after this moment of drama she had been taken aside by Khomeini’s son, who confided in her that it had been the only time in his life that he had seen his father laugh.

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Isabela Vasiliu-Scraba, „Rinocerizarea” criteriului biografic la un istoric dilematic

November 6th, 2015 · No Comments · Communist Prisons, Diaspora, Famous People, History, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, POLITICAL DETENTION / DISSENT, quotations, Reviews

„Rinocerizarea” devine posibilă după „cucerirea puterii prin modificarea mentalității, grație hegemoniei ideologice veșnic atentă ca cele spuse și publicate să nu-i fie defavorabile (vezi Ion Varlam, Pseudoromânia. Conspirarea deconspirării, București, Ed. Vog, 2004, p.68).

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Poetry in Translation (CCCLVIII), Nina CASSIAN (1925-2014), ROMANIA/USA: “Donna Miraculata”, “Donna Miraculata”

September 26th, 2015 · No Comments · Books, Diaspora, Famous People, OPINION, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Since you betrayed me I am more becoming
A body’s carcass glowing in the dark
My fragile self, invisible, yet stark,
With frozen looks and body which is pining.

My wretched fingers can’t feel any more
My useless walk, is pining with desire…
My cruel stare invisible, yet sore –
The halo of my body still on fire.

Rendered in English by Constantin ROMAN,
© 2015 Copyright Constantin ROMAN, London

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Poetry in Translation (CCCXLVIII), Charles BAUDELAIRE (1821-1857) FRANCE: “The Murderer’s Wine”, “Nevasta a murit”, “Le Vin de l’assassin”

July 31st, 2015 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCXLVIII), Charles BAUDELAIRE (1821-1857) FRANCE: “The Murderer’s Wine”, “Nevasta a murit”, “Le Vin de l’assassin” · Books, Famous People, OPINION, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations, Uncategorized

Ma femme est morte, je suis libre!
Je puis donc boire tout mon soûl.
Lorsque je rentrais sans un sou,
Ses cris me déchiraient la fibre.

Nevasta a murit această seară,
Sunt liber, pot să beau, fetiţă…
Când mă-ntoarceam acasă, criţă,
Zbiera, de îmi tăia suflarea.

My wife is dead and I am free!
And I can guzzle all I want.
When I came home without a cent
Her crying knifed the heart in me.

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