Romania

Entries Tagged as 'Romania'

ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART 1 OF 6)

March 28th, 2016 · Comments Off on ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART 1 OF 6) · Books, Diary, Genealogy, History, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews, Short Stories & Cameos

Sărut mâna pentru masă
C-a fost bună şi gustoasă
Şi bucătăreasa grasă.

Which, in the English vernacular translation, would more or less sound like:

Kiss your hand, Ma’am, for the pastry,
And the meal, which was so tasty,
For the coffee and all that,
As the cook was nice and fat’.

ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (part 3 OF 6)

March 27th, 2016 · Comments Off on ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (part 3 OF 6) · History, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews, Short Stories & Cameos

Still, during the dictatorship years the Continental was no more than a gilded cage for tourists, a kind of ghetto, where all foreign visitors were huddled together, as they were easier to keep in check. A hub of Securitate operatives and professional prostitutes were at hand. A mall of hard-currency shops, where luxury goods could be bought only with dollars, were completing the landscape. Dollars were at the time a currency, which native Romanians were not allowed to obtain: if found out, or denounced, they could spend years in prison.

POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCLXXXIX), Nichita STĂNESCU (1933-1983), ROMANIA: “Vitraliu”, “Stained Glass”

March 23rd, 2016 · Comments Off on POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCLXXXIX), Nichita STĂNESCU (1933-1983), ROMANIA: “Vitraliu”, “Stained Glass” · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Când te vei trezi, lipiţi de geamuri,
arlechini din sticle colorate
vor lăsa prin ei să-ţi cadă-n braţe
soarele, mereu la jumătate.
As you will find it, early in the morning,
the arlequin will start his joyful dancing:
as all resplendent sunrays will be donning
the immortality in which you will be basking.
Rendered in English by Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2016 Copyright Constantin ROMAN

POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCLXXXVI): Adrian MUNTEANU (b. 1948-Brasov), ROMANIA – “Scriu un sonet. Deplină amăgire”, “The Sonnet – an Eternal Tease”

March 18th, 2016 · 1 Comment · International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Adrian MUNTEANU
(b. 1948, Brasov)
“The Sonnet – an Eternal Tease”

I write a sonnet as a constant tease –
Its rules are there to liberate my dream,
To be myself and follow, as I seem
To play with empty words of love and ease.
Rendered in English by Constantin ROMAN,
© 2016 Copyright Constantin ROMAN

BOOK REVIEW: A Romanian close encounter – “The Romanian – Story of an Obsession

February 27th, 2016 · Comments Off on BOOK REVIEW: A Romanian close encounter – “The Romanian – Story of an Obsession · Books, Diary, International Media, PEOPLE, Reviews

A literary critic of “Le Monde” who is quoted on the front cover of this book states that: “what astonishes and intrigues is Benderson’s way of recounting in the sweetest possible voice, things which are considered shocking… ”
If the French are “shocked”, then the Romanians would certainly be outraged, not by the lack of prudery, as by the fresco of the Romanian society of motley pimps, hustlers, prostitutes, bureaucrats, hangers-on, desperate people and the whole gamut of poor destitute of all ages, social background and ethnic origin, neither of whom come out too well, in the end: TOUGH!

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.

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXXI): Rosalia de CASTRO (1837-1885) SPAIN/GALICIA: “He Who Weeps Goes Not Alone”, “Cel ce plange nu-i singur ”

February 9th, 2016 · 1 Comment · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Cel ce plânge nu-i singur mereu,
Voi, lacrimi, să curgeţi din plin!
O singură jale este mult prea puţin;
Căci ferice să fi este greu.

Când destinul hain, mă-nconvoaie din plin,
Sufletul e pierdut pe cărare;
Resemnată păşesc spre destinul divin:
Când amarul mă-ndreaptă spre zare.

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXX): Jordi DOCE (b. 1967), SPAIN/GALICIA: “Somewhere”, “Undeva”

February 8th, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXX): Jordi DOCE (b. 1967), SPAIN/GALICIA: “Somewhere”, “Undeva” · Books, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations

You live in a city where the map of the side streets dangerously resembles that of your heart. A city where the stains and chips in the walls are windows that follow your steps, doors that no one dares to enter. Where the hung laundry sends coded messages and the glassy eyes of fish exchange glances of recognition with the copper coins of the servants.
Trăieşti într-un oraş a cărui hartă a mahalalelor arată incomod de asemănătoare cu o hartă a inimii. Un oraş unde petele şi cioburile din pereţi şi ferestre îţi urmăresc paşii acolo unde nimeni nu vrea să intre. Unde rufele atârnate pe frânghie trimet mesaje codificate, unde ochii sticloşi ai peştilor schimbă priviri asemănătoare bacşişului mărunt al servitorilor.

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXIX): Roald DAHL (1916 – 1990), UK/ENGLAND: “Hot and Cold”, “Cald şi Frig”, “Chaud et Froid”

February 7th, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXIX): Roald DAHL (1916 – 1990), UK/ENGLAND: “Hot and Cold”, “Cald şi Frig”, “Chaud et Froid” · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

A woman who my mother knows
Came in and took off all her clothes.
Said I, not being very old,
‘By golly gosh, you must be cold!’
Ma belle voisine, elle est venue
Un jour, d’emblée, se mettre nue.
Étant trop jeune et sans émoi,
Lui dis-je: Mon Dieu, vous aurez froid!
Mais, pas du tout! même au contraire!
Je suis à voile et à vapeur…
‘No, no!’ she cried. ‘Indeed I’m not!
I’m feeling devilishly hot!’

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXVIII): James FENTON (b. 1959, Lincoln) UK/ENGLAND: “In Paris With You ”, “La Paris cu tine”

February 1st, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXVIII): James FENTON (b. 1959, Lincoln) UK/ENGLAND: “In Paris With You ”, “La Paris cu tine” · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Do you mind if we do not go to the Louvre
If we say sod off to sodding Notre Dame,
If we skip the Champs Elysées
And remain here in this sleazy
Old hotel room
Doing this and that
To what and whom
Learning who you are,
Learning what I am.

Centre for Romanian Studies