A Little Workshop of Stories
The man was sitting on a bench, looking at the lake. He seemed to be daydreaming. He looked a little sad, lost in his thoughts. Another man approached, holding a child by the hand. “Excuse me,” he said to the man on the bench, “could you move a bit?” The man shifted as much as … Read more
In the plain stood a railway station. It was old, very old, and creaked in the wind like the skeletons of the hanged that whistle as they sway and knock against one another. Every nail, screw, and hinge had long since loosened from their places on the ancient wooden structure. The signs were no longer … Read more
For three days and three nights the rain fell. Dense, heavy, opaque. It fell slowly, like a theatre curtain descending at the end of a performed act. People sat in their houses. The hungry cattle moaned and bellowed in their pens and stables. From time to time a lantern would glow on a porch, then … Read more
Thomas Mann’s Joseph and His Brothers opens with an image of young Joseph gazing into the dark bottom of a well, reflecting on the past. The deeper his gaze penetrates, the darker the reflection becomes, until it finally turns into shadow. Breaking free from the spell of the well, Joseph runs off into his bright … Read more
In the middle of the grove stood an unusual tree. Since time immemorial, its branches had stretched deep into the earth, its leaves sprouting and dying in the underground darkness, while its roots jutted into the air. Thus the tree had lived. Travellers and wanderers passing through the grove avoided it, taking it for a … Read more
The house is quiet, sunk into the night like a decaying ship. It lies tame and peaceful, beautiful in its collapse. It has killed four people. They were found on the threshold, intensely dead.The first in pieces.The second, a homeless man, gray-haired and gaunt, as if he had died of old age.The third, a young … Read more
Calderón’s hero Sigismundo, imprisoned all his life, is granted a single day of freedom. His jailers drug him and transfer him to the royal palace, where Sigismundo awakens dressed in splendid garments. The courtly entourage informs him that he is a prince and heir to the throne. Deprived for years of life’s pleasures, Sigismundo becomes … Read more
The Marginalia in Books Handwritten traces on the pages of books are as varied and colorful as readers themselves . Small doodles scribbled out of sheer boredom. Love notes, dedications, offensive or lascivious remarks. Abstract and accidental lines. Some handwritten notes even become amateur footnotes or comparative analyses, which is particularly amusing to read. Serious … Read more
Printed and written Traces The invention of the printing press completely altered the character of the book. Separated it from the human being — its creator. The printing machine put an end to handwriting, which for centuries revealed the author or the scribe on the pages of a book. Handwriting, in turn, is an essential … Read more
The Road from Damascus begins almost imperceptibly: with a family meal and an unexpected guest. Into the house enters a migrant, wounded and mute, who is given the name Petko. His silence, at first only a sign of weakness, soon grows into the central element of the play. As the family members try to care … Read more