Robert Zend’s Novel Novel Nicolette: Not Quite a Review by R. DumainMy review is now linked on the Zend site:
Nicolette - The Robert Zend Website... with this excerpt:
Reading the novel felt to me like reading an amalgam of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and James Joyce. Joyce is layered and dense in both structure and language. Vonnegut’s prose is easy to read and deceptively simple, though the content is rich. Zend’s prose is easy to read and the “plot” (once pieced together) is simple, but the structure, which I have merely outlined, is highly complex. Zend does not impose formal constraints on the text as the Oulipo writers do, yet the formal structure of the text puts it in a comparable experimental camp. This structure comprises the real content and interest of the novel, amplifying the psychological states that accompany relationships and the creative process.Mia anglalingva recenzo de la avangarda romano Nicolette de la hungara-kanadana verkisto (kaj adepto de Esperanto) Robert Zend nun troveblas referencita ĉe la retejo de Zend (jen retligoj supre) kun ĉerpaĵo el mia recenzo.
Following upon the details of my podcast / Sekve de la detaligo de mia podkasto pri Zend...
And click below to take in a fifty-minute podcast on Robert Zend, a great overview of his works, themes and influences: Robert Zend:Between Budapest & Toronto, Between Zero & One, Between Dream & Reality by Ralph Dumain, May 26 2017
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| Robert Zend |
Robert Zend (1929-1985) was a Hungarian-Canadian multimedia writer, who emigrated from Hungary in 1956 and established himself in Toronto, Canada. I present an overview of his works, themes, and influences. I illustrate Zend's themes of exile & identity, sources & inspirations, myth & religion, metaphysical notions, & the interplay of dream & reality with poems, prose fragments, & summaries of short fiction. Finally, I recount my engagement with Zend, my project of translating his work into Esperanto, the enthusiastic support of the Zend family for this project & the revelation that Zend himself was an Esperantist. [51 minutes: sound file]This is the latest in a logical progression of podcasts on Hungarian literature, utopianism, and Esperanto.
See also my previous posts on Robert Zend and my new web page. / Rigardu ankaŭ miajn antaŭjn ĉi-rilatajn afiŝojn kaj mian retpaĝon pri Robert Zend:
Robert Zend (Hungarian-Canadian writer, 1929-1985): Dedications, Works, Links
In a country
where everyone
is searching for
identity,
I am
an alien
for I'm already
identical.
October 1, 1980
-- Robert Zend (Hungarian-Canadian writer, 1929-1985), from Preface: Labels, in Beyond Labels (Toronto: Hounslow Press, 1982), pp. 1-10.
En lando
kie ĉiu
serĉas
identecon,
estas mi
fremdulo
ĉar jam mi estas
identa.
1 oktobro 1980
-- Robert Zend (hungara-kanada verkisto), elangligis Ralph Dumain, el poemaro Preter Etikedoj
"Among the many Hungarian writers of that age, quite a few kept their integrity. There was one, especially, who wasn't willing to accept any label, either for himself or for others. His name was Frigyes Karinthy. He didn't identify with any group; he belonged nowhere, but this non-belonging meant for him an extremely strong belonging to Man, to Mankind, to Humanity. As a humorist, he was tremendously popular, but as a philosopher, he hardly had any followers then. Today, most Hungarians are enthusiastic about his profound ideas. He was (and remains) my spiritual father, the Master who first inspired me to feel, to think, to express myself, to be considerate, to have high ideals, to understand others as if they were me: in other words, to write. At least that's what it means for me to be a writer. (Of course, it means many other things too, but this is the foundation on which all those other things are built.)"
-- Robert Zend (Hungarian-Canadian writer, 1929 - 1985), from the Preface: a Statement
delivered Saturday, October 3, 1981,
at the Panel Discussion on Exile,
a Program of the International Writers' Congress,
"The Writer and Human Rights,"
in aid of Amnesty International; in Beyond Labels (Toronto: Hounslow Press,
1982), pp. 1-10.
See also: Camille Martin, Robert
Zend - Part 5. Hungarian Literary Roots: The Budapest Joke and Other Influences.
Rogue Embryo: a blog about poetry, collage, photography, whatnot. February 9,
2014.
"Inter la multaj hungaraj verkistoj de tiu epoko, pluraj konservis sian honestecon. Estis unu, aparte, kiu ne akceptus ajnan etikedon, por si mem aŭ por aliaj. Lia nomo estis Frigyes Karinthy. Li ne identigis sin kun ajna grupo; li apartenis nenie, sed ĉi tiu ne-aparteno signifis por li fortegan apartenon al la Homo, al la Homaro, al Homeco. Kiel humuristo li estis ege populara, sed kiel filozofo li apenaŭ gajnis adeptojn. Aktuale la plejmulto da hungaroj estas entuziasma pri liaj profundaj ideoj. Li estis (kaj restas) mia spirita patro, la Majstro kiu estis la unua kiu inspiris min senti, pensi, esprimi min, esti konsiderema, teni altajn idealojn, kompreni aliajn kvazaŭ ili estus mi: alivorte, verki. Almenaŭ jen tio kio signifas por mi esti verkisto. (Kompreneble, tiu fako signifas plurajn aliajn aferojn, sed jen la bazo sur kio ĉio cetera estas konstruata.)"
-- Robert Zend (hungara-kanada verkisto), elangligis Ralph Dumain
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